Read the secondary source "Compromise 1: Philadelphia Story", primary source documents "Letter from Madison to Washington" and Letter from Jefferson to Madison". What were the concerns of the Founding Fathers with regards to the need to re-write the A of C? What events spurred conversation about the need for revisements? What were the most controversial aspects discussed during the Constitutional Convention? Why were they controversial and what were the final decisions?
Bogs are due Tuesday, February 3, 2015.
The Founding Fathers sensed the need to change the Articles of Confederation because of the desire for a stronger Government. A conflict called Shay's Rebellion generated a fear of violence, and many saw stronger government as a solution. The issue of states' freedom was also a contributing factor, and how each state could be represented in the government. The initial meeting of the "Constitutional Convention" was intended just to revise the Articles, but instead they ended up writing a whole new document.
ReplyDeleteShays’ Rebellion raised crucial questions concerning the relationship of citizens to their government. It thus affords an opportunity to assist 21st century Americans to better understand the nature of their Constitution and how it came to be. The “Rebellion” loomed large in the minds of delegates who came to Philadelphia to find a solution to the crises destabilizing the fledgling nation. It presented the most dramatic example of the unrest and dispute occurring throughout the new United States that alarmed people across a wide spectrum of post-revolutionary society. Citizens understood that the American Revolution would mean both greater economic opportunity as well as the end of political oppression. For many, expectations were dashed while others railed against the social and economic mobility the American Revolution had unleashed. Because it involved fundamental economic, social, and political issues, Shays’ Rebellion forced ordinary Americans no less than elite leaders like George Washington, to think about their understandings of the promises of the American Revolution and what kind of government would fulfill them.
Shays’ Rebellion forced Washington and other Americans to rethink the Confederation system and the assumptions behind it. The events in Massachusetts fueled the desire among many political leaders to suppress the excesses occurring in individual states. Political leaders reasoned that the people of the states, and, in some cases, the legislatures themselves, had proved unable to sustain their republican-based systems of government. This translated into a campaign to revise the Articles of Confederation and ultimately to discard them. The Articles were by design and intent weak; the real power in the loosely united confederation rested with the individual states. Rejecting a loose confederation, the delegates crafted the Constitution with a federal model of government immeasurably more powerful than that conceived under the Articles.
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, two groups opposed each other. The Anti-Federalists at the Convention feared a strong central government that would abuse their powers and lead to a corrupt and unjust American society. They did not want the work of the Revolution to be destroyed and felt a need for increased states' rights. The Federalists on the other hand, wanted a strong central government that would maintain order in America and which they concluded would guarantee prosperity. This argument between the Anti-Federalists and the Federalists split the country and led to varied interpretations resulting in decades of debate. There is clear evidence to show that the Federalists dominated the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
I enjoyed the way you presented your information. You included a lot information for each thing you presented. I am surprise you did not include the 3/5 compromise as it was a conflict between the Northern and Southern states. Information about it was provided in Compromise 1: Philadelphia Story.
DeleteYou included a lot of information on Shay's Rebellion, but did not include much information on the comprises. Both the Great Comprmise and the 3/5 Compromise were very important in making congress what it is today.
DeleteThanks guys! So here it is (fourth paragraph added): The ratification of the Constitution required a series of Compromises to be passed. The Great Compromise (or Connecticut Plan) which determined how congress would be made up of two houses, the House of Representatives (based on the population of each state) and the Senate (equal representation, two Senators from each state). The next one was the 3/5ths Compromise which determined that only 3 of every 5 slaves would count for a states population (to help determine how many representatives a state would have). The Commerce compromise was that congress could not place a tax on the exports of any state and that the importation of slaves could be not be abolished for twenty years from the time the constitution went into effect. These are the main three Compromises that helped in the ratification of the Constitution.
DeleteI did not add the Commerce Compromise in my post and, in fact, this is the first time I have heard of it. Thanks for the information!
DeleteI really enjoyed the way you presented your information. I also enjoyed your word choice because it really showcased your intelligence. Good Job.
DeleteI agree with your stance and including a detailed account of Shay's rebellion made the stance much more stronger.
DeleteYour response was so detailed! Your a very great writer!
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. Your information flowed and your vocabulary is fantastic! I like how you explained your information and it was very detailed. Plus you taught me something new, I did not know about the Commerce Compromise.
DeleteI really love how you presented your detail and your stance. Your information always seems to flow and I also did not know about the Commerce Compromise.
DeleteYou should answered the question about the concerns of rewriting the Articles of Confederation, but other than that the essay was good.
DeleteYour blog presents a lot of significant facts and relevant details and it all flows very well. I am surprised that you mentioned the commerce compromise because I did not think about this compromise until you brought it up in your blog. This writing is outstanding.
