Mr



Mr. McCormack

American Government

Central Dauphin High School

Chapter Two

Origins of American Government

I. Our Political Beginnings

A. The population of what would become the United States had roots in many political systems

1. The greatest influence on American political development came from England

2. Much of English law drew upon the even earlier traditions of the Romans and others

B. Basic Concepts of Government

1. Ordered Government

a. Early colonists recognized the need for a government to regulate their relationships

b. The offices and forms of their local governments were modeled after the English

c. Some of these usages (sheriff, coroner, assessor, justice of the peace, grand jury, counties, townships, and others) are still recognized today

2. Limited Government

a. Colonists were convinced that governments should not be all-powerful

b. Colonists believed that individuals have rights that the government cannot violate

3. Representative Government

a. Popular control of government had been growing at the expense of royal power in England for centuries before the colonial period

b. Colonists maintained that governments must serve the will of the people

C. Landmark English documents set precedents for the colonists to follow

1. The Magna Carta (“Great Charter”)

a. This document bound King John to honor certain baronial privileges after his defeat at the Battle of Runnymede in 1215

i. One privilege was the right to trial by a jury of peers – the king could not judge alone

ii. The Magna Carta also protected due process of law – even the king must follow his laws and procedures before taking life, liberty or property

b. The Magna Carta originally protected few people, but it established the fact of a limited, as opposed to absolute, monarchy

2. The Petition of Right

a. Parliament, originally just an advisory group for the king, forced King Charles I to acknowledge several rights in 1628

i. The king could no longer imprison or punish anyone without a legal judgment against him

ii. The king could not impose martial law in a time of peace

iii. The king could not quarter his troops in private homes without the homeowners’ consent

iv. The king could no longer collect taxes without the consent of Parliament

b. The Petition of Right further diminished the divine right of kings and forced the king to recognize that laws had higher authority than he

3. The Bill of Rights

a. In 1688, Parliament decided to restore the monarchy after decades of civil war and the Interregency of Oliver Cromwell, but on its own conditions

i. The king could not keep a standing army in peace time without parliamentary approval

ii. All parliamentary elections must be free from royal interference

iii. The king could not suspect the execution of parliamentary laws

iv. Commoners had a right to petition the government and could not be punished for doing so

v. The government must guarantee a fair trial

vi. The government could not set excessive bail

vii. The government could not inflict cruel and unusual punishments

b. The ascent of William and Mary of Orange is still known as the Glorious Revolution

D. The English Colonies

1. England established thirteen North American colonies for various reasons between 1607 and 1733

a. Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement, began as a business venture

b. Several colonies (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland) were established, at least in part, by settlers seeking religious freedom

c. Georgia, the last colony to be established, was to be a buffer against the Spanish and a penal colony

d. The colonies were given exceptional liberties during upheavals (i.e. civil war) in England

e. Each colony could experiment with home-rule, and so have been called “schools of government”

2. Royal Colonies

a. Some colonies were subject to the direct control of the king

b. Eight of the thirteen colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) were royal colonies by 1775

c. Kings could revoke earlier charters to expand their control, and did

i. The Virginia Charter was revoked in 1624

ii. The Massachusetts Charter was revoked in 1691

d. Royal colonies enjoyed some self-government under their royally appointed governors

i. Colonists qualified to vote could elect delegates to representative bodies

ii. Governors’ appointed councils evolved into legislative/judicial bodies to complement the elected bodies

iii. Legislatures split into two houses this way are called bicameral legislatures

e. Colonial legislatures could pass laws, subject to royal approval, and had some control over taxation

f. Governors attempting to usurp the powers of the legislatures helped cause the Revolutionary War

3. Proprietary Colonies

a. Some colonies were subject to the control of individuals to whom a king had granted the land and right to establish the colony

b. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware were proprietary colonies in 1775

i. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, founded Maryland in 1632 as a haven for Catholics

ii. William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681 for his fellow Quakers and other religious minorities

iii. William Penn acquired Delaware in 1682

c. The proprietors, not the king, appointed governors for these colonies

d. Decisions of the proprietors’ governments could be appealed to the king

e. Maryland and Delaware developed bicameral legislatures, but Pennsylvania had a unicameral (one-house) legislature

