Understanding the Origins and Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

 Gregory Johnson knew little about the
Constitution
 He felt the buildup of nuclear weapons
in the world threatened the planet’s
survival
 He wanted to protest
 He didn’t have money to hire a
lobbyist or purchase a media ad

 He marched through the streets of
Dallas
 The demonstration ended in front of
City Hall
 Gregory doused an American Flag
with kerosene and set it on fire

 Gregory was arrested, convicted and
sentenced to one year in prison, fined
$2,000
 Appealed his convicted
 SC agreed to hear the case Texas v.
Johnson
 SC said his freedom of speech was
violated

 Gregory Johnson did not prevail
because his was articulate or because
he had access to political resources.
 He won because we have a
Constitution and the “Rule of Law”

 Understanding the case of Gregory
Johnson is central to understanding
the American system of government
 The Constitution supersedes ordinary
law, even when the law
represents the wishes of the
majority
 What? Wait a minute!!!!!

Questions on Government in
America?
 What does democracy mean if the
majority does not always get it’s way?
 Does this case represent how
democracy really works? or something
very different?

 What limits are placed on the
government that prevent it from
acting on the wishes of the
electorate?
 Does the government have too
much power when it can override
the majority?

 Snyder v. Phelps, 2010
 Constitution USA, Episode 2, It’s a
Free Country– 11:54 – 15:11

1. Identify the
symbols found in
the cartoon.
2. What point is the
cartoonist trying to
make about
Constitutional
protections?

Chapter 2: The Constitution
• The Origins of the Constitution
• The Government That Failed: 1776–1787
• Making a Constitution: The Philadelphia
Convention
• Critical Issues at the Convention
• The Madisonian System
• Ratifying the Constitution
• Changing the Constitution
• Understanding the Constitution
• Summary

Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• LO 2.1: Describe the ideas behind the
American Revolution and their role in
shaping the Constitution.
• The Government That Failed: 1776–1787
• LO 2.2: Analyze how the weaknesses of
the Articles of Confederation led to its
failure.

Objectives
• Making a Constitution: The Philadelphia Co
• LO 2.3: Describe the delegates to the
Constitutional Convention and the core
ideas they shared.
• LO 2.4: Categorize the issues at the
Constitutional Convention and outline the
resolutions reached on each type of issue.

Objectives
• LO 2.5: Analyze how the components of
the Madisonian system addressed the
dilemma of reconciling majority rule with
the protection of minority interests.
• LO 2.6: Compare and contrast the
Federalists and Anti-Federalists in terms
of their background and positions
regarding government.

Objectives
• LO 2.7: Explain how the Constitution can
be formally amended and how it changes
informally.
• LO 2.8: Assess whether the Constitution
establishes a majoritarian democracy and
how it limits the scope of government.

The Origins of the Constitution
LO 2.1: Describe the ideas behind the
American Revolution and their role in
shaping the Constitution.
• The Road to Revolution
• Declaring Independence
• The English Heritage: The Power of Ideas
• The American Creed
• Winning Independence
• The “Conservative” Revolution
To Learning Objectives

Constitution
• Definition
A constitution is a nation’s basic law. It
creates political institutions, assigns or
divides powers in government, and often
provides certain guarantees to citizens.
• Sets the broad rules of the game
• Accumulations of traditions and
precedents that have established
acceptable styles of behavior.

LO 2.1

• The Road to Revolution
• Colonists faced tax increases after the
French and Indian War.
• Colonists lacked direct representation in
parliament.
• Colonial leaders formed the Continental
Congress to address abuses of the English
Crown.
LO 2.1

• Declaring Independence
• In May and June 1776, the Continental
Congress debated resolutions for
independence.
• The Declaration of Independence, which
listed the colonists grievances against the
British, was adopted on July 4, 1776.
• Politically, the Declaration was a polemic,
announcing and justifying revolution.
LO 2.1

Video – The Declaration Of
Independence Road Trip – a
Living Blueprint for Democracy
 Dramatic Reading of the Declaration of
Independence
Date: July 4th, 2001
 As part of the City of Philadelphia's Independence Day
celebration, the Declaration of Independence was read
from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art by
Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg,
Kevin Spacey, Renee Zellweger, Benecio Del Toro,
Ming Na, Morgan Freeman, Kathy Bates, Edward
Norton, Graham Greene, and Winona Ryder.

Declaration Of
Independence Translation
 When in the course of human events, it
becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station to which
the laws of nature and of nature’s God
entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.