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation was the first form of government in America. It consisted of a weak central government and powerful state government. This caused conflict early on in it’s life cycle, such as Shay’s Rebellion. This was when the Framers say that the government was too weak and it opened up their eyes and they had to have a meeting.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Daniel Shay was a farmer, who was in debt to the government after coming back to his farm after the American Revolution and got others behind him to overtake the government and free others who were thrown in jail because of their debt. This required hired farmers in the surrounding areas to put down Shay’s Rebellion because the government did not have an army to send to support Massachusetts. This lead to the Philadelphia Convention, the purpose of it was to revise the Articles of Confederation. Though in the end it did more than that and became know as the Constitutional Convention. The 100-day debate consisted of seventy delegate but only fifty-five showed up, as Rhode Island did not attend. The Constitution lead to a total of seven articles and ten amendments, which we still see stand today. Although more importantly this changed the Articles of Confederation’s idea of a government as the central government became a lot stronger.
Everyone wanted a bicameral legislature, this was a given and ended up being if the not the only, then few opinions that everyone agreed on. This caused how each house would be filled; either by state population or by equally about of delegates sent to represent the state. This caused conflict between the Northern states that were against the seats being filled by population as they had a small amount compared to the Southern states whose population was large due to the fact that they used slaves. In the end this caused the 3/5 comprise to be established, this made three out of five slaves count toward the population and put a frown on Washington’s face as well as Madison’s face. Though this was not the only problem to rise from the convention.
During the making of the Constitution, two sets of people arose, The Anti-Federalist and Federalist. The Anti-Federalist was against the constitution because of the strong central government, while the Federalist was for the constitution because it would fix what the Articles of Confederation lacked. Though, both sides did not want seven years of work to be destroyed. But this conflict was not resolved during the convention and sparked new problems, practically ripping the south and north apart.
In the conclusion, you stated that the conflict between the Anti-Federalists and the Federalists did not end and then implied that it caused the civil war. The bill of rights was the compromise between the to groups, so there was not much conflict left between them and anything brought up was quickly solved. The civil war was caused because of the dissagreement on slaves, the election of Lincoln, and the Emancipation Proclomation.
DeleteI like how you showed the conflict between the two sides of each compromise and debate. Also it was good how it showed the tension and you did a really good job presenting it.
DeleteI like how you explained the conflict between both sides for anyone who didn't understand it also you defend your arguments with factual evidence.
DeleteI liked how you made a explained Shay's rebellion and made it very detailed and carried it on to how the constitution was finally made and lead to other issues later on.
DeleteI agree with your perspective on how the Republican Party lead to the Civil War. The Republican Party came into being with the single purpose of abolishing slavery. The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln, who got elected through a fluke (the Democratic vote split between two popular candidates). He came to office with almost one single agenda item, to end slavery. There had been some serious tension between northern and southern states over slavery for several decades already, so Lincoln only had to strike a match. I really like how you presented each subtopic in a way for everyone to grasp the main idea of the entire subject properly.
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and created a very weak central government. The government was not allowed to tax or regulate commerce, leaving this job to the states. This would become a problem for poor farmers and eventually lead to a revolt. This revolt would then lead to the Founding Fathers to question the Articles of Confederation and in 1787, hold a Constitutional Convention.
ReplyDeleteSince they had to pay off their debts from the Revolution, states increased taxes tremendously. Veterans who fought in the Revolution were not paid, and returned to their farm to find a huge amount taxes that needed to be paid. The farmers usually could not pay the taxes and had their home foreclosed. This caused anger among the farmers. One farmer, Daniel Shay, could not take it any longer and decided to gather other farmers who shared his views and with arms stage a rebellion. This event came to be called Shay’s Rebellion. The central government was called upon to fight the rebellion, but the government did not have enough money to pay for soldiers to fight the rebellion. The government had to ask wealthy patrons to pay for the soldiers. In the end, Shay’s Rebellion was defeated, but not without letting the Founding Father’s know that there was something wrong with the Articles of Confederation. Together, they gathered (12 delegates from 5 states) to talk about the problems the Articles had and revising the articles. It was decided that a Constitutional Convention would be held to revise the Articles. In the end, the Articles were not revised, but thrown away. A new constitution was called to be written. This lead to 2 major compromises, both of these compromises having to do with Congress.
The first compromise was the Great Compromise. This was the result of 2 conflicting plans: The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan wanted representation in Congress to be based off of state population, thus favoring the large states. The New Jersey Plan wanted equal representation in Congress. It was decided that Congress would be bicameral (2 houses). One house, the House of Representation, would be based off of states representation and the other house, the Senate, would have 2 representatives from each state. The second compromise was the 3/5 Compromise. This compromise resulted from debates over slaves counting as representation. This was important because if they counted, the southern states would get more representation than the northern states. In the end, it was decided that only three-fifth of slaves would count in representation. With the compromises, the Constitution was finished.
This was not the end to the debate. Over the course of the Convention, 2 groups had formed: The Anti-federalists and the Federalists. The Federalists wanted to have a strong central government and supported the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists wanted a weak central government and did not support the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists created a Bill of Rights that they wanted to be added to the Articles before it was ratified. The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. With the Bill of Rights accepted, The U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788.
I now find myself disappointed as I included the information for the Great Compromise but did not include the name itself and what plans went along with it. Thought I would change the numbers two the regular spelling unless it was a year based number. Other than that, I enjoyed how you presented your information.
