1. US History Survey
US Constitution
post-Revolutionary developments

2. politics
• issue of war debts – owed to other countries, to
average Americans, and to speculators who had
bought many bonds cheaply. How to pay them
off? How to tax?
• Articles of Confederation created a not very
strong central government. States were easy on
debtors.
• desire by many, especially wealthy merchants, for
a stronger central government.
– commercial regulation
– revenue – i.e., taxes

3. Constitutional Convention
Philadelphia, May – September, 1787

5. 55 convention delegates, selected
by states
• not Rhode Island – localists were in power.
• social & economic elite
– 34 lawyers
– 29 college-educated
– 24 members of Congress
– 21 officers in Revolution
– 19 slave owners
– land speculators & merchants.
• who was not included?

6. secrecy of convention
• delegates decided to
operate in secret.
• they even kept
windows closed
through the summer.

7. Elfreth’s Alley, Philadelphia

9. disagreements
• how much power for the federal government?
• how much power for the state governments?
• small states feared large states would
dominate.
• different plans were hotly debated.
• results: Great Compromise.

10. compromise # 1
• 2-house Congress, legislative branch.
• Senate – representation by state. Each state got
2 members, regardless of size.
• House of Representatives – number of members
proportional to the population of each state.
• this plan for Congressional representation still
exists today.
• House is reapportioned after decennial censuses.

11. compromise # 2
• how to count slaves in population? Southern
states wanted to count them.
• how to count slaves for taxation? Southern
states wanted to exclude them.
• compromise: 3/5 rule – slaves would be
counted as 3/5 of a free person for
apportionment for House and for
taxation.

12. 3/5 compromise
• Articles of Confederation had no 3/5 clause,
which magnified southern states’ power.
• Articles had no fugitive slave clause.

13. compromise # 3
• slave trade – South Carolina & Georgia wanted
to continue importation from Africa.
• compromise: no federal restriction on
importation of slaves for 20 years.
• fugitive slaves in free states would be returned
to owners in slave states.
• note: the word slave does not appear in the
Constitution.

14. Black Methodist revival in Philadelphia

16. Preamble to Constitution
• We the People of the United States, in Order
to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide
for the common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United
States of America.

17. debate over ratification by states
• Federalists supported new constitution.
• Anti-Federalists believed it gave too much
power to central government & weakened
states.
• common belief that a republic could only
function well in a small country.

18. Federalist essays
• written to convince
voters to ratify the
Constitution.
• written by Madison,
Hamilton, John Jay.
• control factions by
extending government.
• no faction can gain
control.

19. Alexander Hamilton
James Madison

20. factions/sides over ratification
• mostly agrarian interests & localists opposed
new constitution.
• mostly commercial & cosmopolitan interests
favored new constitution.
• some states agreed to ratify only if a bill of
rights included.
• Constitution ratified by 2/3 states, 1788.
• Madison took suggestions & wrote up a bill of
rights, 1789.

21. Bill of Rights (1st 10 Amendments),
1791
• no official religion; freedom of assembly, freedom of
speech, freedom of press, right to petition.
• right to bear arms.
• no right of government to quarter troops in homes.
• no unreasonable searches or seizures.
• cannot be compelled to testify against self.
• due process of law guaranteed.
• powers not delegated to federal government reserved
to states.

23. new government
• Washington elected president 1788 & again in
1792. Called Mr. President – no aristocratic
title.
• temporary capital in New York City.
• Congress established executive departments,
which became the president’s cabinet.
• Judiciary Act of 1789 – created court system.
• Separation of powers – executive, legislative,
judicial.

24. Washington taking oath as first
president
• New York City, 1789.

25. what was new in American
government?
• no aristocracy, no inherited titles.
• rights of citizens clearly articulated.
• intention to create a government that was
democratic and republican.

26. what were effects of compromises?
• 3/4 of presidential elections, 1788 – 1846 (12
out of 16) were won by slave owners, because
of 3/5 clause.
• Southerners dominated federal government
because of 3/5 clause.
• discussion of slavery in 19th century focused
on extending or not extending it westward,
rather than on ending it.

27. what’s been useful and what has been
debated in Constitution.
• includes process for change (amendments).
• Bill of Rights copied numerous places.
• has survived dramatic changes in American
culture, economy, politics, society.
• continuing arguments over the intentions of
the Founding Fathers -- “strict
constructionists” vs. “loose constructionists.”

28. our future
• anonymous student evaluations today – I will
read them only after grading final exam.
• final exam, 10/1/2012, Tuesday, 10:10 am.
Primarily covers second half of semester.
• paper # 2 is required. Please turn it in.