Possible short answer/ID questions

Advance reading assignment: Before class, carefully read the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution) at http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1786-1800/bill-of-rights-and-the-amendments-to-the-constitution.php (link is on course web page)

Section outline

1. The Articles of Confederation

   1. A League of 13 (International Law) States

   2. A Reaction to an Overbearing Parliament: Distrust of National Government

      1. Amendments must pass Congress unanimously

      2. National government cannot tax

      3. National government cannot regulate interstate commerce

   3. Result: failing economy and danger of interstate trade wars

2. The Movement Towards Stronger National Government

   1. The Annapolis Convention, 1786

      1. A convention promoted by James Madison of Virginia to amend the Articles of Confederation, allowing the national government to regulate interstate trade and thus prevent trade wars among the states

      2. Only five states sent delegates

      3. The Convention thus proposed that another convention take place in Philadelphia the following May, with hopes that more states would send delegates

   2. Shays’s Rebellion, 1786-87

      1. A rebellion of 4000 farmers and others in western Massachusetts against eastern Massachusetts merchants

      2. Showed weakness of national government under the Articles

         1. National government lacked money necessary to raise an armed force

         2. Convinced many people that revision of the Articles was in fact necessary

         3. As a result, the Philadelphia Convention, unlike the Annapolis Convention, was well-attended

   3. The Philadelphia Convention, summer 1787

      1. An attempt to steer a middle course between a too-powerful Parliament and an impotent Confederation Congress

      2. The ongoing problem of American government: How do we give the government(particularly the national government, the heir to Parliament and the ineffective Confederation Congress) enough power to govern effectively while simultaneously ensuring that the government doesn’t have so much power that it can threaten our lives, liberty, and property?

      3. The Constitution’s original two methods of granting and controlling power simultaneously

         1. The concept of Separation of Powers

            1. 
               Legislative, executive, and judicial powers each to be exercised by a different branch of government to prevent concentration of power in one group of hands
               

         2. The concept of Federalism

            1. 
               Dividing government power between two different governments, each presumably jealous of its own power
               
               1. 
                  Article I, Section 8: The Convention gives Congress the power:
                  
                  1. 
                     To tax and
                     
                  2. 
                     To regulate interstate (and foreign) commerce
                     

      4. Problem: since Congress, like Parliament, will have the controversial powers of taxation and trade regulation, how does each state make sure that it has adequate representation in Congress?

         1. I.e., taxation without representation is not acceptable

         2. Possible solutions

            1. 
               The Virginia Plan
               
            2. 
               The New Jersey Plan
               

         3. The Great Compromise

      5. The Great Compromise raises another taxation and representation problem: if representation and apportioned taxation are to be based on population, should slaves be counted as part of that population?

         1. The Three-Fifths Compromise

      6. The Electoral College: A means of electing the president that reflects

         1. Diversity

         2. Federalism

         3. Republicanism (not democracy)

   4. Ratification

      1. Federalists and Antifederalists

      2. The Federalist, aka The Federalist Papers

         1. A series of newspaper articles written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay explaining and promoting the new Constitution

      3. The Push for a National Bill of Rights

10. The Federalist Era, 1789-1801 (Textbook Chapter 10)

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