The US Constitution; Separation of Powers; Checks and Balances; Controversy over slavery; Creation of electoral college; 3/5ths compromise

1. CREATING A MORE
PERFECT UNION 1783-1800
Chapter 6

2. STRENGTHS OF THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
Supported the concept of “republicanism” which meant that the
American Republic would never be governed by kings or queens or
nobility but by “We the People”
 Question for today: Does the influence of money in unlimited political campaign
contributions as a corporate 1st Amendment right create a nobility of wealth and
significantly alters the political concept of “republicanism”?
Confederation government concluded the Treaty of Paris ending the
Revolutionary War and forcing Great Britain to acknowledge American
sovereignty.
Established principles of land distribution and territorial government
that would guide westward expansion for the next 75 years.

3. WEAKNESSES OF ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
Congress had no power to tax
No executive power to enforce laws enacted by Congress
Congress had no authority to engage in meaningful diplomacy
 Trade with West Indies
 Spanish closed Port of New Orleans
Congress could not enforce uniform tax or trade policies among the
individual states
 Tariffs differed from state to state
 Some states paid their debts others did not
 Some states printed a lot of paper money, others did not

4. NORTHWEST ORDINANCE OF 1787
New western territories could become states and would be treated as
equals and not colonies
3 stage process for becoming a state:
 Congress to appoint a territorial governor and local officials to create a legal code,
keep the peace and administer justice
 When the population of the territory reached 5,000 adult males, a legislature would
be elected
 When territory population reached 60,00 “free inhabitants” it could create a state
constitution and apply to Congress for admission to the Union as a state.
 1803: Ohio was first state admitted under the plan
Slavery would be illegal in the western region although slaves who
were already there would remain slaves

5. NEWBURGH CONSPIRACY
Robert Morris: Superintendent of Finance for the Continental
Congress
Along with other wealthy financiers obtained money to fund the
Revolutionary War
Along with officers in the Continental Army who feared they would
not be paid, Morris and his financier collaborators formed a
conspiracy to confront Congress with a Coup d’etat unless the former
colonies agreed to give Congress more power to raise money
Alexander Hamilton who was part of the conspiracy, sought to bring
his mentor, General George Washington into the group.
March, 1783 Washington confronted the officers and argued that a
Coup threatened the purposes for which the war was being fought, as
well as his own integrity.

6. WESTERN LAND CESSIONS,
1781–1802

7. FOREIGN TENSIONS
Confrontations with Great Britain and Spain
 Both kept trading posts on American soil in violation of Treaty of Paris
 Britain demanded that U.S. repay loyalists for property confiscated during
Revolutionary War
 Southern border of U.S. was disputed by Spain
 Port of New Orleans
 Trade along the Mississippi River
 Indian raids using arms provided by Spanish governor of Florida
 Spain declared that all land west of the Appalachians belonged to the Indians

8. SHAY’S REBELLION
Daniel Shays a Revolutionary War veteran of Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill,
Saratoga
Shay’s was wounded in action and never paid wages
Hauled into court after the war for non-payment of debts
John Hancock and Massachusetts war debt
Issuance of more currency devalued the money and enabled the debtor to
pay off debt at a lower price.
Rebels attempted to shut down courts engaging in actions to collect debts
and foreclose on farms
Western (rural Massachusetts) vs. Eastern Massachusetts (urban Boston and
Coast)
Private militias and federal armories (January 25, 1787)
 Cannon fire
 4 dead; 20 wounded

9. SHAY’S REBELLION

10. ADOPTING THE CONSTITUTION
The Constitutional Convention
Called for purpose of “Revising” the Articles of Confederation
Delegates in attendance from 12 of 13 states (Rhode Island refused)
29 delegates (often replaced with new men) May 25, 1787 – September 17, 1787
George Washington Presided over the convention
The emergence of James Madison
U.S. Constitution is the longest running functioning written constitution in the world.
Differing political philosophies and plans
The Virginia Plan: (James Madison) scrap the Articles of Confederation and start over using a
Federal model of government
The New Jersey Plan: keep the Articles of Confederation in a one house Congress that had
power to levy taxes and regulate interstate commerce, name a chief executive and appoint a