DeleteI agree to your perspective that the Compromises were important in ratification of the Constitution. Without the idea of the Compromise that expanded Congress into two houses, one based on population and one with a set number of representatives, the Constitution never would have been ratified... and without that, the US never would have developed beyond a loose alliance of states that could never respond to a major crisis. I would include the other two Compromises that were necessary for the ratification of the Constitution. The Commerce Compromise which said no tariffs on U.S. exports; only imports from foreign countries. And, the Slave Trade Compromise appeasing southern farmers and delaying the banning of the slave trade until 1808. These are the minor Compromises that were necessary. I really enjoyed reading your blog and how you only included the major factors leading to the Constitution.
DeleteI liked your essay because it was very informative with a lot of descriptive detail on Shays' Rebellion and the context was deep. I also liked the background information
DeleteI like how you included background information from the Great Compromise and Shay's Rebellion. Your blog is very well written with a great transitions throughout your response.
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ReplyDeleteAfter winning their independence from Britain, the colonies started to set up their own form of government. The Articles of Confederation was the first government established for the new United States. The Articles of Confederation set up a weak central government because the colonists were afraid that tyranny would happen again if the central government had too much power. Even though the Articles of Confederation were a step in the right direction they did not establish a good enough government to help hold together the fragile nation.
ReplyDeleteThe eye opening event that caused the Founding Fathers to really recognize that the Articles of Confederation needed to be re-written was called Shay’s Rebellion. Shay’s Rebellion was a conflict between farmers and the Massachusetts courts. After the war, farmers who had helped in fighting against Britain still had not been paid for their time. This caused the farmers to slip into debt and not be able to pay to keep their farms. The farmers banded together to stop court trials from going through and to prevent their farms from being foreclosed. The rebellion was eventually put down and resolved. This rebellion showed the Founding Fathers that the Articles of Confederation were not a good governing body for the new nation. Delegates from the states decide to meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles. During the convention the five delegates decided to just write a whole new body of government. There were of course some very controversial issues that had to be addressed in the new constitution.
One of the issues that were brought up at the Constitutional Convention was the issue of representation. There was already an agreement that Congress should be bicameral but the problem was how representation should be determined. Smaller states favored the New Jersey plan which said that all states would have the same amount of representation. The larger states favored the Virginia plan which stated that representation would be determined based on population. After much debate a solution was finally reached. The Great Compromise stated that one house of Congress would be based on population (House of Representatives) and one that had equal representation (Senate).
Another issue that sparked in the Constitutional Convention was how slaves should be counted towards the population. Northern States did not want the slave population to be included in the general population because it would give the southern slave holding states an advantage in getting more representatives. The Southern states wanted slaves to be included because of course they wanted to have more representation in the House of Representatives. From this new debate another compromise was put into place. The Three-Fifths Compromise stated that for every five slaves only three would be counted towards the population. This compromise satisfied the states and the Constitution was advanced more. Before the Constitution could be ratified the states had to come to an agreement. This split the country into two parties, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted the Constitution to be ratified and supported a strong national government. The Anti-Federalists on the other hand opposed the Constitution and wanted to have more state rights. In order to satisfy the Anti-Federalists and ease their fear of violation of rights, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution.
Through many debates and compromises our nation was able to come to an agreement and established the Constitution that we have today (with some slight changes).
I like how you explain everything briefly, and follow your statements by factual evidence.
DeleteI like how you flowed and kept me intrigued with your use of word. Most importantly you used SFI!
DeleteGreat information I like how you used past events to show how it led to the Articles and the Constitution. I also like that there was no unnecessary information withing the passage.
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation was the first form of government. There were many weaknesses in the Articles, colonist felt that the government had too much power and it would eventually turn into a monarchy. So colonist felt that the Articles of Confederation needed to be made so that there would be a separation of powers.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest event that probably made the Founding Fathers want to rewrite the Articles of Confederation was Shays Rebellion. Daniel Shay was a farmer that had enough of the government's treatment, so together he gathered people who shared the same thoughts as he did and together decided to rebel against the government. The government did not have any money to pay the soldiers so they asked wealthy sponsors to donate the money. The British ended up defeating the farmers but this was enough to show the Founding Fathers that the Articles of Confederation needed to be fixed. Twelve delegates gathered and discussed the problems/weaknesses of the Articles. This was the start of the Constitutional Convention.
An issue discussed at the Constitutional Convention was lack of representation the colonies had. Colonist weren't given the opportunity to represent themselves and the idea of bicameral legislative interfered with this. The New Jersey Plan said that all states would have equal representation which benefited the smaller states. The Virginia Plan stated that representation would be based off of population size which benefited the larger states. After going back and forth The Great Compromise was made, stating that the House of Representatives would be based on population and the the Senate would have equal representation.
Over time two groups formed, The Federalist & Anti-federalist. The Federalist were in favor of the Constitution and believed in having a strong central government. The Anti-federalist opposed the constitution and feared that the people's freedom was being deprived. So the Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution to ensure that the government could take away the people's basic rights.
