A New America

HST 210: The US Experience

Republican Ideology
1.Rejection of Monarchy

2. Needs to limit government power

3.  Factions were dangerous

4.  Political equality
Slavery in the Republic
“All men are created equal”  = was a revolutionary battle cry
• following the revolution: 1/5 of the new American population
was enslaved 
• following the revolution every state except South Carolina
and Georgia outlawed the slave trade because of three
factors:
1.  A reduced need for slave labor i
2.  A natural increase
3.  The anxiety over rebellion
Articles of Confederation 1777-1788
• deliberately weak central government
• there was a congress, only one body
1.     Borrow money
2.    Settle interstate disputes
3.    Conduct foreign relations
4.    Deal with Indian trade
• lacked the ability to collect taxes
• taxes were a state decision
• change = unanimous among all states, a single state could block
reform.
• Western land claims = serious problem
 Voting Rights
• property requirements to vote
 
• about ½ of all white men were disenfranchised 
 
• women, Indians, and African Americans were excluded
Shay's Rebellion 1787
• farmers
• western massachussetts depression
• 1780s - 1/3 of all male heads of household were sued for debt
• petitions for help
• Daniel Shays led a rebellion
• January 1787 the government was forced to raise a force of 4000
• 1500 of Shays supporters attacked a federal building i
• rebels were prohibited from voting, holding public office, being
school teachers and owning taverns.
Constitutional Convention
 
May 1787 in Philadelphia 
• 55  elites met there to overhaul the articles
• poor, uneducated, were not represented
• the plans were to revise the articles but new ideas quickly emerged
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Federalists
• professionals, wealthy, educated
• men of wealth
• great skills and training
• able to speak to the needs of the population

Anti-Federalists 
• small farmers and debtors
• deeply suspicious of political power
• believed various public servants were always scheming
• stronger control from federal government would threaten states
• the larger the country the greater chance for corruption
Proposals
Virginia Plan
• James Madison
• three branches of government
• -smaller states objected
 
 New Jersey Plan
• William Patterson
• congress right to tax and trade regulation
• each state would have equal representation

The Great Compromise

• 2 houses one based on population, one based on the states as
individual entities
• House- population
• Senate-individual entities
3/5 clause
• role of slavery in the young nation
• delegates from slave states wanted both black and whites to be
counted for purposes of representation
• delegates from states with few slaves wanted only whites to be
counted
• slaves were counted as 3/5 for the purposes of figuring
representatives.
• slaves were counted, they still had no political rights
• congress  prevented from outlawing the slave trade for 20 years
• the fugitive slave law was put in effect in all states

Checks and Balances

• three branches were created to balance power
• executive managed the government
• judicial interpreted constitution
• legislature -  power to make laws, levy taxes, regulate trade, and
control currency
Amending the Constitution
• Amending the constitution was meant to be hard, but not impossible
• 2 part process:
1.  2/3 majority in both houses
2.  ¾ approval by the states
Ratification of the Constitution
• 9 states were needed for ratification
• December 1787: Delaware, Georgia, Penn, New Jersey,
Connecticut - Mass barely ratified by 19 votes
• New Hampshire, SC, Maryland ratified in June 1788 it was ratified
• most opposition came from Virginia
• Constitution – ratified June 21, 1787
Bill of Rights
The Bill of rights was added and heavily influenced by the English Bill of
Rights and added in 1791

Madison gathered 10 proposals that became known as the Bill of

Rights.  It guarantees:
speech
press
religion
arms
trial by jury
due process
search and seizure
right to remain silent