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Warm-Up #1 of Unit 2
What were some of the positives and negatives of the Articles of Confederation? What were
some of the difficult issues they encountered when writing the Constitution? Discuss the
structure of the Constitution. What are reserved, delegated, and concurrent powers?
What were some of the positives and negatives of the Articles of Confederation?
Pros of the Articles of Confederation
● Power to the people
○ Wanted to be free of a
monarchy-esque government
● The first attempt at a constitution
● Land Ordinance of 1785
○ Allowed them to equally
distribute land west of the
Appalachian mountains
○ People, no matter what social
class had access to acquire
land. Made buying and
equitable.
● Northwest Land Ordinance of 1787
○ Originally under control by the
13 colonies, the ordinance
allowed people to apply for
statehood and have their state
be represented separately from
the 13 colonies in the
government vote.
○ To apply for statehood you
need to have sixty thousand
residences, an established
government, and a written
constitution.
Cons of the Articles of Confederation
● Weak central government
○ Left a vast majority of the
power to the states
○ Not three branches of
government, only a
LEGISLATIVE branch
● Only the Legislative Branch
○ Could only request money
from the states, no tax the
states. It was not required to
give the central government
money.
● Could not regulate trade between
states
● Outlandish taxing from the states
○ Shay was a Massachusetts
farmer who returned from
fighting in the war to being
taxed heavily to pay off
Massachusetts battle debt.
Shay was unable to pay off the
taxes so his land was taken
away. Shay found this unfair
since he fought for America
● The central government was unable to
contain Domestic Threats (such as
Shays Rebellion)
○ Due to the weak central
government, the states were
responsible for taking down
the threats
○ This caused concern that the
government could be easily
overthrown
● …
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What were some of the difficult issues they encountered when writing the Constitution?

During the first attempt to revise the Articles of Confederation, not all the state
representatives showed up. Alexander Hamilton then said they would meet a year later and
revise so everyone could be there.
One year later, they met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. George
Washington oversaw this revision. The states came to the agreement that they should put aside
the Articles of Confederation and start from scratch. Patrick Henry was not happy about this
because he feared they were trying to overthrow the government. James Madison was also at the
convention.
One of the main struggles while revising in Philadelphia was the amount of voting that
each state had. Virginia was dissatisfied that they and New Jersey had the same amount of votes
even though Virginia was massively bigger than New Jersey. New Jersey wanted equal
representation in the legislature. This led to the formation of the Great Compromise in which the
House of Representatives and Senate were formed; in the House of Representatives, the vote was
based on population while in the Senate it was two representatives from each state. Another issue
was the amount of representation that African Americans had in voting. The South wanted the
African Americans to have one whole vote each so the South would be at an advantage while the
North did not. They settled by allowing the African Americans to have ⅗ of a vote. This is called
the ⅗ Compromise
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Discuss the structure of the Constitution. What are reserved, delegated, and concurrent powers?

There were three different branches: the executive (President), judicial (the Courts and
Judges), and legislative (the House of Representatives and Senate).
They formed three separate branches of government so that one branch was more
powerful than the others. This is called CHECKS AND BALANCES. Ex. The House of
Representatives could impeach the president and bring it to the Senate so they vote on whether it
goes through (bring charges against the president). The President could veto a potential bill but if
Congress has a ⅔ majority vote the bill can still go through and turn into a law. If the court thinks
a law is unruly then they could change or get rid of that law.

The Difference Between Reserved, Delegated, and Concurrent Powers

Reserved Power Delegated Power Concurrent Power

Power for the States. Ex.
Self-determination for what
they do to the state. Such as a
different education in
different states
Power of the Federal
Government. Ex. The Power
to declare war, establish a
government, and Income tax
(ask about).
Power to both the State and
Federal government. The
power to tax, build roads and
create lower courts. Ex.
Federal and State courts
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Jeffersonian vs Hamiltonian
Debate will take place on Tuesday
INCLUDE A JEFFERSONIAN COUNTER-ARGUMENT!!!!!!
★ CH. 6
*Also find/site sources if you can that’d be like sooo cool
Chapter 8 Quizlet that contains lots of information
Hamilton and the U.S. Constitution PBS
Hamiltonian Constituional Interpretation: In Defense of Energetic and Limited
Government VERY GOOD SOURCE
Hamilton’s Vision by Aaron O’Halloran
The Farmers Refuted
The Federalist Papers No.1
Jefferson and Hamilton Disagree About the Government

