Describe the major debates that impacted the creation of the Articles of Confederation quizlet

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1. Social Science
2. Political Science
3. Politics of the United States

Terms in this set (20)

Which document is characterized by these attributes:
- Congress could not levy and collect taxes
- Congress could not regulate interstate or foreign trade
- There was no national court system to settle disputes
- The thirteen separate states lacked national unity

The Articles of Confederation

Why did delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 write a new constitution?

To revise the Articles of Confederation and to create a stronger national government. They decided the government should have three parts so that no one person or group could become too powerful.

What were the major weaknesses of government under the Articles of Confederation?

It lacked the power to tax citizens.
There was no way to pay for the costs of the American Revolution.
It asked states for money but had power to force payment.
It did not control trade, foreign or national.
It lacked the power to enforce laws.
All states approval was needed to amend Articles of Confederation.
Nine states' approval was needed to ratify new laws.
There was no executive branch.
There was no national court.

Debate over the ratification of US Constitution:
Speaker A: "Our liberty depends on guaranteed individual rights.Citizens with these rights will be able to make decisions for the good of the whole nation."
Speaker B: "I admire your optimism; however, only a well-educated group of elected officials should be trusted to make decisions for the good of all."
Speaker A: "We must not allow the rule of a few privileged officials to overpower the will of average citizens."
Speaker B: "A strong central government, composed of elected officials, will be acting in the best interest of all citizens."
Speaker A: "I fear you are ignoring the needs of the people. There must be a guarantee that the freedoms of citizens will not be trampled over by a strong national government."
This debate most accurately represents the debates between which two groups?

Federalists and Anti-Federalists

Federalists believe:

Articles of Confederation provides better balance in government.
History has proven that all of the small republics of the past have been destroyed by selfish groups.
A large republic where the government was organized on the basis of checks and balances and power was divided between the national and the state governments would prevent it from becoming a tyranny.
The constitution provides adequate protections for the state governments to prevent their being destroyed by the national government. The national powers are limited to tasks that face the entire nation, such as trade, currency and defense.
You need to have the necessary and general welfare clauses if the national government is to be able to do what it is responsible for doing.
The Constitution provides for a strong executive branch to fulfill its responsibilities. The national powers are separated and balanced among the three branches so no one can dominate the others. It gives the Supreme Court and Congress ways to check the use of the power by the executive branch (the President) so it cannot become a monarchy.
They believe a bill of rights is unnecessary because the powers of the government are limited.

Strong Federalist supporters:

John Jay
Alexander Hamilton
James Madison
Edmund Randolph

Strong Anti-Federalist supporters:

George Mason
Patrick Henry

Anti-Federalists believe:

Small republics work best. People who are not too rich or too poor possess civic virtue and can agree on what is best for their common welfare. The new nation was so large and diverse that people would not be able to agree on their common welfare.
Free government requires the active participation of the people. The national government would be located too far from people's communities to allow them to participate, so the government could only rule by military force which would be a tyranny.
The Constitution gives the national government too much power like taxing citizens and keeping an army. This will destroy state governments.
The necessary and proper clause gives too much power to the national government. Powers and their limits should be listed.
The Constitution gives too much power to the executive branch and it will soon become a monarchy.
The Constitution needs a bill of rights to protect individuals against the power of the national government.

During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, what did the Great Compromise settle a debate over?

The Virginia Plan, led by James Madison, called for a bicameral legislature where the number of representatives in each house would depend on the population of the state.
The New Jersey Plan, led by William Patterson, called for a unicameral legislature where every state received one vote.
The compromise provided for a bicameral Congress:
House of Representatives - each state is represented according to its population (satisfied the Virginia Plan)
Senate - each state has two representatives (satisfied the NJ Plan)
Both houses of Congress must pass every law!

Why did Americans create the Articles of Confederation?

They wanted to give more power to the states, including tax and trade. The national powers included declaring war, signing treaties, providing mail service and coining money.

Why did the small states object to the Virginia Plan?

In the Virginia Plan, because smaller states have fewer people, they would not have as much representation in the government.

What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

Northern states did not want slaves counted in population, but did want them counted for tax purposes. They wanted to ban slave trade.
Southern states wanted slaves counted in the population because they had many more slaves. They did not want them counted for tax purposes because it would cost the states more money. They wanted to maintain the slave trade as a labor source.
The states compromised by saying 3/5 of the slave population counted when setting taxes and to determine the number of representatives per state.
The states compromised on the slave trade and agreed that Congress could not ban the slave trade until 1808.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A bright spot in the Articles of Confederation. Described how the Northwest Territory would be governed. When there there were 5000 free males in an area who owned at least 50 acres of land, they could elect an assembly. When there were 60,000 people, they could apply to become a state. Guaranteed rights included freedom of religion, trial by jury and slavery was banned.

Popular sovereignty

A government in which the people rule.

Why did Shays' Rebellion happen?

In Massachusetts, landowners had to pay high taxes and some had to sell their land to pay the government the taxes they owed. Hundreds of farmers demanded that the state lower their taxes, but their complaints were ignored.

What happened in Shays' Rebellion?

In January 1787, desperate farmers led by Daniel Shays tried to seize guns stored in Springfield, Massachusetts,

What was the outcome of Shays' Rebellion?

The governor sent in troops to crush the rebellion.

How did Shays' Rebellion show the weakness & incompetence of the Articles of Confederation?

The uprising sent a shockwave throughout the nation. Massachusetts had asked Congress for help, but Congress didn't have the power to help. It showed that maybe the new national government was so weak that a small group of angry farmers in one state could take it over.

What is a republic form of government?

In this form of government, the people elect representatives to make and enforce the laws that govern the country. The Framers of the Constitution wanted the people to have a voice in government. Yet the Framers also feared that public opinion might stand in the way of sound decision making. To solve this problem, they looked to republicanism as a model of government. In Republicanism, the people exercise their power by voting for their political representatives.

According to the Framers, these chosen lawmakers played the key role in making a republican government work. An important part of Republicanism is the idea that citizens stay informed about politics and participate in the process by voting.

Framers

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention. They designed the structure of the US Constitution. They voted to keep all of their discussions secret. This allowed them to speak aloud without fear of their work being announced before it was finished.

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What were the major debates that impacted the creation of the Articles of Confederation?

Which was a main reason for creation the Articles of Confederation?

Which idea had a major influence on the authors of the Articles of Confederation quizlet?

How did the government structure set up under the Articles of Confederation reflect the ideas?