4. Charter Colonies

a. Connecticut and Rhode Island were charter colonies

b. Religious dissidents from Massachusetts established both, so there was no single proprietor or company to receive the charter

c. Since the charter was granted directly to the colonists, both colonies were almost completely self-governing

i. White, male property-owners elected governors for one-year terms

ii. Governors technically required, but seldom sought, royal permission to take office

iii. Laws passed by colonial legislatures were not subject to the consent of either governor or king

iv. Appeals from colonial courts could still be taken to the king

d. The Connecticut and Rhode Island charters were maintained after the Revolutionary War as state constitutions

i. Connecticut adopted a new constitution in 1818

ii. Rhode Island adopted a new constitution in 1843

1. Rhode Island’s Charter of 1663 had no provision for amendment

2. By the 1840’s only 40% of the white male population met the property requirement to vote

3. Disenfranchised citizens joined under the leadership of Thomas Dorr in open revolt (Dorr’s Rebellion)

4. Although Dorr was unsuccessful in his revolt, the uprising did convince Rhode Island’s government of the need for change

II. The Coming of Independence

A. Britain’s Colonial Policies

1. The king mostly controlled the colonies through his Privy Council and the London Board of Trade

2. Parliament did not begin to exert itself on matters of colonial administration until the eighteenth century

3. Geographic separation from Great Britain (more than 3,000 miles) made home-rule a practical necessity

4. By the middle of the 18th century, the colonies and England were in a de facto federal system

a. Colonial legislatures exercised fairly comprehensive powers, particularly the power of the purse

b. The central (London) government took responsibility for defense and foreign trade

c. The occasional colonial regulation passed by Parliament was often ignored

5. British attitudes toward the colonies began to change with the ascension of George III in 1760

a. Restrictive trading acts were passed and enforced

b. The central government began to tax the colonies more heavily and directly to pay for their defense

6. Colonists began to object to British oversight and taxation

a. A resident British army seemed to have no purpose other than to subject the colonies, since the French were driven from North America in 1763

b. Colonists objected to taxes passed by Parliament, since they could not vote for its members

B. Growing Colonial Unity

1. Early Attempts

a. The New England Confederation

i. The first instance of inter-colonial cooperation

ii. Formed in 1643 by Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut

iii. Intended to be a defensive league against dangerous Native Americans

iv. The confederation declined in importance before dissolving in 1684

b. William Penn unsuccessfully advocated a system of inter-colonial cooperation on trade, defense, and crime in 1696

2. The Albany Plan

a. The British Board of Trade assembled delegates from seven colonies at Albany, NY in 1754

i. Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island were represented

ii. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss problems of trade and the danger of the French and Indians

b. Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union at the meeting

i. According to the Plan of Union, each of the thirteen colonies would send delegates to a general Congress every year

ii. The Congress would have certain powers to act on behalf of the colonies

1. Raise and support armed forces

2. Make war and peace with the Native Americans

3. Collect taxes

4. Regulate trade with the Native Americans

5. Collect customs duties (import and export taxes)

c. The meeting endorsed the plan, but neither king nor colonial legislatures adopted it

d. The Plan of Union would be an inspiration for later political developments

3. The Stamp Act Congress

a. Parliament’s Stamp Act of 1765 required the use of purchased stamps on all legal documents, certain business documents, and newspapers

b. This and other taxes were strongly opposed by the colonies

i. Colonists perceived them as too expensive

ii. Colonists refused to submit to “taxation without representation”

c. The Stamp Act Congress gathered in New York in 1765 to consider a unified response to the Stamp Act

i. All of the colonies except for Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Virginia, participated

ii. The Congress prepared a strong protest called the Declaration of Rights and Grievances

d. Parliament eventually repealed the Stamp Act, but new offenses further angered the colonists

e. Organized resistance to Britain began to spread throughout the colonies

i. Some colonists resorted to mob violence to demonstrate their anger

ii. Many colonists participated in boycotts of English goods

iii. Committees of Correspondence, first started in 1792 by Sam Adams in Boston, coordinated the activities of the various colonies

f. The Boston Tea Party

i. The most famous protest against British taxation (in this case, a tax on tea)

ii. December 16, 1773 – Sam Adams leads a group of men, poorly disguised as Native Americans, boarded three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped their cargo in the sea

