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AN02b Unit 02: A New Nation Ch.05 - Ch.

08
Timeline: Late 18th - Early 19th C.
FQ: The US Constitution- A Risk Worth Taking?
I. Problems Galore
A. Shays Rebellion (1786): Taxes, Farmer Debt, Revolutionary War Veteran who felt
betrayed. Highlighted the problems that the central government had on imposing and collecting
taxes.
B. Inter-State Trade: Disputes over tariffs, conducting business across the territories of
neighboring States. The issue here is how to keep the 13 States from elevating their disputes
into a war-like condition.
II. A Stab at a Solution: May 1787. Philadelphia, Pa.
12 State delegations (55 total) meet in Philadelphia to attempt to resolve the problems plaguing
the confederacy. Outwardly, the delegates were to going to try to fix the Articles of
Confederation. Secretly, the delegates were set on replacing the Articles of Confederation.
III. Review of Some of the Major Hurdles to Address at the Convention
A. A fear of a strong, centralized government.
B. The Trade Disputes between States
C. The national debt that accrued during the Revolutionary War period.
D. A central government that cant tax without unanimous agreement of the States.
E. Big States vs. Small States
F. Slavery as an institution. Impact on national representation.
G. Authority of the State vs. National government
IV. Compromise is the Order of the Day
A. Great Compromise: Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
1. Bicameral Legislature (Congress)
2. Upper House (Senate) where all States have equal representation.
3. Lower House (House of Representatives) has number of representatives governed by
the population size of the State.
B. Three-fifths Compromise:
Slaves, greater in number in the Southern States, would only partially count (three-fifths)
toward representation in the lower house of Congress. This solved the political issue of
Slavery, but not the economic or moral issue.
C. Federalism
A division of political power/ governance between State and the central (Federal)
government. Individual State governments will no longer enjoy a dominant political hand.
D. Separation of Powers
1. To address the fears of a strong centralized government, the powers held by the federal
government would be separated into three distinct branches.
2. Each branch would keep the powers of the other branch In-Check. The branch powers
would balance each other.
E. Electing the President
The Executive branch of the new federal government generated great fear because of the
power one man could amass. Therefore, a system to elect the president was necessary to
AN02b Unit 02: A New Nation Ch.05 - Ch.08
put the election in the hands of people who could make an educated decision and not far
from the influence of the States.=> The Electoral College.
Some of the delegates did not believe the new constitution would last. Nevertheless, the plan
was submitted to Congress, then on to the States for ratification,

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