I.

European Settlement in
America

II. Colonial Rebellion

first permanent and successful settlement

took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in
1620 (they called themselves Pilgrims and
arrived on the ship the Mayflower)

problems started to arise in the colonies

because the British government was
increasingly raising the taxes of the
colonists without consulting with them

because their new settlement needed

some set of rules, the Pilgrims came up
with the Mayflower Compact, the first real
contract in the colonial U.S.

1756-1763 French and Indian War

British paid for the defense of the colonies,
so they figured the colonists should pay for
the costs of war

II. Colonial Rebellion

II. Colonial Rebellion

the British also angered the colonists by

taking complete credit for the victory over
the French
1765 - Stamp Act is passed, placing a tax
on almost all paper documents imported
into the colonies

II. Colonial Rebellion

a number of delegates from the colonies

got together to ask the King to revoke the
Stamp Act
while it was revoked, the King continued to
impose taxes on the colonies
the eventual result was a boycott by the
colonies on all British goods

II. Colonial Rebellion

1773 Boston Tea Party takes place

colonists dressed as Native Americans
throw British tea into Boston Harbor in
protest of British taxes

the big complaint of the colonists wasnt

necessarily the taxes imposed upon them
but the principle of no taxation without
representation

British government responded by closing

Boston Harbor and taking direct control of
the Massachusetts government

while people in Great Britain had

representatives in Parliament, the
colonists had no representatives

II. Colonial Rebellion

II. Colonial Rebellion

a. Continental Congresses
Sept. 1774 - fearing a crackdown by the
British government, delegates from 12 of
the 13 colonies got together in the First
Continental Congress to decide on a
response to the actions of King George

a. Continental Congresses
Continental Congress decided:
1. the actions of colonial citizens would be
monitored to check against loyalty towards the
British crown
2. an army would be raised in every colony
the British government almost immediately
called the actions of the First Continental
Congress acts of rebellion and responded with
even more of a crackdown

II. Colonial Rebellion

II. Colonial Rebellion

a. Continental Congresses
the first fight of the Revolutionary War
broke out in April 1775 in the towns of
Lexington and Concord in
Massachusetts
a month later, the colonists convened
again in the Second Continental
Congress

II. Colonial Rebellion

a. Continental Congresses
popular support for independence also
grew with the widespread publication of
Common Sense by Thomas Paine, a
pamphlet attacking King George of
England and laying out the benefits of
colonial independence

a. Continental Congresses
Second Continental Congress decided to
raise an army & name George
Washington its commander in chief
over time, they realized that the colonies
couldnt continue to oppose British goods
and policies and maintain its relationship
with Britain

III. American Fight for

Independence
Late Spring 1776 Continental Congress,
which was serving as a kind of national
government, imposes a ban on British
goods at all American ports
Continental Congress also suggested that
each colony form a state government
separate from Britain

III. American Fight for

Independence

Presentation of the Declaration

of Independence

a committee of five, including Ben

Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas
Jefferson, was given the task of coming up
with a formal Declaration of
Independence from Britain
this formal declaration was adopted on
July 4, 1776

III. American Fight for

Independence
because each state was leery of too much
power coming from a central government
(like Britain), they opted to form a
confederation
confederation a league of independent
states that are united only for the purpose
of achieving common goals (ex. United
Nations)

III. American Fight for

Independence
the Second Continental Congress formally
laid out the powers of a new central
government with the ratification of the
Articles of Confederation in 1781
the Articles were the first constitution in
the U.S.

III. American Fight for

Independence
each of the states wanted to maintain
sovereignty over its own territory
sovereignty exclusive right to exercise
political control over a territory
the new government was designed to be
small and weak and leave most power in
the hands of state government

III. American Fight for

Independence
Articles of Confederation established:
1. A central government composed of a
unicameral legislature (1 house),
known as the Congress of the
Confederation
2. no separate executive branch

III. American Fight for

Independence
while the central government wasnt
threatening to the states like British rule, it
was also very ineffective
this confederation system did not work, as
it was impossible for the states to interact
based on different laws, currencies, and
numerous disputes

III. American Fight for

Independence

III. American Fight for

Independence

the biggest problem with the Articles was

that they did not provide enough power to
the central government:
it couldnt collect national taxes
couldnt carry out foreign policy due to
blocking by the states
had no real structure to successfully
exercise power

all the colonies were also hurt by a serious

economic depression in 1784
states started printing out money to pay off
their debts and people who couldnt pay
off their debts were sent off to debtors
prison
this led to a series of rebellions, led by
Shays Rebellion, featuring former
Revolutionary War soldiers

III. American Fight for

Independence
a new meeting of delegates was called to
make changes to the Articles, resulting in
the Constitutional Convention, a
meeting of delegates in Philadelphia in
1787

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution
a. Constitutional Compromises
the first big proposal of the convention
was the Virginia Plan, a plan endorsed
by larger states such as Virginia