1. Should the newly formed federal government take on the state debt from the American
Revolution?
a. Hamilton:
i. Wanted the government to take on the entire debt of the federal and state
governments. He proposed that they would take out loans instead. He
believed this would bind the men of wealth and influence who over time
acquired most of the debt and handed them over to the national
government. (Britannica Article)
ii. Hamiltonian debt plan- Ch 6 pg 201~
iii. “If we assume the debts, the union gets a new line of credit, a financial
diuretic/How do you not get it, if we're aggressive and competitive/The
union gets a boost, you'd rather give it a sedative?/A civics lesson from a
slaver, hey neighbor/Your debts are paid 'cause you don't pay for labor”
(Cabinet Battle #1 from Hamilton).
iv. State debts were owed to merchants or ‘speculators’, they would be paid
back with interest BY the US the ensure that they would support the
country so it wouldn’t collapse before their debts were paid
b. Jefferson: Reducing taxation, reining military spending, setting up government
programs
i. Reset a position of understated authority right to stop regarding interesting
them with the entire responsibility of the state that the transition from
power between Articles of Confederation and the Constitution I rely on
also be like solely on loan because or printing money bot could lead to
inflation
ii. Prevents the government from taking advantage of the states
iii.
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2. Does the federal government have the power to establish a national bank?
a. Hamilton: Avoids privatized monopoly and fiscal mismanagement.
b. Jefferson: Would overrule state banks and would overlook poorer people like
farmer, since the rich people would be investing more in the bank

3. Is strict construction or loose construction the correct interpretation of the Constitution?

a. Hamilton: (Open to interpretation) MADELINE, ADDISON, OSSIAN,
HARLAN
i. Hamilton's Philosophy: “general philosophy that both individuals and
governments should take great initiative in addressing problems. He
strongly believed in striking the first blow instead of waiting to respond to
the actions of an opponent. ‘In Politics as in war the first blow is half the
battle.’” (O’Halloran)
ii. “we should be mindful that those powers are intended by the Constitution
to be limited, that we should not read them in an unreasonably expansive
way that justifies activities on the part of the national government that go
beyond the responsibilities that have really been entrusted to it. This kind
of strict construction is also perfectly acceptable and even essential to the
preservation of constitutional government” (Holloway)
iii. “Alexander Hamilton, who saw the need for a strong federal government
in America’s infancy, one with all of the necessary ‘energy’ to execute the
Constitution’s expressed powers. Thus, Hamilton believed the best way to
cultivate and preserve a republican form of government was to operate on
a loose interpretation of the Constitution, predicated on the Necessary and
Proper Clause (often referred to as the Elastic Clause), which would better
fortify political freedoms for posterity” (O’Halloran)
iv. “ would advocate for such a ‘great latitude of discretion’ [open
interpretation by the persons judgement on the part of the federal
government in its execution of its enumerated powers. The answer lies in
his general philosophy that both individuals and governments should take
great initiative in addressing problems. He strongly believed in striking the
first blow instead of waiting to respond to the actions of an opponent. “In
Politics as in war the first blow is half the battle.” (O’Halloran)
v. “If America was to hold itself to a strict interpretation of the Constitution’s
enumerated powers, it would, in Hamilton’s view, fail. In the debate over
ratification, long before discussions about the national bank, he advised
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Americans that “we must bear in mind, that we are not to confine our view
to the present period, but to look forward to remote”(O’Halloran)
vi. “By contrast, the Federalists wanted a stronger central government that
could do more things. Therefore, they wanted to interpret the Constitution
loosely. They wanted to say that the central government could do things
unless the Constitution said it could not.” (Schimmel)
vii. “A strong central government could represent the nation to other
countries. It could also control individual states that would not cooperate
with the rest. Federalists also believed that a strong central government
could best protect individual citizens' rights and freedoms
b. Jefferson: (Strict)
i. “Thomas Jefferson’s constitutionalism moved beyond the acceptable strict
construction that Marshall noted and into the realm of the unacceptable
strict construction that Marshall (and the Court) rejected” (Holloway)

4. What role should the United States play in the French Revolution?
a. Hamilton: “You must be out of your Goddamn mind if you think/The President is
gonna bring the nation to the brink/Of meddling in the middle of a military
mess/A game of chess, where France is Queen and Kingless/We signed a treaty
with a King whose head is now in a basket Would you like to take it out and ask
it?/“Should we honor our treaty, King Louis’ head?”/“Uh… do whatever you
want, I’m super dead.” (Cabinet Battle #2)
b. Jefferson:

5. Is the federal government justified in creating the whiskey tax?

a. Hamilton:
b. Jefferson:

6. Is Jay’s treaty a good agreement with Britain?

a. Hamilton:
b. Jefferson