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Articles of confederation
The articles of confederation was the first written constitution that the united states had. In this constitution the states had more power than the federal government which was a big problem so it was eventually changed. -
Articles of Confederation: Name the powers and positions that were not given to the National Government
The Articles of Confederation was America’s first Constitution. It made Congress a single branch and limited its powers. The government did not have a president or a national court system. The powers denied were executive branch, raising taxes, stop states from printing their own money, regulate trade with other countries or between states, court system. -
AOC- Power Given to States
States had:
the Power to Tax its own citizens (States could refuse to
give Congress money for the National government).
the power to Draft soldiers for a war- Congress couldn't draft its own soldiers as congress didn't have the power only the states.
the power to Regulate trade with other countries -
Conspiracy Against Congress
Congress was failing to honor its promise to pay the officers and to settle accounts for repayment of food and clothing. As a result, they were planning to revolt against the government. When Washington found out, he told them they were destroying order and discipline. He gave them a long speech and, after realizing how much Washington contributed to the country, they decided if Washington trusted Congress, so should they. -
Ordinance of 1785
The government split the western land into a 36 square mile span of 36 lots of 640 acres. One went to public schools, four went to veterans, and the rest were sold to the public. -
Shays rebellion
Massachusetts tried to pay taxes by taxing land that farmers owned. If they could not afford the tax they would go to jail and lose their land. In August 1786 Daniel Shays led hundreds of farmers to shutdown the supreme court in Springfield. The effects of shays rebellion was it showed weakness in the confederation government and led some to believe that the AOC had failed to protect the ideals of liberty set forth by the DOI, which led to holding the Constitutional Convention -
Virginia Plan
The Virginia plan was a list of 15 proposals that gave supreme power to the central government. There was a bicameral legislature and the number of representatives in each state was based on population for both houses. The legislative branch created and passed laws, the judicial branch controlled court systems and reviewed laws, and the executive branch was a single leader selected by congress and had the ability to enforce laws and run the government. -
New Jersey Plan
Wanted to make one congress that each state would have the same amount of representatives regardless of the states population -
3/5th s compromise
The southern states wanted the slaves in their state to count towards their population so they could get more representatives/power in congress. The northern states disagreed and wanted them to only count towards taxes. The government seeking compromise only allowed 3/5th s of the slaves in the states to count towards the population. -
The Northwest Ordinance
In the Northwest Ordinance states Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, all of these were split into smaller sections controlled by governors -
Great Compromise
The delegates added the senate and the house of representatives so both small and large states would be happy. -
Slave Trade Compromise
The slave trade compromise was a compromise between the northerners and the southerners that slave could not be banned until 1808 -
Anti-federalist
Anti-federalists are people who believe that the Constitutional Convention shouldn't have created a new government. Anti-federalist also wanted a Bill of Rights because the constitution didn’t grant individuals rights. The Bill of Rights were ten amendments intended to protect citizens rights. Some anti-federalist were Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and George Mason. -
Federalist
The Framers thought that people feared the ratification of the constitution because they thought the government would have too much power. To address this fear they explained the constitution was based on federalism. The way the Federalist promoted their views were they wrote a series of eighty-five essays known as the Federalist Papers. These essays were calling for the ratification of the constitution. Some famous politicians who wrote these essays were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton. -
Bill of Rights Debate
Very few rights were actually declared in the Constitution and the colonists were afraid their rights would be violated. A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on Earth so the Convention later added a bill of rights. A declaration of rights would help install the judiciary as "guardians" of individual rights against the other branches. -
Ratify the Constitution
The constitution needed 9 States to ratify. The first state to ratify was Delaware. The government really wanted Virginia to ratify due to the size and population of the state. -
Washington's first cabinet: Who did he choose for each position?
