Origins of our American
Government
Creating the Constitution
Constitutional Convention
• The summer of
1787 was hot
• To keep out the
noise and flies,
and to protect
their secrets, the
windows were
shut.
• Men wore wool
suits
The Framers
•The men who came to Philadelphia
had a great deal of experiences and
education among them
•Most were lawyers and current
legislators for their state
•Some wrote their own state
constitutions
The Framers
•Some had signed the Declaration of
Independence
•The average age was 42, with
almost half in their 30’s
•Ben Franklin was the oldest at 81
The Framers
•Sam Adams, Thomas Jefferson,
Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock
and Thomas Paine were not present
•George Washington was elected
president of the Convention
•James Madison will be given the title
of “Father of the Constitution.”
The Work
•The delegates had decided to keep
the proceedings secret until they
were finished.
•Several delegates, especially
James Madison, kept copious notes
•They met most days from May to
September 1787
The Work
•Upon arriving, most delegates
expected to “fine tune” the
Articles.
•Within days, they majority knew
they were writing a totally new
document.
•Some delegates were prepared for
this turn of events
THE DIVIDING ISSUES
A. Great mistrust between large and small
states over the idea of representation in any
national legislature.
1. Small states feared that their concerns
would continuously be outvoted by large
states resulting in “tyranny of the majority”.
2. Large states felt entitled to have more
representations due to heavier tax burden and
more impact on them by government decisions.
3. Southern states wanted slaves to count
in representation to blunt North’s bigger
population and greater influence in any
legislature.
The Virginia Plan
•Virginia was the largest, most
populated and most influential of all
the colonies.
•Their plan favored large,
populated states, wanting a
legislative body whose membership
was decided on by total population
Solving the Representation Issue
Virginia Plan
(James Madison)
* Favored by the LARGE states
* 3 separate branches with unique powers &
duties
* Bicameral legislature; both houses based on
population
- Lower house elected directly by the people
- Upper house elected by state legislatures
* Single, stronger executive with veto check on
legislature; chosen by the legislature.
* Legislature can override state laws
The Virginia Plan
•Their plan also called for 3
branches of government; executive,
legislative and judicial
•The lower house, based on
population, would select members
of the upper house
•Federal laws supersede state laws
The Virginia Plan
•Congress has the authority to
admit new states
•Congress would choose a “National
Executive”
•The small states thought these
ideas were too radical
The New Jersey Plan
•William Patterson of NJ presented
the plan for the smaller states
•The plan called for equal state
representation regardless of size
•Congress would be limited in their
ability to tax and regulate trade
The New Jersey Plan
•A panel would make up the
“federal executive” office
•A “supreme” tribunal would oversee
the judicial system.
New Jersey Plan
(William Paterson)
- Favored by the SMALL states
- Retain unicameral legislature with each state
having 1 vote (equality)
- Legislators to be appointed by state
legislature
- Weak, multi-person executive, no veto power
- National laws supreme over state laws
- Legislature could levy taxes and regulate
interstate trade
THE GENIUS OF THE FRAMERS
HELPED Craft A SOLUTION TO
THEIR concerns:
The Great Compromise!
The Connecticut Compromise
or Great Compromise
•The large states expected to
dominate the new government
•The Connecticut Compromise joined
the Virginia Plan and the New
Jersey Plan into the Constitution
we have today.
1. It proposed:
A bicameral legislature with:
• A House of Representatives to be
based on population with members
elected directly by citizens.
- Allowed larger states to
dominate in this chamber.
• A Senate with each state equally
represented with 2 members
chosen by their state legislatures.
- Smaller states could
dominate here by their larger
numbers and negate larger states’
influence in House.
GREAT COMPROMISE (cont’d)
• Money bills would be started in the
House
• Single executive chosen via an Electoral
College composed of electors from each
state (eliminates fear of popular vote in
selecting the executive)
- 4-year repeatable term of office
• Independent judiciary with judges
appointed by executive and confirmed by
Senate
Three-Fifths Compromise
•Northern states had few or no
slaves and did not want them
counted for southern population
•The 3/5 Compromise allowed
states to count only 3/5 of their
slaves as noted in the 1790 US
Census
Three-Fifths Compromise
• The less populated South wanted slaves to
count for some representation in Congress.
- Suspicious that North wanted to
abolish slavery (economic & political
concern).