C. The First Continental Congress, September 5 to October 26, 1774

1. Parliament passed the so-called Intolerable Acts in the spring of 1774 to punish the rebellious colonies

2. Every colony except Georgia sends delegates to Philadelphia to coordinate a response

a. The Congress included some of the most important political leaders in the colonies

i. Massachusetts – Samuel Adams and John Adams

ii. Connecticut – Roger Sherman

iii. Rhode Island – Stephen Hopkins

iv. Pennsylvania – John Dickinson and Joseph Galloway

v. New York – John Jay and Philip Livingston

vi. Virginia – George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee

vii. South Carolina – John Rutledge

b. Results of the Congress

i. Delegates forged relationships that would prove important during the Revolutionary War

ii. Congress produced a formal protest to the king, The Declaration of Rights

iii. Congress called for a general boycott of British trade until the taxes were repealed

iv. Congress urged the colonists to form local committees for further coordination

v. Congress agreed to reconvene in May, 1775

c. The legislature of every colony, including Georgia, supported the work of the Congress

D. The Second Continental Congress, May 10, 1775 to March 1, 1781

1. By the opening of the second Congress, fighting had already erupted in the colonies

a. The British army had begun seizing colonial weapons caches, alarming the colonists

b. April 19, 1775 - Battles of Lexington and Concord – “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”

2. Every colony sent delegates to Philadelphia for this Congress

a. Most of the delegates from the first Congress returned

b. Additional delegates included the celebrated Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts

c. Peyton Randolph of Virginia, former President of the first Congress, was elected president of the second Congress, but he resigned after two weeks to return to Virginia

d. John Hancock of Massachusetts was elected second President

e. George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the armed resistance

f. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to take Washington’s spot in the Congress

3. Our First National Government

a. The second Congress became the first national government of the United States

i. Raised the first national army

ii. Issued the first national currency

iii. Created the first national debt

iv. Made the first treaties on behalf of all of the states

b. Structure of the Congress

i. Unicameral legislature

ii. Each colony had an equal vote in congressional decisions

iii. Executive authority was exercised by committee

c. The congress operated without a Constitution or other clear authority, but had the support of most of the people

d. Britain considered the Congress a group of traitors

E. The Declaration of Independence

1. June 7, 1776 – Congress debated the Lee Resolution, recognizing the colonies as independent states

a. A committee of five was appointed to draft a formal declaration

i. Ben Franklin of Pennsylvania

ii. Robert Livingston of New York

iii. John Adams of Massachusetts

iv. Roger Sherman of Connecticut

v. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia

b. Most of the drafting was completed by Thomas Jefferson

2. July 2, 1776 – Congress approves Lee’s Resolution

3. July 4, 1776 – Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence

a. The Declaration was intended to justify the revolution and relied heavily on the social-contract theory of John Locke

b. The majority of the Declaration is a list of grievances against George III and British tyranny

c. Fifty-six delegates signed the Declaration

i. John Hancock, as president, signed first and with the largest signature

ii. Ben Franklin reportedly said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

iii. John Dickinson was the last opponent of independence to withdraw from the Congress, but did so that the majority could present a unified front

F. The First State Constitutions

1. Beginning with New Hampshire in January 1776, many of the former colonies began replacing their royal charters with constitutions

a. The Congress urged each of the states to adopt new governments in May, 1776

b. The last state to abandon its charter was Rhode Island (1843)

c. Of these first constitutions, Massachusetts’ 1780 Constitution is still in force today

2. Features of the State Constitutions

a. Constitutions were usually drafted by assemblies or conventions from the people, who then ratified the document in a general vote

i. Constitutions, establishing the fundamental law, principles, rights, and structure of the state, were products of the people, not the legislatures

ii. Legislatures are subordinate to their constitutions and cannot alter them

iii. This is different from the British/Parliamentary model, where legislatures can alter the constitution

b. Common Features

i. Popular Sovereignty – government can only exist with the consent of the people

ii. Limited Government – government could only exercise certain expressed powers

iii. Civil Rights and Liberties – certain popular rights could not be violated by the government

iv. Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances – three branches of government could restrain each other

v. Terms of Office – elected officers typically faced reelection annually or biannually

vi. Suffrage – the right to vote was fairly exclusive and usually reserved for white male property owners of mature age

vii. Legislative Supremacy – most authority rested in the legislatures

c. Many features of the state constitutions would influence the later Federal Constitution