Declaration Of
Independence Translation
 We Hold These Truths to Be Self-
Evident…

• The English Heritage: The Power of
Ideas
• Natural Rights – Rights inherent in
humans being, not dependent on
government.
• Consent of the Governed – The
government derives its authority by
sanction of the people.
• Limited Government – Put certain
restrictions on government to protect
natural rights.
LO 2.1

• The American Creed
• Jefferson altered Locke’s phrase, “life,
liberty, and property” to “life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.”
• "A right to property is founded in our natural wants, in the means
with which we are endowed to satisfy these wants, and the right
to what we acquire by those means without violating the similar
rights of other sensible beings." --Thomas Jefferson to Pierre
Samuel Dupont de Nemours, 1816. ME 14:490
LO 2.1

• Winning Independence
• In 1783, the American colonies prevailed in
their war against England.
• The “Conservative” Revolution
• Restored rights the colonists felt they had lost
• Not a major change of lifestyles.
Did not create class conflicts that would split
society
LO 2.1

The Government That Failed: 1776–1787
LO 2.2: Analyze how the weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation led to its failure.
• The Articles of Confederation
• Changes in the States
• Economic Turmoil
• The Aborted Annapolis Meeting

Forms of Government
• Unitary
• Federal (federalism)
• Confederate

The Government That Failed: 1776–1787
• The Articles of Confederation
• The first document to govern the United
States, ratified in 1781.
• It created a confederation among 13
states and former colonies.
• Congress had few powers; there was no
president or national court system.
• All government power rested in the states.
LO 2.2

Articles of Confederation
• The Critical Period

HipHughes
• The Articles of Confederation Explained

The Government That Failed
• Economic Turmoil
Postwar depression left farmers unable to pay
debts
State legislatures sympathetic to farmers
passed laws that favored debtors over
creditors
• Shays’ Rebellion(1786-1787)
Series of attacks on courthouses by a small
band of farmers led by Revolutionary War
Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure
proceedings.
Economic elite concerned about Articles’
inability to limit these violations of individual’s
property rights

• Success
Signed treaty of alliance with France
Kept country together during Rev War
Negotiated and end the war
Passed the Northwest Ordinance on 1783
Established the Depts: Foreign Affairs, War,
Marine, and Treasury

The Government That Failed
• The Aborted Annapolis Meeting
An attempt to discuss changes to the Articles
of Confederation in September 1786
Attended by only 12 delegates from 5 states
Called for a meeting in May 1787 to further
discuss changes—the Constitutional
Convention

The Philadelphia Convention
• “for the sole and express purpose
of revising the Constitution (Art of
Confed)”
Although the framers had many different views, they
agreed on questions of human nature, the causes of
political conflict, and the object and nature of republican
government

Making a Constitution:
• Gentlemen in Philadelphia
55 men from 12 of the 13 states
Mostly wealthy planters & merchants
Most were college graduates with some
political experience
Average age 33 (Franklin 81)
Many were coastal residents from the larger
cities, not the rural areas

Key Playas
• Benjamin Franklin
• George Washington
• James Madison
• Alexander Hamilton
• Gouverneur Morris
• Edmund Randolph
• William Patterson
• Roger Sherman
• George Mason

Not in Attendance
• Thomas Jefferson
• John Adams
• Richard Henry Lee
• John Hancock
• Samuel Adams
• Patrick Henry

The Philadelphia Convention,
continued
• Philosophy into Action
Human Nature - self-interest…"Power
tends to corrupt, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely. Great men are
almost always bad men."
Political Conflict – arise from unequal
distribution of wealth - leads to
factions -or groups of citizens, with interests
contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the
whole community

Making a Constitution:
• Philosophy into Action (cont.)
• Objects of Government – Property must
be protected against the tyranny of faction.
• Nature of Government – Secret of good
government is “balanced government”
because as long as no “faction” could
seize complete control of government,
tyranny could be avoided.
LO 2.3

• The most important issues at the
Constitutional Convention dealt with
issues of political equality.
State representation
Slavery
Political equality
- The Constitution is silent on the issue of
personal equality

p. 39-43 Activity - Homework
• Compare and contrast the NJ/VA Plans.
• Explain why smaller states would have
supported the NJ Plan and larger states
would have supported the VA Plan.
• What were the key components of the
Connecticut (Great) Compromise? How is
this relevant today?
• Explain the Slave Trade and 3/5th
Compromises. What were the issues that
led to these compromises? Do you agree or
disagree with the results? Why?
• Explain the delegates’ decision about voting
rights. Do you agree or disagree with this
decision? Why?

