Creating a New Republic: 1776-1790
(Lecture Notes from Mr. Kersey's 8th Grade U.S. History Class)Government During the Revolution
- During the Revolution, most states had to write their own constitutions.
- A constitution is a document that sets out the principles and basic laws of a government.
- States wanted a written constitution for 2 reasons:
- First, it would spell out the rights each citizen had.
- Second, it would set limits on the power of government.
- For obvious reasons, Americans were very concerned about government having too much power.
- For this reason, all the states (except Penn.) divided power between a legislature and an executive.
- A legislature makes laws. Lawmakers are elected.
- Usually legislatures are divided into two houses, or groups:
- An upper house, or senate
- And a lower house.
- An executive carries out, or executes laws. In the states this person was called an governor. (Penn. didn't have one of these guys).
- Some states, like Virginia, also included a Bill of Rights in their constitutions.
- A bill of rights lists the freedoms that the government promises to protect.
The Articles of Confederation
- During the war, the states needed to have a national government to help win the fight against the British.
- One problem was most people thought of their state as their country.
- Writing a constitution that most states would approve of was difficult.
- Finally, in 1777, the Continental Congress created the Articles of Confederation.
The Confederated States
- Under the Articles of Confederation, the national government had few powers.
- The government was only the Confederation Congress in which each state had one vote.
- The Congress was allowed to:
- borrow and coin money
- make foreign treaties
- resolve conflicts between the states
- ask states for money, but could not force them to give any
- Under the Articles there was no executive or court system.
- The national government was very weak.
Problems with the Articles
- Because the national government was so weak, it had no power to enforce treaties with foreign governments like with Britain.
- There were also trade problems with Britain and Spain.
- The closed markets with Britain and Spain hurt the US economy. Every state tried to do what was best for itself, not the nation as a whole.
- Congress had no power to regulate interstate commerce, or to control inflation, caused by some states printing tons of paper money.
Shay's Rebellion
- Finally, economic problems got so bad, a bunch of farmers in Massachusetts revolted against the state government.
- The rebellion was put down in 1787, but it was embarrassing for the new nation.
- The rebellion was an obvious example that new government was not working.
Uh, we need some changes here
- Already in late 1786, leaders and states were calling for a meeting to discuss the problem. They agreed to meet in Philadelphia in May 1787.