III. The Critical Period

A. Forming a national government proved to be a long, difficult process

1. Congress debated how to form a national government for 17 months after the Declaration

2. The Articles of Confederation were finally passed by Congress on November 15, 1777

3. The Articles of Confederation could not go into effect until every state ratified them

a. The last state (Maryland) did not ratify the Articles until March 1, 1781

b. The Articles created a firm league of friendship, but every state retained its sovereignty, freedom, and independence

B. Government under the Articles of Confederation

1. Structure

a. The new government was extremely simple

b. Only one branch of government – an elected Congress

i. Work was administered through committees

ii. A member of Congress was chosen annually to act as the Presiding Officer or Chairman

2. Powers of Congress

a. Declare war and peace

b. Send and receive ambassadors

c. Make treaties

d. Borrow money

e. Issue money

f. Establish a postal system

g. Build a navy

h. Activate state militias to serve in an army

i. Fix standards for weights and measures

j. Settle disputes among the states

3. State Obligations

a. Obey acts of Congress

i. Provide troops when requested

ii. Provide money as requested

b. No discrimination against the citizens of other states

c. Give full faith and credit to the public acts and judicial proceedings of other states

d. Extradite fugitives from other states

e. Allow open trade and travel between the states

f. Protect life and property

g. Promote the general welfare

4. Weaknesses

a. One vote for each state, regardless of size

b. Congress lacked the power to raise money by creating taxes

i. Congress could only borrow money or ask states for donations

ii. Congress could not afford to pay the costs of the Revolution since no state ever met its requests

c. Congress could not regulate foreign or interstate commerce

d. No executive to enforce Congressional laws

e. No national court system

f. Amendments could only be passed by unanimous consent

g. A super-majority (9/13) was required to pass laws

h. Articles were more of a “league of friendship” than a unifying document

C. Divisions Threaten the New Nation

1. The Revolutionary War concluded on October 19, 1781, when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia

2. The Treaty of Paris between the United States, Great Britain, France, and Spain officially ended the war in September, 1783

3. Peace brought more opportunities for disunity and division in the states

a. States grew jealous and argumentative, refusing to support each other or the Congress

b. Several states began conducting their own foreign negotiations in violation of the Articles

c. Economic disorder was extreme

i. States taxed goods from other states or even banned trade entirely

ii. States issued their own money, which often suffered from extreme inflation

iii. Debts went unpaid

d. Violence broke out among the colonies

i. The most extreme incident was Shays’ Rebellion

1. Daniel Shays, a former army officer, organized a revolt of poor farmers and debtors in Massachusetts in 1786

2. Shays forced several state courts to close to prevent foreclosures on debts

3. Shays led an unsuccessful attack on the federal arsenal in Springfield in 1787

4. Shays eventually fled to Vermont, was condemned to death in Massachusetts before being pardoned in 1788

ii. Shay’s Rebellion revealed the extreme weakness of the Congress and state governments

D. Movement for Stronger Government

1. The first step for change was taken by Maryland and Virginia in 1785

a. The two states, troubled by trade disputes, chose to settle their problems without Congress

b. Representatives from each state accepted George Washington’s invitation to gather at his estate, Mt. Vernon, in March

2. January 21, 1786 – Success at Mt. Vernon led the Virginia legislature to call for a general meeting of the states

a. Five states answered Virginia’s invitation by sending delegates to Annapolis, Maryland on September 11, 1786

b. The Annapolis meeting was intended to settle trade disputes

c. The delegates at Annapolis called for another meeting at Philadelphia the following May

3. By February, 1787, seven of the states had named delegates to the Philadelphia convention

4. February 21, 1787 – Congress endorsed the Philadelphia meeting for the sole purpose of proposing revisions to the Articles of Confederation

IV. Creating the Constitution

A. An Assembly of Demi-Gods (as described by Thomas Jefferson)

1. Twelve of the thirteen states eventually sent representatives to Philadelphia

a. Meetings were held in Independence Hall, the same place were the continental congresses convened and the Declaration of Independence was signed

b. Rhode Island’s government was controlled by men opposed to a stronger central government

c. Some of the delegations were late in arriving

i. The Congress opened on May 14th, but couldn’t must a majority to do business until May 25th

ii. New Hampshire’s delegates, hampered by the lack of funds, didn’t arrive until late July

d. A total of 74 delegates were chosen, but various reasons reduced the number of attendees to 55, of whom the average number attending daily was about 40