Key Constitutional Concepts
Creating a Constitution

The Agenda in Philadelphia

Critical Issues at the Convention
• The Individual Rights Issues
• Prohibits suspension of writ of habeas corpus.
• No bills of attainder.
• No ex post facto laws.
• Religious qualifications for holding office
prohibited.
• Strict rules of evidence for conviction of
treason.
• Jury trial in criminal cases.
LO 2.4

The Madisonian System
LO 2.5: Analyze how the components of the
Madisonian system addressed the dilemma
of reconciling majority rule with the
protection of minority interests.
• Thwarting Tyranny of the Majority
• The Constitutional Republic
• The End of the Beginning

• Thwarting Tyranny of the Majority
• Limiting Majority Control – To keep most of
the government beyond the control of the
masses. Democracy?
• Separating Powers – Branches are relatively
independent of the others so no single branch
could control the others.
LO 2.5

• Thwarting Tyranny of the Majority (cont.)
• Creating Checks and Balances – Each
branch needs the consent of the others for
many actions. (Governing would be a slow
and messy process)
• Establishing a Federal System –
Federalism divides power between national
and state governments.
LO 2.5

LO 2.5

The Madisonian Model
• The Constitutional Republic
Republic: A form of government in which the
people select representatives to govern them
and make laws
Federalism – powers shared between central
gov’t and state gov’t
Favors the status quo – change is slow
• The End of the Beginning
Sept 1787 - The document was approved, but
not unanimously. Now it had to be ratified.

Ratifying the Constitution
LO 2.6: Compare and contrast the
Federalists and Anti-Federalists in terms of
their background and their positions
regarding government.
• Federalists and Anti-Federalists
• Ratification

• Federalists and Anti-Federalists
• Federalists supported the new
Constitution and wrote the Federalist
Papers to defend it.
• Anti-Federalists opposed the new
Constitution and believed it was an enemy
of freedom.
LO 2.6

LO 2.6

Famous Federalist –
Famous Anti Federalists - Patrick Henry, Samuel
Adams, George Mason, James Monroe, Luther Martin,

• Federalist Papers
A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the
name “Publius” to defend the Constitution and to
push for its’ ratification in the states
- Most Famous Federalist 10 and 51 (650,653)

Homework
• Madison Reading
• Read Federalist 10 & 51

GradeSaver
• Free Study Guides
• Best Essay Editing
•
• Getting you the grade since 1999
• http://www.gradesaver.com/

• The Problem of a Faction,
Federalist 10 Activity

Federalist 10, Madison
• Madison begins perhaps the most
famous of the Federalist papers by
stating that one of the strongest
arguments in favor of the Constitution is
the fact that it establishes a government
capable of controlling the violence and
damage caused by factions

Federalist 10, Madison
• Madison argued that a strong, big
republic would be a better guard against
those dangers than smaller republics
• A large republic would be better for the
“common good”

Anti Federalists
• Believe in the basic ideas of
Republicanism
- Power to popularly elected Congress
- Would only work in small community of
citizens with similar beliefs
- People would agree on common good
- People would possess civic virtue

Anti Federalists
• The new Constitution would
- Create a large and powerful central
government
- Population would be two diverse to
promote the common good
- Be a threat to the rights of the people

Federalist vs. Anti Federalist
Arguments
• Readings – We The People, The Citizen
and The Constitution.
• Anti Fed 84-86 - Q 1 and 2 - Blue
• Feds 87-90 - Q 1 and 4 - Blue

• Ratification
Lacking majority support, the Federalists
specified that the Constitution be ratified by
state conventions, not state legislatures.
Delaware first ratified the Constitution on
December 7, 1787.
New Hampshire’s approval (the ninth state to
ratify) made the Constitution official six
months later.

• Del 30 – 0 Dec 7, 1787
• PA 46 – 23 Dec 12, 1787
• NJ 38 - 0
• GA 26 - 0
• CT 128 - 40
• MA 187 – 168
• MD 63 - 11
• SC 149 - 73
• NH 57 - 47
• What key states are missing?

• VA 89 - 79
• NY 30 - 27
• NC 194 - 77
• RI 34 – 32
• Only 3 states unanimously ratified the Constitution
• 5 of 13 agreed to ratify by a narrow margin

Federalist vs. Anti-Federalists
The compromise between the two
groups was the Bill of Rights.

• Bill of Rights
• The first 10 amendments to the U.S.
Constitution, drafted in response to
some of the Anti-Federalist concerns
about the lack of basic liberties

Changing the Constitution
LO 2.7: Explain how the Constitution can be
formally amended and how it changes
informally.
• The Formal Amending Process
• The Informal Process of
Constitutional Change
• The Importance of Flexibility

• “The Constitution belongs to the living
and not to the dead” Jefferson
• “Living Document”
• Constitutional Change - by formal or
informal amendment

• There have been over 11,000 proposals for Amendments over
the last 200 years
• Only 27 have made it through the entire process
• Examples:
1893 – The nation should hereafter be known as the United States of the Earth.
1912 – marriage between certain races should be abolished
1916 – All acts of war shall be put to a national vote. All those affirming shall be
registered as a volunteer for service in the US Army

