#1 State Constitutions

Transcription

1 #1 State Constitutions The American Revolution began the process of creating a new nation in a number of different ways. On May 10, 1776, the Continental Congress directed the colonies to suppress royal authority and to create institutions based on popular rule. As a result, new governments at the state level began to make new rules for themselves, most wrote constitutions. The states now faced serious and complicated questions about how to make their rules. What did it mean to replace royal authority with institutions based on popular rule? How was "POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY" (the idea that the people were the highest authority) to be institutionalized in the new state governments? For that matter, who were "the people"? Every state chose to answer these questions in different ways based on distinctive local experiences, but in most cases colonial traditions were continued, but modified, so that the GOVERNOR (the executive) lost significant power, while the ASSEMBLIES (the legislative branch, which represented the people most directly) became much more important. Some like Virginia looked to protect individual rights. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, protected freedom of the press and religion and ensured trial by jury. It heavily influenced later documents. Thomas Jefferson is thought to have drawn on it when he drafted the United States Declaration of Independence in the same month (June 1776). James Madison was also influenced by the Declaration while drafting the Bill of Rights. The importance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights is that it was the first constitutional protection of individual rights, rather than protecting only members of Parliament or consisting of simple laws that can be changed as easily as passed. Answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1) After independence was declared who began to organize new governments? 2) How did these new governments incorporate popular sovereignty? 3) How did most states alter their government in comparison to their colonial versions? 4) What is the significance of the Virginia Declaration of Rights?

2 #2 The Articles of Confederation While the state constitutions were being created, the Continental Congress continued to meet as a general political body. Despite being the central government, it was a loose confederation and most significant power was held by the individual states. By 1777 members of Congress realized that they should have some clearly written rules for how they were organized. As a result the ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION were drafted and passed by the Congress in November. Strengths of the Articles of Confederation Government signed a treaty of alliance with France in Government successfully waged a war for independence against the British. Government negotiated an end to the American Revolution in the Treaty of Paris, signed in Government granted the free inhabitants of each state all the privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states. Government provided for the eventual admission of Canada into the Confederation. Government passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which allowed the Northwest Territories to organize their own governments. It allowed the eventual admission to the Union of no more than five states, and no fewer than three, on an equal footing with the original states. The Ordinance also banned slavery from the region. Government established the Departments of Foreign Affairs, War, Marine, and Treasury Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Congress had no power to coin money, therefore each state developed its own currency. Congress was unable to regulate interstate and foreign commerce; some states refused to pay for goods they purchased from abroad. Congress was unable to impose taxes; it could only borrow money on credit. No national court system was established to protect the rights of U.S. citizens. No executive branch was established to enforce laws. Amendments could be added only with the approval of all 13 states. Approval of 9 of 13 states was required to pass a law in Congress. One vote was allotted for each state, despite the size of its population. It was just a firm league of friendship. 1) Create a T chart, titled Articles of Confederation that compares and contrasts its strengths & weaknesses 2) What do think was the greatest weakness of the Articles of Confederation? Explain Why.

3 #3 Shay s Rebellion Shays Rebellion is the name given to a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. Although farmers took up arms in states from New Hampshire to South Carolina, the rebellion was most serious in Massachusetts, where bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threatened farmers with the loss of their farms. The rebellion took its name from its symbolic leader, Daniel Shays of Massachusetts, a former captain in the Continental army. The federal government could do nothing to stop the uprising. The Articles of Confederation hindered their ability to solve the problems. As a result Americans began to call for changes to the government. We are fast verging to anarchy and confusion! How melancholy [sad] is the reflection, that in so short a space, we should have made such large strides towards fulfilling the prediction of our transatlantic foe [Our enemy the British]! "leave them to themselves, and their government will soon dissolve." Will not the wise and good strive hard to avert [prevent] this evil?...what stronger evidence can be given of the want of energy in our governments than these disorders [Shays Rebellion]? If there exists not a power to check them, what security has a man for life, liberty, or property? Source: George Washington s letter to James Madison, November 5, 1786 Answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1) Why were American farmers rebelling? 2) According to Washington s letter what had the British predicted would happen in America? 3) According to Washington how was the government failing to protect Natural Rights? 4) What was the result of Shay s Rebellion?

4 #4 The Great Compromise The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. Over the months of meetings several ideas argued over and several compromise were made. The Virginia Plan Written primarily by James Madison, laid out a plan for the new government. It consisted of three branches with checks and balances to prevent the abuse of power. It was bicameral (2 house): one with members elected by the people for 3-year terms and the other composed of older leaders elected by the state legislatures for 7-year terms. Both would use population as a basis for dividing seats among the states. Large states like Virginia backed the plan that was based on proportional representation. The New Jersey Plan The New Jersey Plan, on the other hand, proposed a unicameral legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote, using equal representation. The same as under the Articles of Confederation. It was supported by smaller states with less population. The Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise) Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman proposed a "bicameral," or two-chambered Congress, made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Each state, suggested Sherman, would send an equal number of representatives to the Senate, and one representative to the House for each 30,000 residents of the state. Combining the ideas of equal and proportional representation. At the time, all the states except Pennsylvania had bicameral legislatures, so the delegates were familiar with the structure of Congress proposed by Sherman. 1) Create a 3 column chart titled the Legislative Branch, label the columns Virginia Plan, Great Compromise, NJ Plan and then list details of each. 2) Why would large states prefer proportional representation? 3) Why would small states prefer equal representation?

5 #5 The 3/5 s Compromise The Constitution was a document based upon compromise: between larger and smaller states, between proponents of a strong central government and those who favored strong state governments, and, above all, between northern and southern states. Of all the compromises on which the Constitution rested, perhaps the most controversial was the Three-Fifths Compromise, an agreement to count three-fifths of a state's slaves in towards population when calculating Representatives, Presidential electors, and direct taxes. The Three-Fifths Compromise greatly augmented southern political power. In the Continental Congress, where each state had an equal vote, there were only five states in which slavery was a major institution. Thus the southern states had about 38 percent of the seats in the Continental Congress. Because of the 3/5 s Compromise, the southern states had nearly 45 percent of the seats in the first U.S. Congress, which took office in Answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1) What issue did the 3/5 s compromise settle? 2) Why would the South want slaves to be counted toward population? 3) Why would northern states be against? 4) What effect did the 3/5 s Compromise have on southern political power?

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