2. Delegates’ Qualifications

a. Eight signers of the Declaration of Independence

b. Eight had previously served in state constitutional conventions

c. Seven former state governors

d. Thirty-one college graduates

e. Thirty-nine former members of the continental congresses

f. Two college presidents

g. Three professors

h. Two future Presidents of the United States

i. One future Vice-President of the United States

j. Seventeen future Senators

k. Eleven future members of the House of Representatives

l. Most were men of wealth and prestige

m. Many had legal experience

n. Most members were drawn from the rising generation of American leadership (average age: 42)

i. Benjamin Franklin, 81, was the oldest member

ii. Alexander Hamilton, 32, was the youngest member

3. Members and Non-Members

a. Prominent members included George Washington, James Madison, Edmund Randolph, George Mason, Benjamin Franklin, Gouveneur Morris, Robert Morris, James Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, William Paterson, Elbridge Gerry, Rufus King, Luther Martin, Oliver Ellsworth, Roger Sherman, John Dickinson, John Rutledge, and Charles Pinckney

b. James Madison, Father of the Constitution

i. James Madison, only 36, became the floor leader of the majority in the convention

ii. Madison kept excellent notes of the convention that are the best source for what we have learned about the convention’s proceedings

iii. Some have challenged Madison’s reputation as the Father of the Constitution by pointing to substantial contributions made by Gouverneur Morris and Charles Pinckney

c. Conspicuously absent – Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams

i. Some of these men refused to attend because they did not support the convention’s purpose

ii. Some of these men could not attend because they were engaged in government business (ex. Jefferson as ambassador to France, Adams to England)

d. Historical Views of the Framers

i. Most of the framers have been revered by generations of Americans and foreign friends of democracy

ii. Some modern critics have attempted to demean the framers for being unrepresentative of the minority and lower-class populations

B. Organization and Procedure

1. Delegates chose to organize themselves by appointing officers

a. George Washington was chosen President by acclamation

b. Non-delegates were appointed to fill minor positions (i.e. William Jackson acted as secretary)

2. The convention chose to adopt certain rules of procedure

a. Delegates worked in isolation and secrecy

i. Windows were kept shut, even in the sweltering summer heat

ii. The cobblestone streets were overlaid with dirt to diminish noise

iii. Soldiers kept the curious at bay

b. Every state had an equal vote

c. A majority of states needed to be present to conduct business

d. Proposals would pass by a majority of the votes cast

C. Amend or Replace the Articles of Confederation?

1. The convention was tasked only to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation

2. The convention voted to abandon the Articles and draft a new constitution on a motion from Edmund Randolph on May 30, 1787

D. The Virginia Plan

1. Proposed by Edmund Randolph on May 29, 1787

2. Written mostly by James Madison

3. Proposed three separate branches of government

a. Bicameral Congress

i. The number of representatives in each house would be fixed by either the population of the state or its level of financial contributions to the central government

ii. Lower house (House of Representatives) elected by the people

iii. Upper house (Senate) chosen by the lower house from nominees selected by the state governments

iv. Congress would have the power to veto state laws, use force to compel the states to comply with Congress, and to legislate in more ways than was permitted under the Articles

v. Congress would have the power to admit new states

b. National Executive would be chosen by Congress

c. National Judiciary would be chosen by Congress

d. The National Executive and National Judiciary together would form a Council of Revision that could veto acts of Congress

e. Congress could override the Council’s vetoes

4. Required all state officers to swear an oath to support the constitution

5. Guaranteed every state a republican form of government

6. The Virginia Plan set the agenda for most of the convention’s debates

7. Critics argued that the plan’s formula for representation in Congress gave too much power to the states with large populations