I agree to your perspective on Shay's Rebellion that it was a rebellion of farmers in Massachusetts led by an ex-continental soldier by the name of Shay. They were unhappy with the taxes placed on them buy the state and the fact that courts kept taking their land when they couldn't pay them. They almost succeeded in a full out revolution had the Massachusetts militia not come and put it down. It was important because it showed the disunity of the colonies after the revolutionary war, and was the final push that lead to the end of the Articles of Confederation and the writing of our Constitution. I really enjoyed how you wrote your paragraphs and made everything simpler for a "common men" to understand.
DeleteI agree that Shay's rebellion was the big event that made the founding fathers want to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. The rebellion was a major impact.
DeleteI also agree that Shays rebellion was a major factor that the founding fathers used to change completely the Articles of Confederation. I also liked how you explained your stance. Great Job!
DeleteI agree with your point on how Shay's Rebellion was a major factor contributing to the revision of the Articles, Shay's Rebellion definitely opened up everyone's eyes. I also like how you discussed the Federalist, Anti-Federalist, and the Bill of Rights in your summary.
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation was a new document made by the founding fathers to have a structure of government after the Revolutionary War from England. This document had many problems with it and it spurred many problems in the time it was in use. The problems that occurred were things such as the federal government not being able to collects taxes to the states having their own currency and having only one branch of government. For that the founding fathers held a convention to revise it but a whole new constitution was made.
ReplyDeleteThe ability to collect taxes is very crucial for a national government to have. It is the only way to pay the government members and ways to pay off debt from wars. The Articles of Confederation did not cover that because of how America came out of a war from monarchy and it seemed wrong to do that to the people again. From that, the national government had to borrow money from the states that issued taxes to be able to wage war.
From not being able to collect taxes, the United States did not have one standard issue of money. Every state had their own currency and it lead to many issues with trade and high rates of inflation. This caused the economy to be in a very bad situation and was later revised in the new constitution.
A major problem from not being able to collect taxes and no standard currency was that there was only one branch of government. The legislative branch was the only available branch with the Articles of Confederation and it housed all thirteen delegates from the 13 states. The delegates were there to discuss laws and vote on it. To pass a law, 9 out of the 13 states needed to agree. For that, no laws were passed when the Articles of Confederation was enacted on.
The Founding Fathers found it that the Articles of Confederation were broken and needed to be revised. For this, a new Constitution was brought up and it changed the nation until now. It changed the nation until now because it lives with the times and it developed an even system of laws with three branches to balance each other.
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DeleteI like how you mentioned that the states all had different forms of currency. I don't think that enough emphasis has been put of the fact that varying currencies stunted the American economy and there wouldn't have been a way to form a unified nation without common currency.
DeleteThe Founding Fathers created the Articles of Confederation, with the fear of having a monarchy government, like the British. During the time of the Articles of Confederation was ratified, states were more powerful than the federal government. Years later the Founding Fathers came back together to discuss the idea of having a strong central government after an event known as Shays Rebellion.
ReplyDeleteThe Shays Rebellion was a series of protest by America farmers who opposed state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. This alarmed the Founding Father's because they were afraid of the possibility of its citizens turning against them. After this event, they began to look for an idea of having a strong central government.
The Constitutional Convention was held to revise the Articles of Confederation. During the convention, the Founding Fathers argued over many issues on taxes on slaves, amount of representatives in each state, payment debts from the Revolutionary War, and other domestic issues. These issues were later resolved with help from the Federalist papers, created by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. These papers promoted the ratification of the Constitution. The Bill of Rights was created to get the Anti-federalist to agree to the Constitution. It protected the citizens from the power of the state and federal governments.
I like how your response is straight to the point and contains examples and SFI. It was well thought out and contained great information.
DeleteYour post was concise, while still answering all questions asked of you by Ms. Bates. It was also very easy to follow and presented lots of great SFI!
DeleteI agree with Alexis and Marium. You presented factual information and keep your post brief.
DeleteYour post shows you have a clear understanding of the concepts necessary to discuss in this discussion because your points are factual and well supported. Shay's Rebellion was definitely one of the main reasons for the Founding Fathers to come together and revise the Articles. It showed the Articles were too weak for the new nation and a stronger form of government needed to be implemented. The Constitution was special "revised" form of government and proved it's strength when the Whiskey Rebellion was controlled by Washington and the federal government.
DeleteI like your inclusion of the Federalists Papers and the Bill of Rights in your post. They were major contributors to the creation of the Constitution that tend to get left out.
DeleteThe first constitution was made to keep order in the sates and avoid monarchy. Some did not believe that the constitution would last such as James Madison and he was right, the Articles of confederation did not last long at all.
ReplyDeleteThe Articles of Confederation had one main problem, the states had too much power. The states were the ones who imposed taxes so if the government needed money they had to ask the states then pay them back. Also the central government did not have enough power. It was difficult to regulate trade due to the different currencies within the states.
Due to the obvious failure of the Articles of Confederation there needed to be a revision. The need for a revision led to the Constitutional Convention , in which leaders discussed the issues within the states such as representation of the states.
