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The New Republic, The Articles of Confederation and
The Constitution
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture
and should be reviewed.
While the war was being fought, leaders of the original
thirteen colonies, began to construct the new governments of
the independent states of this "United States of America".
Written constitutions were created in each state reflecting
concerns for individual rights and social order. Although
each constitution was unique and differed on many points,
there were certain similarities including a declaration of
the basic rights of the people, a design of government
reflecting separation of powers, voting requirements and
some form of "popular sovereignty". As state constitutions
were being drafted, the Continental Congress was designing a
document creating a national government. These
"Articles
of Confederation "
were adopted by Congress in 1777 and eventually ratified in
1781, after arguments over the powers of this national
government and ownership disputes related to western
territories. This first national government was designed to
be relatively weak and defer to the thirteen states--who
often perceived themselves as thirteen separate and loosely
federated republics. This limited document was supposed to
steer the new republic through the war years and the post
war sectional, religious, racial, political, social, and
economic challenges. The key elements of the Articles might
be summarized as a one house congress, no separate
executive, no separate national judiciary, the inability to
levy national taxes and the requirement to have nine of the
thirteen states in agreement to pass bills. In the four
years between the Treaty of Paris and The Constitutional
Convention, the national government under The Articles of
Confederation struggled to deal with major problems related
to the economy, foreign policy and domestic insurrections.
Two significant pieces of legislation were passed:
The Land Ordinance of 1785 which
established a township grid system and procedure for selling
and settling the northwest territory. The grid system is
apparent when you fly over this region and other areas
today.
The
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
promised that new states
would be admitted to the Union with full equality with the
original thirteen states. This law allowed the peaceful
expansion of the Union and the extension of republican
government to the territories. Also, no slavery would be
allowed in the states established in this territory. This
slavery clause, in many ways, was a reflection of the
northern states passing laws to abolish slavery during the
revolutionary euphoria. Although free black communities
began to grow in many regions, the South continued to expand
slavery in direct proportion to their commitment to a cotton
economy. The development of a "peculiar institution" had
begun.
In 1786, concerns about the
Articles of Confederation as an effective national
government became reality with
Shays' Rebellion.
Daniel Shays' was a Massachusetts Revolutionary War Veteran
who had fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill. During the post
war years, many veterans who were farmers were negatively
impacted by a faltering economy. Bankruptcy and foreclosures
began to occur in Massachusetts and other states. In
Massachusetts, Shays emerged as the leader of the revolt of
the indebted farmers when eight hundred armed men prevented
a Springfield court from hearing the foreclosure cases.
Although he insisted that the group desired negotiations,
not violence, many political leaders and financially
successful citizens began to fear that this was the
beginning of a social and economic revolution. The
established social classes demanded action from their state
and national leaders. In 1787, Shays' group attempted to
take over a state arsenal, but troops supported by wealthy
citizens caused it to fail. This rebellion and other events
created an atmosphere of political crisis and concern for
the early republic--by the way what is a republic? Remember
every day in school when you said: "I pledge allegiance to
the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for which it stands"? Another significant point of note is
what was daily life like for the common person during this
timeperiod. I suggest you review some of the entries from
Martha Ballard's Diary.
In the summer of 1787, the Constitutional Convention met
in Philadelphia with the approval of the national Congress.
It called upon all the states to send delegates for the
purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. Only
Rhode Island refused to send delegates. Who were these
fifty-five delegates? A general description might
include: white, male, well educated, early forties,
relatively wealthy, with familiarity with law and
government. Many of these men were practicing lawyers and
had assisted in the development of their state's
constitution. Learn more about these
Founding Fathers.
Initially, the delegates argued over whether they should
follow the directive to modify the Article or to draft an
entirely new document. The hotly debated decision was that
the Articles were too flawed to be repaired and a new
document must be created. This is a decision worth review
and discussion. What had these powerful men done? What would
be the response today if a similar convention were convened
to revise the present Constitution and they ignored this
directive as radically as the delegates of 1787--creating a
new constitution and national government? What should be
done to these individuals and their document?
The textbook summarizes the
Convention, which was conducted in secrecy, and the bundle
of compromises blended into a formal, written Constitution
based on federalism. The key issues included:
representation, slavery, trade, the powers of the
Presidency, Congress and a Supreme Court. Through
disagreement, debate and compromise the
convention produced a document that created a strong federal
government (supreme law of the land); embraced separation of
powers and checks and balances; established a strong
executive, a bicameral legislature, and a national court;
while upholding republican principles and states' rights. I
will not discuss the specific components of the convention
as the textbook covers the key concepts or highlight the
document, and you will encounter it for yourself during the
Constitutional Analysis assignment. However, you may enjoy
some of the
Interesting Questions and Answers About the Constitution.
Throughout the Convention and the ratification process, a
conflict of words and actions took place between the
Federalists and Antifederalists. Each group published
position papers and editorials promoting their perspectives,
visit the
Federalist Papers.
A simplistic summary of beliefs is provide in the next few
sentences. The Federalists favored a strong central
government to maintain order and preserve the Union and
emphasized the weakness of the Articles. The
Anti-Federalists believed that this stronger central
government would destroy the work of the Revolution, limit
democracy, restrict states rights and endanger
individual rights. These arguments were rehashed in each
state during the ratification process. When the Federalists
agreed to add a bill of rights to the Constitution,
ratification was successful. Although you have read the
Constitution as a required assignment, I believe it is also
crucial that you become aware of the many rights listed in
the first ten amendments. Please review
The Bill of Rights.
Understanding the Bill of Rights and
the other amendments may be crucial to your success in
Discussion #3. In closing, the United States Constitution
has lasted for two hundred and sixteen years since
ratification with only twenty-seven amendments--I've changed
my cyber lectures more times than that!
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography
of America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
,
an exceptional video instructional
series for high school and college students produced by WGBH
Boston in cooperation with the Library of Congress and the
National Archives and Records Administration. These thirty
minute lectures incorporate first person narratives,
photographs, film footage and documents related to various
historical time periods. Combined with my introductory
comments, the required textbooks and our discussions, I
believe you will acquire a more in-depth and enjoyable
encounter with history. Please note the requirements and
possible download limitations—which is why this is not a
requirement. Please follow the directions below and give it
a try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs
of your choice online with a broadband connection whenever
you see this icon.
 There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program
and go to the individual program description listing and
click on the icon. Free sign up required for first-time
users. To hear the sound and view video, you should have
Windows Media Player, DSL, a cable modem, or a LAN
connection to a T1 line or greater, and have Javascript
enabled. For more information, please visit our broadband
FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and access the presentation: A New System of Government.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview, numerous
Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents and my
favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites Related to the
Specific Topics
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
Folk Music of American History: Music and Lyrics
(highly recommended music before, during or after reading
cyberlectures!)
Additional
Folk Music and Lyrics
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