The Constitution and the New Republic (pages 160­178) Framing the New Government ● Confederation Congress ○ settled in New York in 1785 ○ signed treaty with Great Britain ending the revolutionary war Advocates of Centralization ● Confederation wanted to keep political power in the centered states where they could control it ● American manufacturers wanted to replace the various state taxes with high national duty. ○ Merchants and shippers wanted to replace the 13 different policies with only one. ○ Land speculators wanted the Indians out. ○ people who were owed money wanted to stop the issue of paper money. ○ conflicts between liberty and order in American democracy arise. ● Alexander Hamilton ○ unhappy with the Articles of confederation. ○ 1787 ■ news of Shay’s rebellion A Divided Convention ● September 1787 ○ 55 men representing the states except Rhode Island came ○ “Founding Father” ○ chose George Washington to lead the sessions ■ each state would have a single vote ○ Edmund Randolph ■ proposed that a national government needs to have a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary. ● different from current confederation ■ Virginia Plan ● a new national legislature consisting of 2 houses ○ lower house ■ states represented based on population ○ upper house ■ elected by the lower house ● opposition for the plan from small states ■ William Paterson of New Jersey ● The New Jersey Plan ○ each state equal representation ○ Congress larger power over taxation and control over commerce ● Virginian plan supports agreed to let the upper house be elected by the state legislatures ● conflicts regarding to count slaves as property or amongst the population arise Compromise ● July 2 ○ convention create a grand committee with a single delegate from each state to resolve disagreements ■ Benjamin Franklin as chairman ○ Slaves counted as three­fifths of a free person ● July 6, 1787 ○ the states represented with 2 members from each state in the upper house ○ the new legislature not permitted to tax exports ○ forbidden to impose more than $10 each on imported slaves ○ no authority to stop slave trade for 20 years ○ provided no definition of citizenship The Constitution of 1787 ● James Madison ○ argued that all levels of government and authorities came from the people ○ distribution of powers between the national and state governments ○ Constitution separated the powers within the government ■ created checks and balances among the legislative,executive, and judicial branches ■ Congress has 2 chambers ● Senate and House of representatives ● elected for different amount of terms ■ President has power to veto acts of Congress ■ judges and justices serve for life ● protected by the legislature and the executive ● September 17, 1787 ○ 39 delegates signed the constitution Federalists and Antifederalists ● special that special state conventions, not state legislatures, consider the document ● Supporters of Constitution ○ better organized ○ supported by Franklin and Washington, and important political philosophers ○ “Federalists” ○ feared Anti­federalists ■ believed the new government would increase taxes ■ destroy the states ■ use dictatorial powers ■ Constitution lacked Bill of Rights ● 1787­1788 ○ Delaware Convention ■ signed the constitution unanimously ● then the other states followed except for Virginia and New York Completing the Structure ● 1789 ○ first elections under the constitution ○ Washington received all the votes for President ○ John Adams became vice president ○ 1789 ■ Congress approved 12 constitution on September 25, 1789 ■ the first ten are the Bill of Rights ○ Judiciary Act of 1789 ■ Congress 6 members to Supreme Court ○ The first Congress created 3 departments: state, treasury, and war Federalists and Republicans ● two sides a. wanted a strong, national government ■ Federalists b. wanted America not to be highly commercial and urban ■ Republican Hamilton and the Federalists 1) Alexander Hamilton ○ believed the new government needed support from the wealthy and powerful ■ needed to give the elite support ○ the new government takes the responsibility of the existing public debt ■ did not mean to eliminate the debt ○ wanted to create a national bank ○ two kinds of taxes ■ tax paid by companies of alcoholic liquors ■ tax on imports Enacting the Federalist Program ● James Madison ○ proposed to divide the federally funded bonds between the original purchasers and the speculators ■ Hamilton's allies disagreed ○ Congress passed the funding bill Hamilton wanted ● the capital moved from New York back to Philadelphia in 1790 ● Madison, Jefferson and Randolph disagreed with the plan of a national bank ○ believed Congress should use no powers that the Constitution did not give it ● The Bank of the United States began operations in 1791 ● Hamilton’s tax plan passed in 1792 The Republican Opposition ● the Federalists used their control and awarding the government franchises to reward their supports and win additional allies ○ their opponents believed they were doing the same thing as the British ● Republican Party ○ (not connected to the current Republican Party) ○ formed committees and societies in every state ○ working together to influence state and local elections ○ wanted agrarian society ● 1792 ○ second president election ■ Washington as president again Establishing national Sovereignty Securing the Frontier ● 1794 ○ Whiskey rebellion ■ farmers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay a whiskey tax ● terrorized the tax collectors ■ Washington sent 15,000 troops to stop the uprising ○ the Union ■ North Carolina in 1789 ■ Rhode Island in 1790 ■ New York ■ New Hampshire ■ Vermont in 1791 ■ Kentucky ■ Virginia in 1792 ■ Tennessee in 1796 Native Americans and the New Nation ● border conflicts with Indian tribes ○ resisted white settlements in their land ● the United States defeated the Indian challenges ● there were little to no places for Indians in the constitution ● no direct representation in the new government ● the Indian lands under the United States Maintaining Neutrality ● Great Britain sent a minister the the US ● conflicts during the wars between France and Great Britain ○ US was neutral Jay’s Treaty and Pinckney’s Treaty ● John Jay ○ 1794 ■ ordered to get compensation from Britain of assaults on American shipping ■ demand withdrawal of Britain forces from the frontier posts ■ negotiate commercial treaty ■ Pinckney's Treaty of 1795 ● provided settlements of conflicts with the Spanish ● Spain allowed Americans to navigate Mississippi ○ deposit goods at New Orleans ○ agreed to fix the northern boundary of Florida ○ required the Spanish to prevent the Indians in Florida to attack in the north The Downfall of the Federalists ● After 1796, the Federalists never on another election ● Federalists gradually stepped down from effective political force The Elections of 1796 ● George Washington retired from office in 1797 ● the Federalists faced factional rivalries ● John Adams became president The Quasi War with France ● conflicts with the French arise ○ France captured American ships and sometimes imprisoned the crews ● some favored war while some wanted conciliation ● Paris 2797 ○ France demanded a loan for France and a bribe for French officials from America ● The “XYZ” affair ○ Adams published the demand that France asked ■ he cut off all trade with France ■ ordered American ships to capture French armed ships ● 1798 ○ Congress created a Department of the Navy ■ captured 85 French ships and won duels with the French ■ Britain allies with the US against the French ● Paris 1800 ○ France agreed to a treaty with the US Repression and Protest ● the Federalists began silencing the Republicans ○ the Alien Act ■ placed obstacles on foreigners to become American citizens ■ help discourage immigration and encourage the foreigners in the country to leave ○ the Sedition Act ■ allowed the government to prosecute those who are a part of a rebellion or “sedition” against the government ● 1798­1799 ○ The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions ■ argued that the federal government had been formed by a contract among the states and possessed only given powers ● if the government over uses its power, they had rights to nullify the laws ● By the 1790s, the nation was politically divided The “Revolution” of 1800 ● Election ○ Adams for the Federalists ○ Jefferson for the Republican ■ The federalists accused Jefferson of being dangerous and wild that him and his party would bring terror if they came to power ■ The Republicans viewed Adams as wanting to become king and accused the Federalists of plotting to overthrow human liberty and impose slavery on the people ○ The Constitution let each elector to vote by ballot for two persons ■ Jefferson and Aaron Burr each had 73 votes ■ On the 36th ballot, Jefferson was elected ● Judiciary Act of 1801 ○ the Federalists reduced the number of Supreme Court justices ships by 1 ■ increased the number of federal judgeships as a whole Crash Course #8 ● 1788 ○ first Presidential election ● Articles of Confederation ○ original American government ○ set up by Continental Congress ○ lasted only 10 years ■ consisted one house body of delegates with each state having 1 vote who made decisions about all the states ■ any decisions required 9 out of 13 votes ■ the government could declare war ■ conduct foreign affairs ■ make treaties ■ could issue (make) money but couldn’t collect money ○ the government was weak ○ However, it won the war against the British ○ Ohio lands ■ through treaties, the Indians surrendered the land north of the Ohio River ○ Northwest Ordinance of 1787 ■ created 5 new states between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers ■ Outlawed slavery in all of the 5 states ■ acknowledged the Indians’ claim to the land ○ the revolutionary war created debt to the Americans ■ to pay for the money, the states individually collected taxes since the Articles of Confederation couldn’t collect taxes ○ Shays’ Rebellion ■ 1786 and 1787 Massachusetts ● farmers closed the courts to prevent them from foreclosing (taking away) their farms ● Annapolis 1786 ○ meeting aimed to better manage international trade ○ next year in Philadelphia ■ the Constitution ● the delegates wrote a new charter government ● the government should have executive, legislative, and judicial branches ○ republican with representatives rather than direct democracy ○ Alexander Hamilton wanted the president and Senate to serve life terms ○ conflicts between states with big population and small populations ○ Virginia Plan ■ large states supported it ■ a two­house legislature proportional to states’ population ○ New Jersey Plan ■ small states supported it ■ single legislature house with equal representation of states ○ the Great Compromise ■ two houses ● House of representatives ● Senate ○ consideration of slaves as part of population created conflicts ■ slaves counted as three­fifths of population ■ Constitution required escaped slaves to return to their master ○ the legislative can make laws ■ But the president can veto the laws ○ the Judiciary can declare laws void ○ Senators elected by state legislators ○ Federalists Papers ■ 85 essays written by Alexander hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison ■ argued for a strong national government ○ Anti­federalists ■ supported by common people ■ afraid of a very strong government dominated by the wealthy