There was the Virginia plan and the New Jersey plan. The Virginia plan wanted the states to be represented by population, however, the smaller states did not agree to that. The New Jersey plan wanted all states to have equal representation. This issue was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise.
In the revision of the constitution anti-federalists did not agree because they felt that it gave the national government too much power. Their biggest problem was that there was no Bill of Rights which the federalists added to the constitution as a compromise.
I really like your summary. It was short and straight to be point.
DeleteYou mentioned several concepts I had overlooked, such as the anti-federalists and addition of the Bill of Rights, and organized your summary well. Each paragraph had comprehensive pieces of SFI that compared and contrasted the supporting arguments.
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation was the first form of government. The articles had many weaknesses. The colonist felt that the government had too much power, and would slowly become a Monarchy. Under the articles, the government was not allowed to tax or regulate commerce. This was the states job. This became a very big problem for poor people and farmers.
ReplyDeleteSense the states had to pay off their debts from the revolutionary war, they increased taxes on the people. During the war the people who were fighting were not being paid, so when they came back to their farmers, they had many taxes to pay and were in great depth. Daniel Shay was one of those men. He was fed up, and gathered other farmers who shared his viewpoints with arms in hand and rebelled. The government could not pay for soldiers to fight back. This event was later known as Shay’s Rebellion. The rebellion caused fear to grow upon the delegates.
In 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss what was going on in Massachusetts, and to revise the Articles of Confederation. Instead of revising the articles, the delegates formed a completely new document called the constitution. This meeting came to be known as the Constitutional Convention. But in order to ratify the Constitution, it required a series of compromises to be passed. The great compromise, also known as the Connecticut plan, was the compromise between the Virginia plan, which wanted representation based on population, and the New Jersey plan, which wanted equal representation in congress. The Great Compromise would have two houses. One house is the House of Representatives, which is based on population of the states. The other house was the senate, which consisted of equal representation, two senators from each state. The next major compromise was the 3/5th compromise, where three of every five slaves would count towards the state population.
Even though the constitution seemed to be a better form of government, there were those who opposed it and those who favored it. The Anti-federalist were those who opposed the Constitution and feared the peoples rights would be limited or taken away. To satisfy the Anti-federalist, the Bill of rights was added to the Constitution.
Great use of SFI to support your points! The SFI you chose helped give a logical flow to your post. I really liked that you included a contradictory point, but later turned that into a supporting argument.
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ReplyDeleteThe Articles of Confederation was Americas first form of government, and proved to be a very weak central government. The Articles had many weakness including no national currency leading to rebellions. Furthermore, leading to the ratification of the Constitution.
ReplyDeleteAfter the American Revolution the states all had different money. Not all of it was worth the same in each state causing many problems. The main problem was trade, trade between the states was very difficult because the money in one state was not worth the same in another. This cause the money to be worthless leading to inflation. The high rates of inflation because of no national currency really damaged the economy and led to rebellions.
Shay's Rebellion was the event that led many people to see that the Articles of Confederation was really weak. Shay's Rebellion happened when war veterans from the American Revolution did not have money to pay for there farms, and initially there farms were taken from them. These farmers, such as Daniel Shay were fed up and decided to rebel. Now knowing that the national government did not have an army the rebellion could not be put down as fast and the weakness of the Articles were reveled.
The Founding Fathers realized that the Articles were weak and decided to change or to amend the Articles. But this was not what had happened the Articles were thrown out completely and the United States Constitution was ratified in 1787. The nation as a whole now had a national currency, three branches of government, an army, the ability to regulate trade and collect taxes. This new Constitution proved to be the best way to set out a stronger central government compared to the weak Articles of Confederation.
By including the the issues caused by the Articles and weak central government, you post was easier to follow. It also did an excellent job showing the cause and effect relationship between the Articles, Shays' Rebellion, and the Creation of the Constitution.
DeleteEven though you didn't acknowledge the compromises of the Constitution, your thorough explanation of the causes of the revision made up for that.
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ReplyDeleteThe first governing document of the United States was the Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1777. Under the Articles, states exhibited more power than the national government of the United States. Powers reserved for the national government included the ability to declare war, conduct foreign affairs and make treaties; all the powers needed to wage and win the war against Great Britain. However, ten short year later fifty-five delegate from all states, excluding Rhode Island met in Philadelphia to discuss the need of revising the articles.
ReplyDeleteThe event known to trigger the call for the Constitutional Convention is Shays’ Rebellion. The leader and organizer of this pivotal event in history is Daniel Shays, a Massachusetts farmer and Revolutionary War veteran. Upon returning to his farm, Daniel Shays, found that he had been summoned to court for unpaid debts. This not only happened to Daniel Shays, but several other farmers and veterans due to being unpaid soldiers or lack of trade and need for agricultural products. Remembering the words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, Daniel Shays and others whom held the same beliefs as him began protesting against the government, demanding the reduction of taxes, state issued paper money and the stoppage of property takeovers. The rebellions did not last long, before wealthy property owners defeated the “rebel” farmers. However, Shays’ Rebellion did not end without catching the attention of our Founding Fathers, whom were now convinced that the Articles must be revised in order for the young nation to remain independent.