- Slaves would count as 3/5 of a
person.
Three-Fifths Compromise
•Notice that slaves made up 43%
of the population in some southern
states.
•Massachusetts had outlawed
slavery
•Not surprisingly, the arguments
over the compromise were loud and
long
Commerce Compromise
•The South was fearful that the
new government would try to pay
for itself using export taxes.
•They didn’t want tobacco, a major
export, taxed
•The Compromise stated that no
State export would be taxed.
Slave Trade Compromise
•The South also feared that the
new government would try to
regulate the slave trade
•In the late 1700s, slavery was
dying out
•For this reason the North agreed
to allow slavery for 20 years, until
1808.
Electoral College
• The selection of the President as head
of the Executive Branch was to be left
to an electoral college.
• Framers feared direct election by the
people as “too much” democracy.
• People selected by each state’s
legislature would formally cast ballots
for the president after the popular
election.
Bundle of Compromises
•The Constitution is a bundle of
compromises
•From 13 states with different
geography, products, ethnic groups,
religions, social classes,
populations, climates, etc, they
agreed to the document
Bundle of Compromises
•They agreed that the new
government had to have the power
to deal with big social and economic
problems
•They agreed to a separation of
powers and checks and balances
Bundle of Compromises
•The heated debates occurred over
how the president would be
elected, the structure of Congress,
and the limits of power that should
be given to the new government.
Separation of Powers
•The 3 branches of government,
executive, legislative and judicial,
have duties and responsibilities
given to it in the Constitution that
is their job that no other branch
can do.
•Example - Only Congress can
declare war, only the President can
move troops.
Checks and Balances
•Because each branch has its own
duties, the Constitution set up this
system to make sure no branch
assumes too much power.
•Example - The president
nominates a Supreme Court judge
but the Senate must agree.
Sources of the Constitution
•The framers of the Constitution
used early writings from Greece
and Rome, and books written by
European philosophers of the
1700s.
•They also used their experiences
with colonial governments and the
Articles of Confederation.
Sources of the Constitution
•Locke – “Social Contract”
•Rousseau – All Men Are Created
Equal
•Blackstone – Commentaries on the
Laws of England
•Montesquieu – Spirit of Laws
The Constitution is Complete
•On Sept 17, 1787
the delegates
approved and signed
their work
•James Madison gets
credit for writing
the document
Ratifying the Constitution
• In order for the
Constitution to become
law it had to be ratified,
or approved by 9 of the
13 colonies.
• New Hampshire ratified
the Constitution on June
21, 1788.
• Virginia was the 10th
state to ratify the
Constitution
Strengths of the
Constitution
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Legislature can tax the states to pay for government;
no export taxes can be levied by national or state gov’ts
Regulation of interstate trade between states; states
can tax inside their own borders only.
Federal supremacy when its law conflict with state law
An executive branch with limited, separate powers
Independent national judiciary with a Supreme Court
Coin and regulate a national currency
A national army raised & paid for by the national
government
Origins of our American
Government
Ratifying the Constitution
Chapter 2 Section 5
Ratification
•Two groups emerged
•Federalists, who supported a strong,
central government, approved it
•Anti-federalists, who supported
state’s rights, did not.
•They were suspicious of a strong
central government.
•Wanted a Bill of Rights to protect
personal liberties.
Federalists
•George Washington
•James Madison
•John Adams
•Alexander Hamilton
Anti-Federalists
•
•
•
•
Patrick Henry
John Hancock
Samuel Adams
Thomas
Jefferson
Mistrust of the Constitution
A. Antifederalists opposed Constitution as it
created too powerful a government at the expense
of states rights and people’s liberties.
- A loose confederation of states is best, any
strong national government would eventually
become corrupt.
- Any national government would be distant from
the people and would seek to absorb or limit state
powers.
- Believed citizens’ rights won through the
Revolution would be at risk.
- Don’t ratify Constitution
What Did Anti-Federalists Want?
• Proposed a written
guarantee of
individual rights and
liberties as well as
the rights of the
states be added to
the Constitution to
protect against gov’t
tyranny.
- It’s why the
Revolution was fought!
• Federalist view: Protections
on liberties already
guaranteed in the
Constitution. A strong
national gov’t would have only
specific, limited powers.