George Washington was the president of the first cabinet. The two most important were Alexander Hamilton (the secretary of treasure) and Thomas Jefferson (secretary of state). There was also Henry Knox (secretary of war) and Samuel Osgood (postmaster general). The cabinet members kept Washington informed on political matters and debated important issue with one another. -
Judiciary Act Of 1789
County courts, state courts and circuit court of appeals created from this act. -
Hamilton's Financial Plan
Alexander Hamilton had a plan for the US's finances. Hamilton wanted to pay the foreign debt immediately, and gradually pay off the total value of all the bonds. Many people disliked this plan, including Thomas Jefferson. They thought this would give speculators profit and cheated bondholders who sold their bonds at low prices. To carry out the plan, Alexander needed held from the Southern states. He made a deal with them, to move the capital to a different area so he could carry out his plan. -
National Bank and tariffs
Hamilton tried to create a national bank but jefferson opposed it because he believed that it would give the national government to much power. Washington and congress agreed with hamilton because all the states were in major debt and needed economic stability. Hamilton also wanted to raise tariffs so people would buy american goods. Jefferson didn't like this since it would make it more expensive for farmers to buy goods therefore making it more expensive to buy the farmers products. -
Proclamation of Neutrality
This Proclamation was a formal announcement said by George Washington that declared the nation neutral in the conflict of Great Britain and France. Also, this threatened the proceeding of anybody in America legally being allowed to provide help to another country in war. This Proclamation was written to define the United States’ policy in response to the spreading war in Europe. -
Interaction with Native Americans- Little Turtle and NW Territory, Battle of Fallen Timbers
The I.N.A. started with chief Little Turtle defeating U.S. forces under generals Josiah and Arthur St. Clair. President Washington gave commands to conquer the Indians in the west.Many of General Wayne’s troops were ill to smallpox and influenza.Wayne went north and built Fort Greenville and others to supply.Wayne’s troops burned towns and crops.The Battle of Fallen Timbers was soon ended and gave the U.S. the Indians land in the northwest territory, safety to citizen and $20,000 worth of goods. -
The Whiskey Rebellion
Congress passed a tax on American-made whiskey and the people did not agree with it. It began with peaceful protest, but then people lashed out and started fighting. George Washington, the current president, could not watch this go on any longer, so he traveled all the way to Pennsylvania with an army to stop it. Most of them fled and a battle did not occur. -
Jay's Treaty
Jay’s Treaty was made due to conflict with the British seizing ships traveling to the French West Indies. The treaty said that the British would pay damages on American ships seized and abandon their forts on the northwestern frontier and the Americans would pay their debts owed to the British. -
Pinckney's Treaty
The Spanish disputed territory with the US so they closed the port of New Orleans in 1784, which hurt the US economy. Pinckney and Spain agreed to recognize US border as 31° north latitude, allowed US ships in New Orleans and gave them the right to deposit money in their bank because it opened the frontier to more expansion. -
Election of 1796
The Election of 1796 was the first election more than one candidate ran for president. The federalist party founded by Alexander Hamilton chose John Adams and Thomas Pickney as their candidates. On the other hand, the Democratic-Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison chose Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr as their candidates. In the end Adams became President and whoever came in second place in the race became Vice President and that was Jefferson. -
XYZ Affair
John Adams had sent a group of men too make peace with France but were met with secret agents from France that they called X,Y,and Z. The agents demanded millions of dollars in bribe money just to talk about the treaty. It split up the people into groups of people who wanted war and people who didn't -
Alien and Sedition Acts
These laws were created by the Federalists to protect the US. But the real intentions of these acts were to destroy opposition to war. They did not allow anyone to criticize the federal government. Due to this act, rights such as freedom of speech/press were abused. Democratic-Republicans disagreed with the acts. The leaders wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions that argued that the Acts were unconstitutional and supported the idea that the states could challenge the federal government. -
Peace Treaty with France
The Federalist suggested that we go to war.
The Treaty terminated all previous agreements and re-established trade ties between the two nations.
It split the federalist party and weakened their political power. -
Federalists vs. Democratic Republicans
The Federalist party believes in implied powers because it thinks that the government should have the power slightly more balanced towards the government. However the Republicans had wanted the opposite: less power for the government and more power for the people. The federalist John Adams won.