While at the Continental Convention in Philadelphia, it became evident that the Articles, even with revisions were no longer adequate for running the nation, which led to the creation of the Constitution. In writing and discussing the Constitution, delegates from different states often had different and opposing viewpoints, which were resolved by many compromises. The Great Compromise settled the dispute of how states would be represented in Congress. It was agreed by all, that the legislative branch would be bicameral, all states in the Senate would have two seats (equal rep.), and in the House of Representatives state seats would be depending on population. The great Compromise led to a controversy between Southern and Northern states on whether or not slaves would be counted as part of the population. This argument was settled by the 3/5 Compromise, which stated that slaves would be counted as 3/5 a person for representation in the House of Representatives. Another less known Compromise created during the Convention is what James Madison called “the Sectional Compromise.” The Sectional Compromise was a backroom bargain, where New England states would allow the Southern most states (SC & GA)to continue the slave trade for twenty more years if they supported all federal laws regulating commerce a mere majority vote rather than a super-majority vote of 2/3.
Asides for the Compromises, two groups of Individuals emerged from the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist, those who supported the Constitution and the Anti-federalist, those who opposed the Constitution. In order to appease Anti-federalist and ensure the ratification of the Constitution, our Founding Fathers put in place the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments that ensure citizens civil rights and liberties are protected.
I like how you summarized Shays rebellion and how it triggered the creation of the constitution. You completely answered all the questions. Good use of SFI.
DeleteAll the information asked for was summarized so well! Every event was explained concisely and easy to comprehend. I can see you watched the Crash Course #8 video when you mention, " all the powers needed to wage and win the war against Great Britain." I wonder why they would make a government that had all rights to wage war against Britain; yet they wanted to remain neutral (Proclamation of Neutrality & Jay's Treaty) and avoid war with Britain, even though England constantly teasing the new nation. Thank goodness for George Washington for making sure the U.S. stayed out of countries business or we would have entered more wars, collected more debt, and become allies with countries restricting our independence as a nation.
DeleteThere were many concerns associated with the need to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. Many people had considered it risky to make improvements to the Articles. William Lloyd Garrison had stated that the Constitution was "a covenant with death". Another concern was the differencing viewpoints between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted a stronger national government while the Anti-Federalists wanted a stronger state government.
ReplyDeleteRebellions were the main cause of the need for revision of the Articles. Shays' Rebellion was the main cause toward the government creating the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson was a supporter of the rebellion, stating how society needs a rebellion every now and then to refresh the country's identity. This is exactly what occurred as a result of the rebellion. Delegates from the colonies realized that the Articles of Confederation were not working, forcing them to make immediate changes that developed slowly.
One of the controversial aspects of the Constitution was how the states would be represented. The large states including Virginia and Pennsylvania wanted representation based on the population. The small states including New Jersey and Delaware wanted representation based on equal representation. This resulted in the Great Compromise, where both ideas were accepted, creating a House of Representatives and Senate. This was controversial as they moved away from the idea of one vote per state in the Articles of Confederation. Another controversial aspect was slavery. The Southern states wanted representation for the slaves since it would result in more representation while the Northern states wanted nothing to do with this at all. This resulted in the 3/5 compromise, where 3/5 of slaves would be represented in government. The slave trade was also discussed as well. The Southern states agreed to stop importing slaves after twenty years and the government agreed to regulate mere majority vote instead of a supermajority vote, which was 2/3. This would affect slave states because slaves were their main source of making money.
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ReplyDeleteThe Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses along with it. The central government could not tax, regulate interstate commerce, or issue its own paper money. The state governments had more power than the national government, which caused many issues for citizens of America. This caused the Founding Fathers to write a constitution that enhances the power of the national government but still providing power to the states.
ReplyDeleteShay’s Rebellion was an event that revealed the weaknesses of the Articles. A farmer named Daniel Shay was not paid for fighting in the Revolutionary War and he was at risk of losing his property for not paying taxes. He gathered other farmers facing similar situations as himself and caused destruction throughout America. Although the rebellion failed, it showed that the idea of confederation was not as effective as the Founding Fathers anticipated it would be. This led to the Constitution Convention in Philadelphia for the revising of the Articles.
One of the most controversial aspects discussed during the Constitutional Convention was the Great Compromise. Delegates have already decided that there will be a bicameral Congress but could not decide whether the power of the house would be divided equally from each state or based on the state’s population. As a result, they decided to make one house of Congress based on the state’s population (House of Representatives) and another house based on equal representation from each state (Senate).
Another controversial aspect discussed in the Convention was the Three-Fifths Compromise. The northern Americans did not want slaves to also represent the population of the United States. However, southern Americans wanted slaves to represent the population of the United States. In the end, delegates have decided that each slave will represent three-fifths of a citizen in the population of their states.