- Federalism splits power
with states
- No bills of attainder
- No ex post facto laws
- Writs of habeas corpus
- Supreme Court would be a
neutral arbitrator
- No religious tests for
office
Concerns
•1. Increased powers of the
federal government (which means
less state’s rights and local
control)
•2. Lack of a Bill of Rights
Concerns
•Nine states ratified the
Constitution, but two of the large
states, VA and NY, did not
•Without their support, the
Constitution would be doomed.
BILL OF RIGHTS
D. In order to keep
ratification hopes alive,
Federalists finally agreed
to include written individual
rights as an immediate
priority of the new
government.
- In 1791, the first ten
Amendments were ratified
as the Bill of Rights.
The Federalist Papers
A. Madison, Hamilton, Jay were the authors.
B. Written because:
- Constitution in jeopardy of not being ratified
due to Anti-Federalist agitation.
- Federalists wanted to convince New York to
ratify. If it voted “yes”, then Virginia and the
remainder of resisting states would follow.
C. The essays actually had little effect on
ratification, but they do give us great insight into
the original intent of our key Founding Fathers.
Federalist Paper 10
This essay spoke to the causes
and problems of factions.
(1) What were factions to
Madison?
- “ …a number of citizens…
united by some common impulse of
passion, or interest adverse to
the rights of the other citizens…”
(2) What were the causes of
factions?
- Selfish human nature and
the conflict of unequal distribution
of property.
FEDERALIST PAPER #10
(3) Madison’s cure for
factions?
- A republican form of
government that can control
such interests AND still
preserve liberty.
- But, liberty spawns special
interests that will define the
national interest in their own
selfish terms.
Federalist 10 (cont’d)
(4) Why not just prohibit factions?
- That would destroy liberty and at the
same time make everyone the same.
(5) How can factions be controlled?
- Through republicanism which can control
tyranny of the one, or of the few and…
- force competing interests for
government attention to compromise.
Federalist 10 (cont’d)
(6) Tyranny of the majority can also be
checked by using a federal system
that separates power between
national and state gov’ts.
- Direct democracy allows for the
growth of tyranny of the majority,
thus republicanism (indirect
democracy) with federalism are best
suited to control such tyranny.
Federalist Paper 51
(represents ideas of Montesquieu)
• Federalism divides power between
levels. Constitution provides for a
“compound government”: one divided
between national and state and
further subdivided among both of
them in separate departments (e.g.
branches) and divisions (e.g. local
government).
Federalist 51 (cont’d)
• Men abuse power, so separation of
powers is essential to the preservation
of liberty.
• Checks and balances are necessary to
keep any branch from becoming too
powerful (e.g. one branch selecting
members of another branch).
Federalist Papers
•Series of essays supporting
adoption of the Constitution of the
United States. They were printed
in newspapers
•Once gathered, all 85 essays
comprised the Federalist Papers
•After including a Bill of Rights, all
states ratified the Constitution.
Ratification
• They decided that the States
would choose electors to vote for
a president who would assume
power in March 1789.
• Even today, electors, not
individuals, elect our president.
President George Washington
•Washington was elected
president unanimously
•John Adams was selected
as his VP
•Inaugurations were held the first
Wednesday of March
•The President moved to the new
US capital in New York City
Essential Question
• What roles did George Mason, Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison play in
the adoption of the Bill of Rights?
• These Virginians played a key role in
securing individual liberties.
George Mason
• Wrote the Virginian Declaration of
Rights.
• States that all Virginians should have
certain rights, including freedom of
religion and the press
• Basis for the Bill of Rights of the
Constitution of the United States.
Thomas Jefferson
• Wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious
Freedom
• States that all people should be free to
worship as they please
• First time religious freedom was protected
by law
• Basis for the First Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, which
guarantees religious freedom.
James Madison
• “Father of the Constitution”
• Kept detailed notes during the
Constitutional Convention
• Engineered compromises on the most
difficult issues facing the delegates.
• Authored the “Virginia Plan,” which
proposed a federal government of three
separate branches(legislative, executive,
and judicial) and became the foundation for
the structure of the new government.
• Authored much of the “Bill of Rights.”
Is Flag-Burning Free
Speech?
• US v. Eichman – the Supreme
Court struck down a TX state
law that forbade destruction
of the US flag. Eichman
burned flags on the Capital
steps to protest legislation
against burning a flag.