11. ADOPTING THE CONSTITUTION
The Great Compromise (aka Connecticut Compromise): create new legislative
structure with bi-cameral (2 house) legislature: House of Representatives (# of
representatives based on population) and Senate (each state having 2 Senators)
Principles incorporated into the Constitution over concerns about who should have
power and how it would be used and controlled
 Separation of Powers: each branch given a separate sphere of authority and responsibility to
counter-balance the other branches
 Checks & Balances:
 Nature of the Legislature: House members elected every two years; Senate (initaially) elected by state
legislatures every 4 years; Senate was to be conservative and deliberate body that could check the
power of the House or the President; House of Representatives controlled the purse –must approve
funds for laws; wars; expansion, infrastructure, bureaucracy, checking the power of President or
Senate. (Article I)
 Nature of the presidency: accountable to the people by standing for election every 4 years; could not
unilaterally declare war or make peace; could be impeached by House of representatives for bribery;
treason; “high crimes and misdemeanors” and removed from office by vote of 2/3 of Senate to convict.
(Article II)
 Nature of the judicial branch: Interpret the laws passed by Congress and ensure that every citizen

12. WE THE PEOPLE?
 Difference between “citizen” and “person”?
 Native Americans not considered federal or state citizens unless
they paid taxes. Tribes treated as “separate nations”.
 Non-citizens identified as “persons” had certain rights under the
Bill of Rights
 Slaves—3/5ths Compromise
 The status of enslaved people was highly controversial.
 The Southern states demanded that enslaved people could not
be given the status of “person” or “citizen” because they were
property. And as property had no rights.
 Southern states insisted that enslaved people be counted as
3/5 of a person for population purposes to equalize
representation between populous North and Rural South.
 To satisfy the objections of anti-slavery delegates, the
Constitution distinguished between “free persons” and “all
other persons”.
 Promoters of the new Constitution like James Madison (himself
a slaveholder) agreed to the 3/5ths compromise rather than
risk a walk out by Southern delegates—many of whom were
already hesitant about the Federal system for giving too much
power to the Federal Government and the fact that the
Constitution did not identify specific individual rights of
citizens
 Women: considered irrelevant by the delegates and never
mentioned.
 Difference between “citizen” and “person”?
 Native Americans not considered federal or state citizens unless they paid taxes. Tribes treated
as “separate nations”.
 Non-citizens (foreign national residing in the states) identified as “persons” & had certain rights
under the Bill of Rights
 Enslaved people—3/5ths Compromise
 The status of enslaved people was highly controversial.
 The Southern states demanded that enslaved people could not be given the status of “person” or “citizen” because
they were property. And as property had no rights.
 To satisfy the objections of anti-slavery delegates, the Constitution distinguished between “free persons” and “all
other persons”.
 Southern states also insisted that enslaved people be counted for population purposes to equalize representation
between populous North and Rural South.
 Promoters of the new Constitution like James Madison (himself a slaveholder) agreed to the 3/5ths
compromise rather than risk a walk out by Southern delegates—many of whom were already hesitant
about the Federal system as giving too much power to the Federal Government.
 Suspicion of Federal system also because the Constitution did not identify specific individual rights of
citizens, later identified in the Bill of Rights.

13. CONTINUING CONTROVERSY
Did the Constitution enshrine the institution of slavery ensuring that the
institution would be protected legally and indirectly leading to a civil war to end
the practice?
 By creating the Electoral College which gave slave states outsized influence in the general
election and negating the popular vote in favor of the votes of “electors”.
 By identifying enslaved people as “other persons”.
 By identifying enslaved people as 3/5ths of a person ensuring a legal basis for inequality under
the law.
Did the Constitution implicitly create an avenue for the ultimate emancipation of
enslaved people:
 By identifying them as “other persons” rather than property as the South insisted.
 By creating a structural framework that would permit radical change through the Amendment
process and separation of powers.
 By placing a limit on the institution by placing a date certain beyond which importation of
slaves could be eliminated.

14. WE THE PEOPLE?
THE CONSTITUTION AS A LIVING DOCUMENT
PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK FOR AN ONGOING
REVOLUTION
The Constitution provided a framework for government ruled by “We the People”
rather than a King, Queen or groups of nobility.
The Constitution incorporated the ideal of equality and inalienable rights as
identified in the Declaration of Independence into the structural framework of
government.
The Constitution provided a legal framework for the peaceful transition of power
between opposing sides.
The status of citizen, the right to participate in self government and the individual
rights of citizens enshrined in the Bill of Rights enabled those originally excluded
from the Constitution to ultimately gain the rights of citizens through the courts.
Importance of Amendment process:
 Recognizing that as time went on, the original document might need to be amended as
circumstances required, the delegates provided a framework for amending the Constitution in

15. THE FIGHT FOR RATIFICATION
September 17, 1787: Majority of delegates to the Constitutional
Convention approve the Constitution
The Constitution “laid before the United States in Congress
assembled” on September 20.
September 26 & 27 Congress debated the document and whether or
not to censure the delegates to the Constitutional Convention for
exceeding their authority.

16. THE FIGHT FOR RATIFICATION
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
 Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay of New York and James Madison of Virginia.
 Arguments for ratification
 The Federalist Papers 85 essays written in support of the new constitution and defended the principle of a strong national
government
 Anti-Federalists led by Patrick Henry and George Mason of Virginia and other delegates from New York,
Massachusetts and Maryland
 Arguments against ratification
 Argued that the potential for the federal government to become tyrannical was too great under the proposed Constitution and that the
Constitution did not identify or preserve individual rights
By June of 1788 nine states had ratified the Constitution and the Confederation
Congress selected New York as the temporary national capital and fixed the date for the
first national elections in 1788-89.

17. THE BILL OF RIGHTS
In order to secure ratification, James Madison promised that the first order
of business for the new legislature would be to propose a Bill of Rights to
secure individual rights from the power of the state. He was true to his
word.
September 1789 Congress approved 12 amendments and by 1791 3/4th of
the state had approved 10 amendments.
1st Amendment original
 US was first government to prohibit the government from endorsing or supporting any
one religion or from interfering with the choices of religion made by individuals

18. THE FIGHT FOR RATIFICATION
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
 Arguments for ratification
 Size and diversity of the expanding United States required a strong federal framework and would
make it impossible for any one faction to dominate.
 Without a federal framework the means for expansion and prosperity, repayment of debt and national
defense would be compromised
 Madison promised George Mason and Patrick Henry that if they agreed to ratify the Constitution, he
would make sure that a Bill of Rights was passed as the first order of business of Congress.
 Arguments against ratification
 Delegates had exceeded their authority and document was illegal
 Document worked for the privileged few but not for the majority
 Too much power to Federal government at expense of the states
 Constitution did not include a Bill of Rights

19. THE FIGHT FOR RATIFICATION
Nine States had to ratify for Constitution to become law
The decision of the states
 Delaware: first state to ratify the Constitution: December 7, 1787
 North Carolina ratified the Constitution only after the Bill of Rights was passed in Congress in
1789
 By May, 1789 Nine states had ratified the Constitution
Rhode Island: last state to ratify the Constitution. After initially rejecting
ratification in a referendum and being threatened with treatment as a foreign
government, Rhode Island ratified the Constitution by two votes on May 29,
1790.
October 2, 1789 Congress approved of 12 amendments (only the first 10 were
adopted by the States).

20. Virginia Ratifies the U.S.
Constitution, June 25,
1789 By Louis
Glanzmann (1987).
89 in favor, 79 opposed.