Confederation and Constitution

03 September 2004 (Lecture #05)

 

From Confederation to Constitution

·    Congress realizes a central gov is needed to hold the nation together

·    Articles of Confederation

o        1st written social contract presented for ratification

o        Little federal power

o        Told people what not to do

·         Federalism – idea that you can take a group of states and get them to surrender power in order to form an effective union

                                                                                             

The Jay-Gardoqui Treaty

·         Spain refused to let US trade on the Mississippi River, angering southwesterners

·         Jay agrees to give up rights to the river for 25 years for trading privileges to US merchants

o        Would help northern merchants but enraged southerners – felt it was betrayal

 

Shays’ Rebellion

·         Farmers in MA were in debt and could not pay their mortgages

o        2,000 farmers rebel, closing the courts and marching on a federal arsenal before being put down

 

Framing a Federal Constitution (192)

·         Madison’s Virginia Plan – central gov, 3 branches, Congress could veto states, representation in Congress by population

·         Paterson’s New Jersey Plan – (less radical), increased Congress power to tax and trade, unicameral, equal representation

·         Representation was a big issue (big states for representative congress, small states for equal rep)

·         Constitution

o        Officers, officials swear to the Constitution – not people

o        Allows states to choose how Congressional reps are selected (so US was not a direct democracy)

o        Rights given: habeas corpus, no nobility

o        Religion: no religious tests; God not mentioned in the Constitution

 

The Deadlock Broken (194)

·         Compromise suggested – senate (equal rep, can’t init money bills) and house (proportionate)

o        slaves counted as population (3/5 each)

·         Electoral College established

·         Executive given command of the armed forces, ability to conduct diplomatic relations, pick judges, and veto legislation

·         Separation of each branch a key idea

·         Madison’s only real defeat was an inability to give Congress the power to veto state laws

·         Constitution made difficult to change

 

Ratification (196)

·         Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution

·         Bill of Rights – there was none, which Madison could not rationalize with Anti-Fed complaints

o        Madison promised it would be amended to include these after ratification

 

·         Thomas Paine claimed it was simply a matter of common sense that an island could not rule a continent

·         Former colonies have won independence since us with regularity

·         Popular sovereignty has become the accepted path to national success

·         US geographic isolation and bountiful resources allowed it to flourish

·         “Whig Principles” – suspicion of centralized power

·         “Americans” – term used to designate colonists as inferiors to full Brits

·         Civil War was a direct consequence of the failure to resolve slavery in the Constitution

·         The founders did not represent a diverse population; they would have languished in obscurity in England or France

·         Factions came together in common cause to overthrow the reigning regime

 

Conclusions

·         Constitution is the first time Enlightenment ideals are put into practice

·         Second try by the US (first was the Articles of Confederation)