POLS 206 1st Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture I Major events leading up to the formation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution Outline of Current Lecture II The Declaration of Independence III The Confederation of States and America s first attempt at power distribution of the Government IV Events that spurred a change in the government V Drafting the Constitution a The Plans and Compromises Vl Federalists Vs Anti Federalists Should the Constitution be ratified Vll The Constitution s prime Government principles Vlll Rules for Amending Ratifying the Constitution Current Lecture l The Declaration of Independence a 6 7 1776 Richard Henry Lee proposed Independence but delayed so it could be formally written Thomas Jefferson was the main author of the real document b Jefferson based much of the Declaration if Independence from John Locke s ideals of natural rights unalienable rights and concept of consent of the governed ll The Confederation of States and America s first attempt at power distribution of the Government a Confederation essentially a group of group of independent states that willing come together for mutual benefit no one is the top decision maker the states created the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union b 1777 Articles of Confederation was adopted Ratified in 1781 and Congress was a unicameral legislature i Keep in mind the American Revolution was going on at this time and did not end until 1783 with the Treaty of Paris ii There were problems with the Articles such as the government had no real power neither did the President he was mostly a political figure and the states had all of the power In order for rulings to be made majority if the states had to agree and it was difficult to get a lot of states to agree on a decision c Power Distribution of the Government i Congress could form and control military declare war and make peace However there were holes such as there were no troops because the states had to individually consent to give troops and that was a very slow process ii Congress could enter into treaties and alliances This is rather difficult because it cannot force without consent of the states which can be very hard to get most to agree iii Congress could regulate coinage not paper money though This does not make much of a difference because each state printed it s own money and any amount it wanted This caused random inflation problems with the banks and bad currency iv Congress could borrow money from the people There was no way for Congress to make money and so relied on donations from people lll Events that spurred a change in the government a Shay s Rebellion led by Daniel Shays convinced the elite of a need for stronger government control i Due to the large holes in the government system the government is broke and afraid of failing and so demand everything that is owed to them from the people The people cannot afford this and feel cheated on especially after just fighting for their new country ii As a result the farmers rallied together in protest and marched to Springfield and took armed weapons The Government was very slow in responding due to not being able to call troops without the state s consent and ended up hiring mercenaries just as the rebels were on their way to take over Boston The people have a big problem with the Government b The Annapolis Meeting Main reason things need to change 5 of the 13 states sent delegates to gather states to hold a convention in Philadelphia in May 1787 lv Drafting the Constitution a the Delegates that met were from a different class than much of the Americans from the best educated and wealthiest classes Rhode Island did not send a delegate b The Virginia Plan big state point of view i Bicameral legislature representation based on state population ii National executive branch elected by the legislature iii National court system created by the legislature c The New Jersey Plan small state point of view i Congress could regulate trade and make taxes ii Executive office would be elected by Congress iii Each state would have only one vote d The Compromises i The Connecticut Plan The Great Compromise The lower house House of Representatives decided by state population The upper house Senate has two members from each state elected by legislature ii The Three Fifths Compromise had to combine the North do not want slavery and South s economy based on slaves interests and came to decision that five slaves for every three persons would be counted for both tax and representation reasons iii The Slavery Question Banning Export Taxes Slavery was a very touchy subject and so came to the compromise that Congress could limit the number of slaves imported after 1808 Otherwise banning slavery or trying would have meant there would be no agreement for the Constitution V Federalists Vs Anti Federalists Should the Constitution be ratified a Federalist people who favor strong central government and new constitution b Federalist Papers defended the Constitution the authors Hamilton Jay and Madison convincing the people this government will be different i Used an pseudonym Publius so as to keep from people from making quick judgements based on the person so they can just analyze the writing ii Federalist No 10 About the interest factions and derailing people from the idea that a larger nation will mean less democracy On the contrary a larger nation would mean more democracy because there would be more representation and No 51 About separation of powers 3 branches of government with none being more powerful than the other Checks and balances everyone is getting equal benefits and power ambition checks ambition c Anti Federalist did not want a strong central government states should have more power afraid of tyranny and so do not want a big central government i Patrick Henry Sam Adams Jefferson also wrote in papers using pseudonyms Cato Brutus and Letters from a Farmer with the idea that it could be from anyone since farming was a big economy then lV The Constitution s prime Government principles a The Bill of Rights unalienable rights b Compromise between Federalists and Anti Federalists in order to secure the ratification of the Constitution limited Government popular sovereignty majority rules the government is in the people s hands checks and balances of the Government c Protection of individual rights against national government violations llV Rules for Amending Ratifying the Constitution
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