The Articles of Confederation served as the first form of government in America. After the Revolutionary War the colonists were determined not to revert to the monarchical systems that they fought so hard to separate from. In turn, the Articles of Confederation gave very few powers to the national government. One of the major issues with the Articles was that the national government was not allowed to collect taxes from the states. This stunted the growth of the American economy greatly. Another weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that a unanimous vote was required to make any changes to the document. As a result, there were no changes made to the Articles of Confederation until the actual "re-writing", (also known as the Constitutional Convention).
ReplyDeleteThe Constitutional Convention was actually a result of a events like Shay’s Rebellion that made the current leaders realize that the states had absolutely too much power. The national government was not able to put down the rebellion themselves due to the lack of money they had so the states had their own private armies. America was more of a confederation of separately governed states, than they were a united group of states under one government. After this was realized, revisions to the Articles were made a priority. However, strong federalist (and anti-federalist) ideals lead to the creation of a new document, the Constitution.
During the Constitutional Convention man topics were discussed, but the most controversial of them all was slavery. Slavery as a whole was the result of moral, political, and economic hypocrisy found in the constitution. The writers of the Constitution were aware that slavery was a major issue through the disputes between the north and the south regarding it. The 3/5 Compromise was able to resolve the dispute of whether or not slaves would be counted when determining representation. The north stated that they shouldn’t be counted as slaves are considered property while the south pushed for them to be counted because they were still people. The 3/5 Compromise stated that each slave would be counted as 3/5 of a person when determining the amount of representation that each state would get.
“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” This commonly misquoted Bible verse held true for the Articles of Confederation. The Articles purposely made the national government weak. They severely limited Congress’ access to money, stating that Congress “shall never...coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor…borrow money on the credit of the United States.” These powers were reserved for the individual states.
ReplyDeleteThere were many discrepancies between states because each state had their own way of conducting trade, coining money, and taxing. Some states, such as New York and South Carolina, were able to slowly pay off their debts by issuing paper money and forcing debtors and merchants to accept it. Opposite, the legislature of Massachusetts chose to enforce a harsh tax on its citizens and demand hard currency in attempts to pay off their debt. The resulting consequences made evident the weaknesses of the confederation.
Massachusetts’ harsh taxes most affected the farmers. Many were unable to pay and faced property seizures. They protested but were met with no economic relief. A particularly fed up farmer named Daniel Shays, who was also a veteran of the American Revolution, decided to raise a militia of fellow fed up farmers and rebel against the state government. Because the national government had so little power, they were unable to help put down the rebellion and unrest continued in Massachusetts. A private militia was raised by concerned Bostonians and would ultimately crush the rebellion after several bloody encounters. As news of Shays’ Rebellion spread throughout the colonies, many citizens became increasingly fearful of anarchy and tyranny of the majority. The Articles of Confederation would have to be revised to balance order with liberty.
The Annapolis Convention decided that a revision of the Articles would not be sufficient enough. The Founding Fathers met again at the Constitutional Convention to write a new plan of government. They readily agreed to give the national government more power, but they disagreed on representation in Congress and slavery. The controversial, “split-the-difference” solutions were the Great Compromise, three-fifths clause, and sectional compromise. No state left the Convention with confidence in the new plan of government, but it has succeeded indefinitely.
I really liked your use of the Bible verse in the first sentence, I thought that was a really cool connection. And you also had a strong description of Shay's Rebellion.
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation was the first official government of the United States. The Articles government was very limited in what it could do, and ultimately, it failed as a government. Although the government was able to declare war, negotiate foreign treaties, regulate currency, and borrow money from the states it was left with many things it was unable to do.
ReplyDeleteThe national government was unable to tax, control trade, and did not have it's own army. After Shay's Rebellion in 1787, people began to realize that there was a need for a stronger central government. The Constitutional Convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation originally but the Founding Fathers, the 55 delegates that attended, ended up "designing the political framework for a new nation that did not yet exist".
The Great Compromise was created during this convention. During the Constitutional Convention there was the controversial question of whether representation should be done by state or by population. The Great Compromise settled this dispute by creating the Senate, which had representation by state, and the House of Representatives, which had representation by population.
The 3/5ths Compromise was also created during the Constitutional Convention. This compromise settled the dispute on whether or not slaves should count as a person, population wise, for representation. The 3/5ths Compromise stated that "species of property", or slaves, would count as 3/5ths of a person for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives.
By the time the Founding Fathers completed the final draft of the Constitution, not many had faith in how effective it would be. Even James Madison had a sense of failure when it came to the Constitution, but it has proved it's success and is still in full use today.
Overall your article was well written but I feel that certain specifics that needed to be there were missing. It was an innovative Idea to pull quotes straight from the text to support your facts and opinions.
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ReplyDeleteWhen the Articles of Confederation were created, the main fear was that the new government would be a monarchy, like the British. The Articles gave very few powers to the national government. The writers of the Articles wanted a weak central government instead of a strong one. However, the Articles did not allow the government to tax nor enforce their own laws. This affected the governments ability to collect revenue to pay of debt from the Revolutionary War.