E. The New Jersey Plan

1. Proposed by William Paterson on June 15, 1787

2. Also proposed three branches of government, but represented less of a departure from the structure of the Articles

a. Unicameral Congress

i. Representation in Congress would be equal for every state

ii. Congress would gain a limited power to tax and regulate commerce

b. Federal Executive

i. Would consist of several persons

ii. Executives could be removed by Congress at the request of a majority of states’ governors

c. Federal Judiciary would be appointed by the executive

F. Compromises

1. The Connecticut Compromise (“The Great Compromise”)

a. Proposed by Roger Sherman

b. Settled the disagreement over representation in Congress

i. Bicameral Congress

ii. Larger house would be based on states’ populations

iii. Smaller house would permit equal representation of the states

2. The Three-Fifths Compromise

a. Positions of the slave states

i. Slaves should be counted in the population when determining congressional representation

ii. Slaves should not be counted when calculating taxes due from each state

b. Free states held positions opposite of the slave states

c. Opponents compromised by agreeing to fix representation based on the total free population and three-fifths of all other persons

d. This compromise was made moot by adoption of the 13th amendment (abolishing slavery) in 1865

3. The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

a. Some slave states feared giving Congress the power to regulate commerce because the free states could cut off the slave trade

b. Some states feared giving Congress the power to tax exports because their economies relied on trade in tobacco

c. The convention settled the question by preventing Congress from stopping the slave trade before 1808 and from ever taxing exports from the states

d. The import of slaves was eventually outlawed on the first possible day, but it continued illegally until the Civil War

4. Although much of the constitution resulted from compromises, the delegates agreed more often than not (for example, none questioned the wisdom of representative government)

G. Although much in the constitution was new in the field of government, the framers borrowed many of their ideas

1. Other governments

a. Democracies of ancient Greece

b. Republic of ancient Rome

c. Medieval and contemporary European governments

d. Experience of the various states

2. Academics and Philosophers

a. William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England

b. Edward Coke’s legal writings

c. Baron de Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws

d. Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract

e. John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government

H. The Convention Concludes

1. The convention appointed a committee under Gouverneur Morris to finalize the form of the constitution on September 8, 1787

2. The Constitution was approved by the convention on September 17, 1787

3. Thirty-nine of the framers allowed their names to be fixed to the document

V. Ratifying the Constitution

A. Although the Confederation Congress had authorized the convention to consider amendments only, it received the constitution and distributed it to the various states on September 28, 1787

B. Many were surprised that the Constitution could be ratified by just nine of the thirteen states, since the Articles had required unanimous agreement for amendments

C. The Fight for Ratification

1. The popularity of the Constitution was helped greatly by the endorsement of the two most prominent Americans living at the time – George Washington and Benjamin Franklin

2. Supporters and opponents of the Constitution were called Federalists and Anti-Federalists, respectively

a. Federalists (led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton) advocated the Constitution on its merits and by highlighting the weaknesses of the Articles

b. Anti-Federalists (led by Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams) were not as organized in their arguments

i. Major concern over the increased strengths of the central government

ii. Great fear for lack of a Bill of Rights

3. Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution (December 7, 1787)

4. New Hampshire became the ninth to ratify (June 21, 1788)

5. The votes in several states were very close and highly irregular

In Pennsylvania’s legislature, a proposal to form a ratifying convention was thwarted by a minority that absented itself to deny the majority the necessary quorum

The majority of the legislature sent a mob to physically seize some of the missing legislators and drag them to the capital so that they could vote to pass their resolution

6. Although the Constitution required only nine states to ratify it, the late ratification of Virginia and New York were considered key to the success of the new nation

a. Virginia’s Ratification (June 25, 1787; 89-79 vote)

i. Virginia was the largest and wealthiest state

ii. Federalists – James Madison, John Marshall, Governor Edmund Randolph

iii. Anti-Federalists – Patrick Henry, James Monroe, Richard Henry Lee, George Mason

iv. Washington did not serve as a delegate, but his support was key in swaying several others, including Thomas Jefferson

b. New York’s Ratification (July 26, 1787; 30-27 vote)

i. New York was the fifth most populous state, but an important commercial center

ii. Federalists – Alexander Hamilton

iii. Anti-Federalists – Governor George Clinton, Robert Yates, John Lansing

iv. The Federalist Papers were a series of articles written anonymously by Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to advocate ratification

D. Inaugurating the Government

1. The Confederation Congress acceded to its successor government on September 13, 1787

2. New York City was chosen as the temporary capital, with meetings to be held in Federal Hall on Wall Street

3. The new government was to begin on March 4, 1789, but was delayed by lack of a quorum

4. Washington’s election as President couldn’t be certified until April 6

5. George Washington was finally inaugurated President on April 30, 1789

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