HIST 1483 1st Edition Lecture 13Outline of Last LectureI. Three Turning Points of the American RevolutionII. Articles of ConfederationIII. Clicker QuestionsOutline of Current LectureI. Crafting the ConstitutionA. Difficulties in the statesB. Constitutional ConventionII. Clicker QuestionsCurrent LectureI. Crafting the ConstitutionA. Difficulties in the new states that were under the Articles of Confederation government1. Problems came out of collections of taxes (import duties)i. Various states started levying their own taxes internally and against citizens of other statesii. Frustrated congress’ ability to legislateiii. An attempt to create a uniform customs duty was thwarted by Rhode Island who blocked any effective way of raising federal revenueiv. Calls for a constitutional convention were circlinga. Alexander Hamilton (advocate for strong central government) called for a convention in 1780 over these difficulties(1) Washington called for the same thing in 1783b. Difficulties over navigation and trade continued(1) Maryland was particularly hard hit so in 1786 they called for a gathering of commercial states along the Potomac called for the Annapolis These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.Convention to discuss the commercial and trade issues of the Chesapeakestate(i) Virginia legislature took it one step further and invited all 13 states to come to Annapolis to discuss all commercial issues2. Annapolis Conventioni. Only 5 states showed up so no real progress could be made a. Hamilton urged the delegates to petition congress for a broader Constitutional Convention and they agreedB. Constitutional Convention (1787)1. In February of 1787, the Continental Congress (Confederation Congress now) issued a call on the statesi. Delineated the powers of the new conferencea. Declared that the sole purpose of the conference was to amend the Articles, and the spirit of the Articles had to be respectedii. 12 states responded immediately (not Rhode Island)a. 73 delegates were appointed by the states and 55 attended to amend the Articles and create a national enforcing and taxing power2. Those who attended were men of great political and economic experiencei. Most had held responsible positions in governmentii. George Washington was unanimously selected to chair the conventiona. Makes sense, right? Great hero of the revolution iii. Most belonged to the conservative wing of the revolutionary partiesa. Revolutionaries (not loyalists)b. Wanted independencec. Those who were more democratic like Patrick Henry (refused to serve), Sam Adams (wasn’t even asked), and Thomas Jefferson (was serving as ambassador in France) weren’t a part of this convention(1) Spokesmen of masses weren’t there but people were pretty indifferentiv. Believed in the sanctity of private contracts and property and wanted to secure these against the unrest of the massesv. Were most hurt by the inadequacies of the articlesvi. Virtually all were active in public life and had distinguished themselvesvii. Madison was the brightest scholar of constitutional matters, philosophy, and political sciencea. Most prepared and came to the convention with a plan already worked outb. His plan was a series of resolvesc. Madison is one of the guiding lights of the Constitutional Convention3. Made several fateful decisionsi. The two most important were reached right at the beginninga. First: Keep the conference closed to the public and behind closed doors(1) Why? To avoid public disagreements and eliminate the political posturing that would come with reporters(i) They wanted honest deliberation(2) No info shared with the press or public(3) There are no official meetings of the convention because it was so secretive(i) What we know we know from Madison’s (and others’) journalii. Second, most important decision: scrap the Articles and draw up a new plan of governmenta. This meant they were disobeying their instructions from their home states(1) They became an extralegal body but since they were the same people who created the Articles, they felt a kind of ownershipb. The kind of government they would plan would go directly to the people for ratification because they felt that these people were their sovereigns(1) This is, after all, republican government and sovereignty lies in the people(2) They bypassed and ignored standing governments(i) Special ratifying conventions would be help in each state to decide whether each state would accept the new constitution4. Planning the new constitutioni. The amazing thing was that the 55 delegates generally agreed on the main pointsii. Madison’s program served as the blueprinta. Called for a government of 3 branches (loosely derived from the British system of 3 forms of government)(1) 3 forms of British government(i) Monarch(ii) Parliament(a) Legislative body divided into the House of Commons (Representative) and the House of Lords (hereditary)(b) Represented the class system(iii) Court system based on English common law(2) Madison’s plan of 3 branches(i) Head of state (executive)(ii) Congress(a) Main power(b) Legislative branch(c) Divided into the House of Representatives and Senate(d) Did not call for equal, but proportional, representation(iii) Judicial (court system)(3) Hopes the three branches would be a checks and balances system of power because power corruptsb. The powers of government were listed explicitly(1) Included: power to protect property rights, levy taxes (missing from articles), provide for national defense, raise armies, establish foreign and domestic credit, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and pay debts(i) Uniform, hard currency coined by the national government(a) Still is today through the Bureau of the Mint(ii) Congress was given the sole power to hear treaties and the senate was given the power to ratify them(iii) Congress given the power to enact tariff laws(iv) Most important: Elastic clause(a) Gives congress “implied powers” to do what’s necessary and proper within the context of the rights, privileges, and duties they’re already proscribed(b) Implies that things are going to come along in the future that the founding fathers had not considered(v) Congress also stipulates that the constitution is the supreme land of the land(a) If there’s a dispute between the states and the federal government, the constitution takes