Creating a Republic

1776-1790

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.

Government During the Revolution

• 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.

Government During the Revolution

• For obvious reasons, Americans were very concerned about government having too much power.

People like Thomas Jefferson believed the people and the states should have most of the power.

Government During the Revolution

• For this reason, all the states (except Penn.) divided power between a legislature and an executive.

The Virginia State Capital Building

Government During the Revolution

• 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.

Government During the Revolution

• An executive carries out, or executes laws. In the states this person was called a governor. (Penn. didn’t have one of these guys).

Governor Ted Strickland

Government During the Revolution

• 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 Virginia Bill of Rights

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.

The Articles of Confederation

• Writing a constitution that most states would approve of was difficult. No one wanted to give up power.
• 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 Confederated States

• 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

One-Dollar note, Virginia 10/20/1777

The Confederated States

• Under the Articles there was no executive or court system, which means there was no one to enforce or interpret the law.
• 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, who were refusing to allow U.S. ships into their ports.

Problems with the Articles

• Britain closed the West Indies and other markets to U.S. trade.
• They also continued to occupy several forts in the Great Lakes region.
• Spain closed the lower Mississippi to U.S. shipping in 1784.

John Adams was sent to negotiate, but the British wouldn’t budge.

Problems with the Articles

• The closed markets with Britain and Spain hurt the U.S. economy.
• Every state (like most people) tried to do what was best for itself, not the nation as a whole. This made things worse.

Problems with the Articles

• Congress had no power to regulate interstate commerce (trade between states), or to control inflation, caused by states printing tons of paper money.

This is actually Continental Currency, authorized by Congress. This is a $65 note, printed 1/14/1779.

Shays’ Rebellion

• Finally, problems got so bad in Massachusetts that a bunch of farmers, led by Daniel Shays, revolted against the state government.
• The rebellion was put down in 1787, but it was embarrassing for the new nation.

Shay’s Rebellion

• The rebellion was an obvious example that new government was not working.

Fighting during Shays’ Rebellion

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.