Lecture #5: Building a Nation

KEY TERMS

(9) Articles of Confederation and (10) Shay’s Rebellion

Part I: Revolutionary War and its Aftermath

A. Keys to American Victory:
B. The End of the War
a. The Treaty of Paris (1783)
C. The Character of the War:

Part II: The Articles of Confederation

A. American Perspectives on Governance
a. John Locke
b. Republicanism vs. Democracy
B. The Articles of Confederation (AOC)
a. Drafted by 2nd Continental Congress in 1777, became operative in
1881.
b. Characteristics:
c. Structure:
i. Unicameral
ii. No Chief Executive
iii. No Judiciary
iv. Weak Congress
v. State Sovereignty
d. Successes:
i. The Northwest Ordinance (1787)
e. Failures:

Part III: The Constitutional Movement

A. Growing Nationalism:
B. Shay’s Rebellion:
C. Voices Against the AOC:
D. Constitutional Convention:
a. Revise or Scrap?
b. Debated Issues
i. Virginia Plan
ii. New Jersey Plan
iii. 3/5ths Compromise
E. Constitutional Ideas

Part IV: The Constitution (Proposed in Sept. 1787. Operative in 1789. Complete
ratification in 1790)
A. Structure
a. Separation of Powers
 b. Checks and Balances
c. Bicameral Legislature
d. Chief Executive
e. Judiciary
f. Military
B. Public Reaction:
a. Concerns and opinions:
b. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
C. The Bill of Rights
D. Ratification
a. Federalists Papers