ReplyDeleteShay's Rebellion triggered the need for immediate revision of the Articles. The rebellion consisted of farmers from Massachusetts. Most of whom lost their homes due to high taxes and mortgages.They were led by Daniel Shay, a war veteran. They demanded that the state issue paper money, there be less taxes, and that their properties not be foreclosed. The government was not able to send troops in to disband the rebellion. This showed that the government was weak and not able to protect itself from tyranny.Although the Rebellion did fail, it proved and that the Articles needed to be revised
In 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held to revise the Articles of Confederation. During the Convention, the Founding Fathers came to the realization that the Articles were not strong enough to govern the new nation. The Constitution was adopted to set up a stronger national government. Under the Constitution the government was structured of three branches: the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches. The government's powers were restricted through the systems of checks and balances and citizens had protection of private property.
In the creation of the Constitution two compromises were agreed upon. The Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise. The Great Compromise settled the debate over representation and was a combination of the Virginia plan and the New Jersey plan. The compromise set up two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives contained representation proportional to each state's population. The Senate contain two members from each state. The Three-Fifths Compromised address the issue of population count. It stated that three-fifths of “other people” (slaves) would be included in the total population.
I like your word choice because it gave a scholarly tone to your article. Also the information was very nice and on a broad basis so that even the common man could understand what was said
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation, set up by the Continental Congress, was the first form of government in America. They formed a government that consisted of one-house body of delegates, no president, and no judiciary. Each state would only have one vote and to have a law passed required nine out of thirteen congressional votes; which made it very difficult for decisions to be made on issues in the states. The government could declare war, conduct foreign affairs, and make treaties; which limited all its power. The government didn’t even have the power to collect taxes, but only coin money. The Articles of Confederation intended for a weak government to prevent tyranny, however without the balance of government, state, and people conflict was destined to occur.
ReplyDeleteShays’ Rebellion would be the leading conflict that would lead to the revision of the Articles of Confederation and drafting of the Constitution. Shays’ Rebellion was a rebellion lead by Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran and indebt farmer. In Massachusetts he rallied farmers that would close the courts to prevent the foreclosing of farms and burn down Jamestown. Thomas Jefferson, a supporter of the rebellion, stated “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” Although, not too many people agreed with Jefferson and would call for the revision of the weak Articles of Confederation.
The first attempt for the revision of the Articles of Confederation would be the Annapolis Convention in 1786 which would focus on better regulation of foreign trade. Although, due to the little attendance the delegates would agree to call for the revision of the articles the next year in Philadelphia. However at the next meeting, the revision of the articles resulted in a completely new document; The Constitution.
Many of the men who gather in Philadelphia all shared a common interest, stronger government, which is what the Constitution would lay the basis for. The delegates also agreed there should be three branches of government legislative, executive, and judiciary which would work on a system of checks and balances. In conclusion, there would be a separation of powers in government and checks and balances, which would allow branches to check one another to make sure a branch was not abusing its power.
One of the issues that escalated quickly was representation of states. James Madison proposed a Virginia Plan that establish two-house legislature with representation in both that was proportional to the population of the state. Although, this was not ideal because larger states would be dominate in the houses. Thus, the New Jersey Plan was introduced and stated that there be one-house legislature and equal representation of every state. Due to the fact this was like the original plan of the Articles of Confederation it was not agreed on. The plans proposed were both not what the states wanted, although it was not the end because Connecticut’s Roger Sherman got a brilliant idea. He combined the ideas of the two plans and suggested that there be two houses, the House of Representatives with proportional representation and the Senate with equal representation, this is known as the Great Compromise.
This battle of representation also lead to the problem of whether slaves should be counted in terms of representation. States populated with many slaveholders wanted the slaves to be a part of the population regardless if they could vote. The delegates argued whether slaves should be counted or not until they came to the 3/5ths Compromise. This compromise stated that slaves would be counted as 3/5ths a person for population representation.
To begin with, founding fathers saw the need to re-write the Articles of Confederation because it simply didn't work and wasn't strong enough for America. Our purpose when writing the Articles of Confederation was to have a government but not let the government overstep their boundaries. It was a good idea but in turn we created a weak government who could do barely anything on their own. The national government could not tax or enforce their laws so in turn they could not collect money from the states to pay of the war debt .
ReplyDeleteThe major event that spurred conversation about the need for revisements was Shay's Rebellion. The leader of Shays Rebellion was Daniel Shay who was in debt to the government after he came back from war. Shay gathered other farmers with similar situations and began a revolt which later on was resolved. After this event founding fathers stepped back and though how could that happen under this government and then knew that something had to be done.
I think that the most controversial aspects discussed during the Constitutional Convention were representation and slaves. On the topic of representation there was the great compromise which resulted in the House of Representatives being based on a states population and the senate having an equal amount for each state. On the topic of slaves, representation also played a part. Northern states did not want slaves to count as people while southern states did of course because they have a lot of slaves and with slaves counting as people there would be more representation for what they want. Out of this came the 3/5 compromise which in summary said that a slave would count as 3/5 of a person.