Origins of the US Constitution 1781 1789 MON October 13 TUE October 14 KEY TERMS Articles of Confederation Shays Rebellion Northwest Ordinance Virginia Plan New Jersey Plan The Great Compromise Three Fifths Compromise Unanswered Questions How would the nation pay its war debt Who would hold power in the new country Would there be a king What kind of economy would the new nation have Was America even going to succeed After the revolutionary war there was a period of uncertainty Articles of Confederation approve changes Second Continental Congress going to create in 1777 Ratified in 1781 Type of government set up Each state had one vote in Congress and ALL 13 had to In the Articles only one 1 legislative body Only branch of government Congress was only institution of national authority Could conduct wars and foreign relations Could appropriate borrow and issue money Could not regulate trade draft troops or levy taxes No separate executive branch This confederation style government essentially the opposite of the British government Everyone was equal regardless of size population etc The central government didn t have power that the states agreed on In theory sounded great on paper Problems Failures of the Articles of Confederation Payment of soldiers Continental Congress is going to pay soldiers with IOU s Bills of Credit Intention after war was over each state would raise taxes to pay back the I O U s Problems 1 Paying soldiers issue after war because states can t generate enough revenue to buy back the bonds 2 Some states just don t want to unwilling to do it 3 Federal government can t do anything Congress isn t strong enough to make the states do anything If no one is participating to help buy them back the bills of credit are not worth anything The Newburgh Conspiracy 1780 Continental Congress due to lack of resources stopped paying continental army officers These officers are going to create a delegation with a list of demands and then send it to Washington They want what was promised to them their pay salary Also demands for their army pensions If did not get their demands they were going to threaten to use the army against Congress George Washington hears of what his army officers are going to do He then calls a meeting Pulls out a speech Eyeglasses Hands shaky His army officers feel guilt see the result of the war on GW Washington is able to put the potential rebellion down Weak government at the federal level See slide above Goes along with army demands Instability in state governments States can t function Rebellions at the local level Shays Rebellion 1786 Led by Daniel Shays a Revolutionary war veteran just like the other people following him in the rebellion Massachusetts a rebellion at state level Shays rebels wanted a couple of things 1 Relief from paying taxes They didn t have the money 2 An increase in paper money Wanted a way to pay those taxes 3 More time to pay off their debts 4 The abolition get rid of putting people in prison for not paying their debt The rebels are going to storm court offices etc When this rebellion happens people start questioning whether there is too much democracy the people have too much to say Economy During the war trade with Britain was cut off Duh they were fighting with After the war and America gains independence British still excludes trading Impossible for American merchants to trade with the British Create a treaty Can t because all 13 states have to agree Congress didn t have the authority to create a treaty Congress didn t have enough power to tax their people so they print more each other with them money Result in inflation Each state printing their own money No national currency yet Failed to force the British to withdraw troops from the Great Lakes region Failed to gain restitution for the slaves that the British took back to England England and other nations were never able to tell whether they were dealing with 1 or 13 countries These states are loosely held together in a confederation style Why was Constitution necessary Too weak to get things done The Northwest Ordinance 1787 The one signature success of the Articles of Confederation Created one single territory to be divided among 3 5 different states Called the Northwest Territory Population barrier was set had to get 60k in order to apply for statehood Created freedom of religion and trial by jury Legally Unique in a sense because this was created before the Bill of Rights even existed Prohibited slavery north of the Ohio River James Madison Alexander Hamilton Find notes from Toby Going to rise during 1777 Philadelphia James Madison Father of the US Constitution Arrives that summer with the goal of creating a new governing document Madison comes to Philadelphia with a plan The Virginia Plan Virginia Plan 3 branches of government legislative judicial and executive Legislative appointed the executive and members of the judicial In congress there are going to be two houses Bi cameral legislature House and Senate votes representation in both were determined by population Lower house would be chosen by population of the state Small states do not like this Their population is too small Upper house would be chosen by the lower house National government had the power to regulate trade and strike down laws that were unconstitutional Federal government had the authority to use the military New Jersey Plan William Patterson s counter plan to James Madison s Virginia Plan Same 3 branches of government Legislative appointed the executive Executive chose the members of the judicial Single house legislature with each state getting 1 vote Federal government could levy taxes regulate trade and all states lows would be subordinate to federal laws Everyone is equal everyone has one votes The first big debate was over the Also over slavery Debate was about No one could agree on how population fig Will slaves be counted into the population Then will we get more representat Smaller non slaveholding states Wanted them to n Delegates from large slave holi fhem Two big debates Sla Going to solvete Roger Sherman author of Great Compromise The Great Compromise Same 3 branches of government Bicameral two house legislature Equal representation in the upper house Representation in the lower house would be based on population Both sides are going to agree on the Compromise Slaves are going to count C AgpGonig to agree Lets all In 2014 26 easy The et Going o gtet Slavery is one of the worst things