I. Constitutional ConventionII. US Government under the Articles of Confederation 1781-1787a. Structurei. One-house legislature1. Only state that has this now is Nebraskab. Voting in congressi. Had to have a super majority1. 9/13 states2. each state had one votec. Principle weaknessi. Government did not have the power to tax1. Means that there was no military, no roads, no educational program because it couldn’t pay for itd. Other weaknessesi. No strong central government; governing was left to the statesii. No regulation of trade between the states, effectively making the states like their own countriesiii. No national court systeme. Amendment processi. Required approval of all 13 statesIII. Population demographics at the timea. Farmers made up the majority of the population until the Industrial RevolutionIV. Conflict of 1785-1786a. Farmers v bankers (debtors v creditors)b. Causei. Severe deflation1. Farmers need credit to operate due to the lack of steady income all year2. Inflation:a. Bought plow at $1000b. Goes up to $1500c. Sell the plow, pay off debt, pocket $5003. Deflation:a. Bought plow at $1000b. Drops to $500c. Still owe the $1000, even if the plow is sold, still owe $5004. Farmers thought that this was unfairc. Demand of farmersi. Wanted the states to print more money in order to cause inflation and even out the costs, but the states said noii. Farmers were perplexed1. Goes back to taxation without representation issue2. Getting involved in politics often meant financial ruin for those in rural areas3. Farmers almost never were able to get their voices heard in politicsiii. Farmers say that if the states don’t listen, they will rebeld. Shay’s Rebellioni. Shay was a captain in the continental army who thought that a rebellion was not that crazy of an ideaii. Led a rebellion in Massachusettsiii. First target was an arsenal in Springfield1. On their way, it becomes apparent what is happening, and the Governor begins to panica. Today, we have state militias (National Guard) the citizen soldierb. Then, the citizen soldier = the farmeri. And of course, they say noc. Next step is the federal military, but because of lack of taxation there is no militaryd. Wealthy bankers put together a ragtag rebellioni. Attack Shay and end the rebellioniv. Points out that there is a major weakness in the country because it couldn’t even handle a small insurrectionV. The Experience of Rhode Islanda. Printed more money, as per the famers’ requestsi. Bankers refused to accept the money, so Rhode Island created a predator’s prison instead of a debtors’ prisonb. Country Party v Commerce PartyVI. The Call for a National Conventiona. Called everyone together for the purpose of amending the articles of confederationb. Rhode Island refuses, which makes it impossible to have a unanimous decisionc. James Madison presents a plani. Proposes to abolish the Articlesii. Asks Governor Morris to present it1. Wants to present it in a way that kind of sneaks it by peopleVII. The Philadelphia Convention of 1787a. Morris presents the Virginia Plani. Delegates realize that it doesn’t expand the articles, but abolishes themii. Madison makes a speech1. Points out challenges and the way the whole world is looking at themb. How did it deal with its official instructions?i. Did away with the official instructionsc. How did it deal with the danger of government abusing power?i. Developed system of Checks and Balances1. Implies gridlockii. “Separate branches with shared powers”1. implies getting things doned. How did it deal with the conflicts that threatened deadlock?i. Over representation in congress?1. Small states v Large states2. Madison thought it wasn’t fair for the large states to have just as many votes as the small states because they represented more people3. Small states were obviously not a big fan of this4. Gov of Connecticut says that in the upper house, each state gets one vote (Senate). But the lower house is based on population representation (House of Representatives)a. The Connecticut Compromise/The Great Compromiseb. “The business of government is compromise”ii. Over slavery?1. Northern states vs Southern states2. The 3/5 Compromisea. For every 5 slaves, 3 would count as peopleb. Kept the southern states on board3. Said that in 20 years, the importation of slaves would be prohibiteda. Gives the southern states time to ready their population and their economyVIII. The Struggle over Ratificationa. New Processi. No longer unanimous for amendment, but 9/13b. The Two Sidesi. Federalists1. Supported the Constitution2. Federalist Papersa. Series of essays written to get the constitution ratifiedb. Written anonymously for newspapers in order to gain supporti. We now know it was Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jegg(?)ii. Anti-federalists1. History isn’t very kind to losersIX. Majority rule democracyX. Intentions of framers (as stated in Federalist #10)a. What is a faction?i. Any group of people with a common interest working for their self interestb. What is the most common and durable source of faction?i. The unequal distribution of wealth and incomec. What is the most dangerous faction?i. The majority – a purely democratic government allows a group of people to use the strength of their numbers to force an equal distribution of wealthd. That is the first object of government?i. To protect propertyii. Majority could take your property: DANGERXI. Ways the Constitution will guard against the most dangerous factiona. Limited Suffragei. Original Constitution: white, male, property ownersb. A republic, not a democracyi. Elected officials represent the populationc. A large republic, not 13 small onesi. Give everyone the same opportunities to express themselves and they will automatically “check and balance” each otherii. People across the country have different opinions and ideals, making it difficult to come to a consensusiii. The different ideas keep people in checkd. Indirect electionsi. Then: you could only vote for one federal office directly (Representative in the House)ii. People were not trusted to know who would be the best in politicse. Staggered electionsi. Representatives: 2 yearsii. President: 4 yearsiii. Senate: 6 yearsiv. Guards against the popular whims of the day1. Trends cannot overrule everything elseXII. Why is this unknown to most Americans?a. Gradual expansion of suffrageP SC 1113 1st Edition Lecture 12 Outline of Last Lecture I John Locke