chapter 2 paragraph --> sentence notes

1.4 - CHALLENGES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

INTRO SECTION

  • The Articles of Confederation were fully ratified after years of discussions and delays over state land disputes and the Revolutionary War victory and independence.

  • The challenges in ratifying the Articles of Confederation included a lack of national unity and power struggles and foreshadowed the governing problems that the United States would face later in the future.

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

  • The Continental Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation to establish the new nation's first government, loosely uniting former colonies as states, which then crafted their own constitutions featuring distinct government branches, protected freedoms, and popular sovereignty.

  • John Dickinson’s 1776 Articles draft established a “firm league of friendship” among states with limited national government powers.

  • Controversy over state representation in the Confederation Congress, with larger states advocating for population-based votes and smaller states for equal votes, led to a system where each state received one vote.

  • The New York-based Confederation Congress required nine state votes for legislation and unanimous consent for amendments, exercising powers over diplomacy, war, territory, civil liberties, extradition, and inter-state commerce and disputes.

AN INEFFECTIVE CONFEDERATION

  • Fearing a strong national government after British abuses, Americans favored a state-centric system to ensure unity and accommodate diverse state needs and loyalties.

  • The Articles of Confederation established a weak government that rendered the Confederation Congress ineffective, hindering domestic progress and threatening national stability.

WEAKNESSES IN THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• The requirements that at least nine states must agree in order to enact national law.

• The requirement that all states must agree in order to amend the system of

government proved daunting.

• The Congress could not tax the people directly.

• The national government could not raise or maintain an army.

• There was no national court system or national currency.

• The Congress encouraged but could not regulate commerce among the states.

(not required for notes but still important to know!)

FINANCIAL PROBLEMS AND INABILITY TO TAX

  • The national government under the Articles of Confederation struggled financially due to its inability to directly tax, forcing reliance on reluctant state contributions and leading to a loss of foreign trust.

  • The biggest problem of the Articles of Confederation was the lack of taxes, and although some people were in favor of taxes, the issue never went through to fix.

SHAYS’ REBELLION

  • War veteran Shays led a rebellion due to economic hardship and high taxes, and although the uprising was suppressed, it showed the need for a stronger central government.

  • Shays’ Rebellion ultimately proved how the lack of a centralized military was a threat to America.

  • The Annapolis Convention, which was held to address economic issues under the Articles of Confederation along with the need for greater national unity, led to another convention in Philadelphia.

1.5 - RATIFICATION OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

INTRO SECTION

  • The Constitution is often called a “bundle of compromises” because its 55 delegates engaged in countless compromises in order to design a government capable of doing both addressing future needs and uniting diverse interests and ideas of the nation’s people.

COMPETING INTERESTS

  • At the Constitutional Convention, groups arose with differing views on important issues such as slavery, the executive branch, and the relationship between states and the United States national government.

CONSTITUTIONAL COMPROMISES

  • The Constitutional Convention resulted in numerous compromises and eventually led to the creation of the Constitution.

DIFFERING PLANS

  • James Madison drafter the Virginia Plan, which proposed a three-branch system with factors such as a bicameral legislature and national government supremacy.

  • The New Jersey Plan, favored by small states, advocated for a unicameral legislature, equal state representation, state sovereignty, and limited national power.

THE GREAT COMPROMISE

  • Roger Sherman combined ideas from the disputing groups to make a bicameral Congress with a House of Representatives based on state population and a Senate based on states getting equal representation.