US Constitution

1. Anti-Federalists felt the need for the Bill or Rights because they felt like they lost power in
the people and wanted to keep some power for themselves. They just got out of a war to
defend their rights and felt that the new constitution was taking away those rights they tried
so hard to earn.

2. George Washington was a critical figure in the Constitutional period because of how well
respected he was. Washington was unanimously elected to preside over the Constitutional
Convention in 1787. The Founding Fathers had trusted him with the first presidency in that
Washington would not abuse his powers as President. Washington also helped get Virginia to
ratify the Constitution with the promise of a bill of rights.

3. Shay’s Rebellion was the uprising of Daniel Shay, a former veteran of the American
Revolution, and people who wanted to stop the debt collecting. The Nationalists shut down
courts to prevent judges from collecting debts and sending people to jail. The rebellion
highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation because the Articles had no right
to call upon an army to stop the uprising.

4. There were many differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution,
including the loose ties between states in the Articles, against the firm union of people in the
Constitution. Under the Articles, there was only one vote per state in Congress while under
the Constitution, there were 2 votes per state in Senate and representatives based on state
population in the House. The articles also had no power to tax the people while the
Constitution gave power to Congress to levy taxes. For all laws wanting to be passed by
Congress, the Articles required a 2/3 vote while the Constitution required a super majority, at
least 66% or more, and was also subject to presidential veto.

5. When Madison says that, “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” he is saying that
in order to be able to have a stable government with power, other equal powers must be there
in order to check that no one part of the government is doing more than it should. This is why
there are three separate branches in the government, in order to make sure that neither gets
more power than the others do.

6. The Legislative checks on the Executive when the Senate wants to ratify a treaty.
The Judicial checks on the Executive when they declare executive acts unconstitutional.
The Legislative checks on the Judicial when the Senate wants to confirm judges for the
Supreme Court.
The Executive checks on the Judicial when the President wants to grant pardons.
The Executive checks on the Legislative when the President wants to veto a law.
The Judicial checks on the Legislative when they declare legislative acts unconstitutional.

7. Rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights:

– Prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures (Fourth Amendment)
– Right to freedom of press, speech, religion, and assembly (First Amendment)
 – Prohibition against excessive bail and fines, and cruel and unusual punishment (Eighth
Amendment)

8. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton differed in their views on the proper role of
government in that Jefferson supported the Republicans, which supported more interest to the
states, while Hamilton was a supporter of the Federalists, or those who favored a strong
central government and lad less interest in the states’ rights. The Federalists Party eventually
faded away, and the Republican Party split up into the Democratic Party and Republican
Party.

9. The Land Ordinance of 1785 was where the government under the Articles of Confederation
couldn’t levy taxes directly and decided to sell land in order to obtain money. They
distributed land in squares of six miles squared. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided
rights for settlers and forbade slavery. Both were significant in that they were one of the few
great laws to be passed under the Articles of Confederation.

10. The reasons the Federalists were successful in securing the Constitution is because of the
essays published in documents under the name of Publius, where Madison, Hamilton, and
Jay wrote in order to persuade the public that the Constitution was better than the Articles.
They broke down the Constitution so they could sell it to the people much easier so they
would be swayed to ratify the Constitution. These 85 essays became known as The Federalist
Papers.

11. The differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists politically were that the
Federalists wanted a strong central government where the government had more power over
the state and therefore, more power over the people. The Anti-Federalists wanted more power
towards the states and people because they just came out of a war that had a strong
government and were unhappy with that. The Anti-Federalists also supported the Articles of
Confederation because they had more power under that as states and people. Socially, the
Federalists wanted to expand their boundaries while the Anti-Federalists were happy with the
current situation in which they were happy with what they had. With the Constitution being
ratified, the Anti-Federalists felt they weren’t getting enough rights. The Bill of Rights gave
these rights back to the Anti-Federalists.