Virginia Plan = favored by larger states

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

a. Constitutional Compromises
Components of the Virginia Plan
1. created an executive branch elected by
the legislature
2. a national court system created by the
legislature
3. created a bicameral (2 house) legislature
with representation based on population
(favoring the bigger states)

a. Constitutional Compromises
this arrangement didnt go over well with
smaller states, which countered with the
New Jersey Plan

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

a. Constitutional Compromises
Components of the New Jersey Plan
1. Congress would regulate trade and
impose taxes
2. each state in a unicameral legislature
would have one vote
3. acts of Congress would be the supreme
law of the land

New Jersey Plan = favored by smaller

states

a. Constitutional Compromises
Components of the New Jersey Plan
4. an executive office of several people would be
created
5. the executive office would appoint a national
supreme court

a Connecticut delegate successfully offered up

a compromise, now known as the Great
Compromise

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

a. Constitutional Compromises
Great Compromise
created the legislature we have today:
1. lower house based on population (House
of Representatives)
2. upper house featuring equal
representation of all the states (Senate,
with 2 Senators from each state)

a. Constitutional Compromises
Slavery
slaves made up 40% of the population in the
South
northern states didnt want slaves to count in the
population in the South, as none of them were
citizens
southern states refused to give up slavery and
wanted as much representation in the House of
Representatives as possible

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

a. Constitutional Compromises
Slavery
the compromise was the three-fifths
compromise, in which it was decided that
for the purposes of calculating state
population, slaves would count as 3/5 of a
person

a. Constitutional Compromises
the economy of the South was heavily based on
the export of agricultural products to not only
northern states but also to other countries

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

a. Constitutional Compromises
as a compromise, it was decided that
Congress would be put in charge of
interstate commerce, and that taxes
wouldnt be placed on U.S. exports

since the North made up the majority in

Congress, the South feared that taxes might be
passed on these exports, hurting the southern
economy (in retaliation for slavery)

after many additions and changes, the

remaining delegates approved a final draft
of the Constitution in September 1787
it still had to be approved (or ratified) by
the states to go into effect

Signing of the Constitution

George Washington

James Madison

John Adams

Alexander Hamilton

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Franklin

The Founders

V. Debate Over Ratification

V. Debate Over Ratification

a. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton
and John Adams, they supported the
adoption of the Constitution and the
creation of a federal form of government

a. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

Anti-Federalists led by Thomas
Jefferson, they opposed the Constitution
because they believed it created too
strong of a central government and
lacked a Bill of Rights
Federalist Papers editorials written to
promote ratification of Constitution

V. Debate Over Ratification

a. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Complaints of Anti-Federalists
1. Small and powerful minority groups (factions) would
take over government & hurt the interests of the
majority
factions group of people forming a united minority (ex.
business groups, particular religions, professions)

Federalists argued that factions would not be able to

take over the government because the U.S. was too
big and diverse

there were too many groups in existence for one or a

small number to take control of the government

V. Debate Over Ratification

a. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
2. the Anti-Federalists also worried that the
Constitution would create a government
which was able to exercise tyranny
tyranny arbitrary (random) or unrestrained
exercise of power by an oppressive
individual or government

V. Debate Over Ratification

a. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
the only way for the Federalists to
address this concern was to give in to
the creation of a Bill of Rights in the
Constitution

the original 1787 version of the

Constitution had no Bill of Rights

VI. Major Principles of

Government in the Constitution
1. limited government
government can only do what is allowed
under the law
the Constitution specifically talks about
what government CAN DO (Articles I, II,
III) and CANNOT do (Bill of Rights)
both members of government and the
governed must also follow the rule of
law (act according to existing law)

VI. Major Principles of

Government in the Constitution

VI. Major Principles of

Government in the Constitution

2. federal system
the Constitution created a federal system
of government
federalism - system in which significant
government powers are divided between
a central government and smaller state
and local governments

2. federal system
while federal and state/local
governments do share powers, ultimately
federal law is the supreme law of the
land
the central (federal) government was
also given the power to coin money, levy
and collect taxes, and regulate interstate
commerce (in the commerce clause)

VI. Major Principles of

Government in the Constitution

VI. Major Principles of

Government in the Constitution

3. separation of powers

created by James Madison with the

Madisonian Model, our government
features powers separated into three
branches: executive, legislative, and
judicial

4. checks and balances

the Founders also wanted to make sure
that no one branch of government was
more powerful than another, so we have:
checks and balances each of the three
branches is given the ability to check
(restrain or balance) the actions of the
others

VII. Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights are ten formal
amendments (additions) to the
Constitution which explain the freedoms
individuals have from government
intervention

VII. Bill of Rights

Amendment
1st

Liberty
freedom of speech,
religion, assembly

2nd

right to bear arms

4th

freedom from
unreasonable search and
seizure

VII. Bill of Rights

Amendment
9th

Liberty

10th

powers not expressly given

to the federal government
go to the states (ex. the
power to police citizens)

individuals have more

civil liberties than just
those listed in the
Constitution

VII. Bill of Rights

Amendment
5th

Liberty
protection against
double jeopardy & selfincrimination, due process

8th

prohibition of cruel &

unusual punishment, cant
have excessive bail & fines