Chapter 7- A More Perfect Union Flashcards
Bicameral
Two house government, states divided power between governor and legislature
Republic
A government in which citizens rule through elected representatives
Articles of Confederation
Weak Central Government, gave limited powers to congress, had no executive or judicial systems
United States of America officially on
March 1, 1781
Ordinance of 1785
set up a process to survey and sell the lands north of the Ohio River
Northwest Ordinance
Passed in 1787, created a single Northwest Territory, with 60,000 residents they could become a state
Northwest Ordinance Bill of Rights
marked the first attempt to stop the spread of slavery in the United States.
Mississippi Territory
1798 Land west of Georgia
Land Act of 1800
Made it easier for people to buy land in the territory
Continentals
Paper bills that Continental Congress printed during the war, it did not hold its value and depreciated
Debt
During the Revolutionary War, Congress had borrowed money from American citizens and foreign governments. It still owed Revolutionary soldiers pay for their military service. Without the power to tax, the Confederation could not easily raise money to pay its debts.
Robert Morris
Led the first Department of Finance in 1781, proposed a tax on imported goods, but it was voted down
Depression
A period when economic activity decreases and unemployment increases, US had a depression after the revolutionary war
Shays Rebellion
Farmers were hit hard by the depression. In 1786 angry farmers led by former Continental Army captain Daniel Shays forced courts in the western part of the state to close. The goal was to stop judges from legally taking away farmers’ lands.
The farmers’ revolt grew. In January 1787, Shays led a force of about 1,200 supporters toward the federal arsenal, or weapons storehouse, in Springfield, Massachusetts. The farmers wanted to seize guns and ammunition. The state militia ordered the advancing farmers to halt and then fired over their heads. The farmers did not stop. The militia fired again, killing four farmers.
Slavery in the New Republic
Between 1776 and 1786, 11 states—all except South Carolina and Georgia—outlawed or taxed the importation of enslaved people.
Slavery existed and was legal in every state. In the North, however, it was not a major source of labor. People in that region began working to end slavery in America. In 1774 Quakers in Pennsylvania founded the first American antislavery society.
Six years later Pennsylvania passed a law that provided for the gradual freeing of enslaved people. Between 1783 and 1804, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey passed laws that gradually ended slavery there.
manumission
The freeing of individual enslaved people
Constitutional Convention
Philadelphia, called by Alexander Hamilton
BEgan May 1787
55 Delegates
James Madison
supporter of a strong national government, kept a record of the Convention’s work, called the Father of the Constitution
Virginia Plan
Edmund Randolph
Strong national government
Bicameral legislature
Number of representatives would be proportional to the population of the state
Delegates from the small states protested
New Jersey Plan
William Patterson
Each state has one vote
Less powerful government than Virginia Plan
Unicameral legislature
Great Compromise
Roger Sherman
two-house legislature. In the upper house—>the Senate— each state would have two members. That is, the states would be equal in representation. In the lower house—>the House of Representatives—the number of seats for each state would vary based on the state’s population. Larger states would have more representation.
Three-Fifths Compromise
every five enslaved persons would count as three persons in the state’s population total. This population total would be the basis for setting taxes and representation in Congress.
Approving the Constitution
September 17, 1787
Not signed by Elbridge Gerry, George Mason, Edmund Randolph
Constitution Influences
Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, Enlightenment, John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu
Federalism
Powers divided between the federal government and the states
Legislative Branch
Article I-> of the Constitution declares Congress to be the legislative branch , or lawmaking branch, of the government. Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The powers of Congress include establishing taxes, coining money, and regulating trade.
Executive Branch
Article II-> of the Constitution sets up the executive branch, to carry out the nation’s laws and policies. At the head of this branch are the president and vice president. A special group called the Electoral College elects the president and vice president. Voters in each state choose the electors who make up the Electoral College.
Judicial Branch
Article III-> deals with the judicial branch or court system. The nation’s judicial power resides in “one supreme Court” and any lower federal courts Congress creates. *The Supreme Court and other federal courts hear cases involving the Constitution, federal laws, and disputes between states.
Checks and balances
each branch of government has ways to check, or limit, the power of the other branches. With this system, no single branch can gain too much power in the government.
Federalists
People who supported the new Constitution
George Washington Ben Franklin
James Madison Alexander Hamilton John Jay wrote the Federalist papers
AntiFederalists
People who opposed the Constitution
Angry it did not contain a bill of rights
Ratifying the Constitution
On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to approve the Constitution. By June 21, 1788, the ninth state—New Hampshire—ratified it. In theory, this made the Constitution law. However, without the support of the largest states—New York and Virginia—the new government could not succeed.
In Virginia, Patrick Henry claimed the Constitution did not place enough limits on government power. Still, Virginia did ratify the document after promises that there would be a bill of rights amendment (uh * MEHND * muhnt)—something added to a document. This promise was met in 1791. In July 1788, New York ratified the Constitution, followed by North Carolina in November 1789 and Rhode Island in May 1790.