• The Formal Amending Process
• Proposal – An amendment may be
proposed either by a two-thirds vote in
each house or chamber of Congress, or
by a national convention called by
Congress at the request of two-thirds of
the state legislatures.
LO 2.7

• The Formal Amending Process (cont.)
• Ratification – An amendment may be
ratified either by the legislatures of three-
fourths of the states, or by special state
conventions called in three-fourths of the
states.
LO 2.7

LO 2.7

Other Amendments
11 – Citizens can’t sue another state in Fed court
12 – Vote for the “ticket”
16 – income tax
17 – direct election of senators
20 – “lame duck” amendment – Jan 20th
27 – Congressional salary increase can not take
effect until after the next election

- Most of the Amendments have made the
Constitution more egalitarian and more
democratic
15th
17th
19th
23rd
24th
26th

Informal Amendments?
Constitution USA | PBS

• Judicial Interpretation – “Court
Decisions”
• Expand Laws - Marbury v. Madison (1803)
established judicial review.
• Ban or Reverse laws- Roe V Wade, 1973
LO 2.7

• Changing Political Practice – “Custom”
• Political parties and the Electoral College
practice today changed the Constitution.
• Presidents Cabinet
• No Third Term for President
LO 2.7

Constitutional Change (cont.)
• Technology – Mass media, atomic
weapons, computers, and electronic
communications have changed the
Constitution.
LO 2.7

• Increasing Demands on Policymakers –
“Executive Action” Demands for more
domestic and foreign policies changed the
Constitution.
• “War” without declaration
• Executive Agreements – pact made by
president with foreign nations
LO 2.7

• Laws – actions of the Bureaucracy
• Better define the Constitution
• Add to the Constituion
LO 2.7

• The Importance of Flexibility
• The Constitution is a short document (27
amendments and less than 8,000 words)
• The Constitution created a flexible
government that could adapt to the needs
of the times without sacrificing personal
freedom.
LO 2.7

•LEJSAS 9/13

Understanding the Constitution
LO 2.8: Assess whether the Constitution
establishes a majoritarian democracy and
how it limits the scope of government.
• The Constitution and Democracy
• The Constitution and the Scope of
Government

• The Constitution and Democracy
• The Constitution created a republic
(representative democracy based on
limited government).
• Historically, there has been a gradual
democratization of the Constitution away
from the elitist model of democracy and
toward the pluralist one.
LO 2.8

• The Constitution and the Scope of
Government
• Separation of powers and checks and
balances promote demands for public
policy to be heard.
• Separation of powers and checks and
balances promote bargaining,
compromise, playing one institution
against another, and an increase of
hyperpluralism.
LO 2.8

LO 2.8

LO 2.1
Summary
• Ideas behind American Revolution and the
Constitution were belief in natural rights,
consent of the governed, limited
government, responsibility of government
to protect property, and equality of
citizens.

LO 2.2
Summary
• The Government That Failed: 1776–
1787
• The Articles of Confederation established
a government dominated by the states,
without a permanent executive or national
judiciary.
• A weak central government could not
raise sufficient funds, regulate trade,
protect property rights, or take action
without unanimous consent of the states.

LO 2.3
Summary
• Making a Constitution: The
Philadelphia Convention
• The Framers were more educated,
wealthy, and urban than most.
• Core ideas they shared were that people
were self-interested, wealth distribution
was a source of political conflict, the
object of government was protecting
private property, and balanced
government is best government.

LO 2.4
Summary
• The Framers intended to make the
national government an economic
stabilizer.
• The economic powers assigned to
Congress left no doubt it was to forge
national economic policy.
• The Framers did include some specific
individual rights.

LO 2.5
Summary
• The Founders reconciled majority rule with
minority interests by constraining both the
majority and the minority.
• The Madisonian system dispersed power
among separate branches of government,
and gave them shared powers so that
each branch had a check on the others.
LO 2.5

LO 2.6
Summary
• The Federalists, largely from the
economic elite, supported a strong
national government.
• Anti-Federalists, largely from the middle
class, supported a weaker national
government and wanted individual
liberties.
• The Federalists promised to propose what
became known as the Bill of Rights.

LO 2.7
Summary
• The formal amendment process requires
supermajorities in both houses of
Congress and among the states.
• The informal process includes judicial
interpretation, changing political practices,
technology, and the increasing demands
on policymakers.

LO 2.8
Summary
• The Constitution did not create a majoritarian
democracy so majorities did not always rule.
• Gradual democratization of the Constitution –
Right to vote has expanded, senators are
elected, and president electors are now
agents of political parties.

LO 2.8
Summary
• Understanding the Constitution (cont.)
• By protecting individual rights and limiting
government power to restrict them, the
Constitution limits the scope of government.
• By dispersing power among institutions, the
Constitution increases access of interests to
government but also allows these interests to
check each other and produce stalemate.

Understanding the Origins and Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

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