Birth of A Nation

Articles of Confederation: FIRST ATTEMPT at a Constitution for new government

BUT IT WAS WEAK IN MANY WAYS!!

Provided for a weak national government Gave Congress no power to tax or regulate commerce among the states Provided for no common currency Gave each state one vote regardless of size Provided for no executive or judicial branches (only had a Congress)

The delegates met in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to try to FIX IT. They ended up deciding to write a new one so this became known as the CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. The Constitution George Washington was elected as president of the Constitutional Convention. One of the big issues was how states would be represented in Congress (this affected the number of votes each state had!)

James Madison introduced the Virginia Plan which solved the problem. It allowed for a compromise between big states and little states: THE GREAT COMPROMISE: Senate each state would have TWO representative House of Representatives Would be based on state population

(favored small states) (favored large states) To keep from having the same problems that they had with the Articles, the delegates decided to change the structure of the national government. They wanted to balance the power so they created:

THREE SEPARATE BRANCHES

Carry out the laws Make the laws l Determine if laws are constitutional

******Nine out of the thirteen states had to vote in favor of the Constitution before it

could become law (ratified).

ONE PROBLEM REMAINED: The Constitution did not provide for laws protecting the individual rights of American citizens. To fix this, during President Washingtons term of office, the Congress created the

James Madison used the :

Virginia Declaration of Rights and The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

as a basis for a proposal for the Bill of Rights!!!! The BILL OF RIGHTS became the first TEN AMENDMENTS to the CONSTITUTION protected individual rights of Americans, such as: o Freedom of Speech o The Right to Bear Arms o Freedom of Religion o Freedom of the Press o And many, many more!

THE FIRST FIVE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES George Washington

Federal court system was established. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. Plans were created for development of the national capital in Washington, D.C. (Benjamin Banneker, an African American astronomer and surveyor, helped complete the design for the city.)

John Adams
A two-party system emerged.

Thomas Jefferson
He bought Louisiana from France (Louisiana Purchase). Lewis and Clark explored new land west of the Mississippi River.

James Madison
The War of 1812 caused European nations to gain respect for the United States.

James Monroe
introduced the Monroe Doctrine warning European nations not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere.