Since the nation was in debt the farmers could not sell goods. In Massachusetts angry farmers led by Daniel Shays revolted. In 1786, they forced courts to close to stop judges from taking farmers’ lands. In 1787, Shays led farmers to a federal arsenal in Springfield to seize arms stored there. The militia fired warning shots at the rebels.
12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World. 10.7 million survived the dreaded Middle Passage, disembarking in North America, the Caribbean and South America.
Many American leaders believed the nation need a stronger national government to solve its problems. Madison and Alexander Hamilton tried to make a change. George Washington started to believe that the nation needed a change.
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The lower house voted people in the upper house to represent them. The number of representatives in both houses would be proportional, or corresponding in size, to the population of each state.
William Paterson of New Jersey presented a different plan. The New Jersey Plan was designed to revise the Articles of Confederation rather than form a new government. It kept the Confederation’s one-house legislature with one vote per state. This would preserve equality between large and small states. The plan, however, gave Congress the power to tax and regulate trade. Congress would elect a weak executive branch.
A compromise is an agreement between two or more sides in which each side gives up some of what it wants. Roger Sherman proposed a plan known as the Great Compromise. According to Sherman’s plan, the legislature would have two houses. Representation in the House of Representatives would be based on state population. In the Senate, each state would have two members.
Some states wanted to count slaves in the population. This would give them more representatives. Northern states objected because enslaved people were legally considered
Throughout the convention, Paterson spoke frequently because he shared the same views of the smaller states (Morton, 235). A couple months later, Paterson had a response to the plan developed by the large states, “The plan of government presented by Paterson on Friday, June 15 was the hastily contrived small states' answer to the large states' carefully constructed plan presented by Virginia Governor Edmund Randolph two weeks earlier” (Morton, 236). The answer called for amendments of the Articles of Confederation. These proposals would contribute to making a more workable plan for national government. One purpose called for the formation of a national judiciary which was one proposition that they had in common with the Virginia Plan. The national judiciary would allow for several checks of power such as a term limit for officials. Other proposals involved levies on imports and rules on naturalization. One of the most important objects of the New Jersey plan was to retain the equal representation of the states in Congress. Without the retention of equal representation, there would not be equal rights for the smaller states. In addition, the larger states would have a considerable advantage because they would have dominate power in the Legislative
America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, delegates like James Madison, William Patterson and Alexander Hamilton had much bigger plans. They wanted to create a entirely new government rather than just fix the existing one. The delegates from Virginia took Madison’s thoughts, notes, and work and formed the Virginia Plan. On May 29th, 1787, the Virginia Plan was presented to the Constitutional Convention. After the Virginia plan was introduced William Paterson asked to be adjourned to contemplate the plan. On June 15th, 1787, Patterson reported
On the other hand, delegates from less populous states favored the New Jersey Plan which declared that all states would have an equal amount of votes. This idea goes back to the Articles of Confederation giving each state one vote. Both ideas were strongly reinforced by their respective sides, but they needed to be combined together in a way that would satisfy both large and small states.
It is finally here, fellow readers, The New Constitution! Aren’t we all excited about this great news. This new constitution will replace the Articles of Confederation. Let’s see what new things are coming with the New Constitution. First, there will be 3 branches of the government that will each have a part. 1st is Legislative. The Legislative creates new laws for a country or city. 2nd is the Executive. This branch of the government exercises authority in and holding responsibility for the governance of a state. The executive executes and enforces law. The 3rd is the Judicial branch. This branch oversees on deciding the meaning of laws, how to apply them to real situations, and whether a law breaks the rules of the Constitution. Isn’t this
Shays Rebellion was caused by the extensive taxing the citizens of Massachusetts. The taxes fell heavily upon the poorer citizens of Massachusetts. When the Massachusetts legislature refused to relieve citizens of the burdens of such taxes. In response, a protest grew, with many people sympathizing with the protesters’ cause. A former army captain and farmer, Daniel Shays rounded up a group of over a thousand farmers, eventually leading this group to march on the federal arsenal in Springfield,
Thomas Jefferson and Madison led the Anti-Federalists to oppose the strong central government which would be created by the constitution. 1776-1783 after the American Revolution, many Americans desired their new found freedoms and were very sensitive to the people that tried to take them away. The Articles
The Articles of Confederation were the first attempt at a government system. This system was the cause of many conflicts between the colonies but eventually some of the ideas derived from it still helped form the constitution we abide by today.
On the question of state representation, the delegates were not able to come to a decision on which plan to use (the Virginia or the New Jersey plan). The Virginia plan had three branches of government and two houses in the legislature, representing the states in Congress. The number of representatives for each state were based on population. Bigger states would have a larger say in the federal government. The New Jersey plan also had three branches of government, but only one house in Congress and each state would have equal representation, independent of population.
With every new beginning there is bound to be blood, sweat, and tears. The process of struggle and failure is what gives us the determination to keep pushing forward. If we look at the beginning of the United States of America, the original 13 colonies were still governed by British authority. Once the Declaration of Independence was signed, this young republic still needed to be held together somehow after the American Revolution. In order to help the states work together, the Articles of Confederation were made, which were a set of laws to govern the states. The Articles did not work for long, and then the state’s delegates came together to make changes, but instead they formed the U.S. Constitution; this document is still used today. The
Two plans were put forth during the Constitutional Convention to create the new branches of government. The Virginia Plan wanted a strong national government with three branches. The legislature would have two houses. One would be directly elected by the people and the second would selected by the first house from people nominated by the state legislatures. Further, the president and national judiciary would be chosen by the national legislature. On the other hand, the New Jersey Plan wanted a more decentralized plan amending the old Articles yet allowing for a somewhat stronger government. Each state would have one vote in Congress.
During the constitutional convention, two plans were proposed to solve the problem of state representation in the government. The first of the two plans was the Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison and the second being the New Jersey Plan, proposed by William Patterson. Both plans consisted of three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judiciary. however, the New Jersey Plan allowed for multiple executives. Additionally, the Virginia Plan had a bicameral legislature, both houses based on state's’ population or its wealth. The New Jersey Plan, on the other hand, has a unicameral legislature, with its single house giving a single vote to each state
The New Jersey Plan, presented by William Paterson, wanted the states to be equal in Congress despite their state size; giving them a voice on all actions taken in Congress. It also wanted to revise the Articles of Confederation instead of replace them. Under this plan the federal government would be stronger but the states would be given a voice in Congress through a representative who would serve a set time period. There was a deadlock and Roger Sherman came up with the solution by suggesting that each state have equal representation in the Senate and that each state have a representative for each 30,000 people in the House of Representatives. Ben Franklin helped to get this approved by conceding to a larger amount of power given to the states; this was called the Great Compromise and allowed the Constitution to become official (The Dirkson Congressional Center, 2008). This Constitution that allows for the people to elect its representatives and for the states to retain many of their own power to create laws for itself all while under the supervision of a solid government; although it did take ten months for the Constitution to become sanctioned within the nine base states with Rhode Island and North Carolina holding out until after the installation of the Bill
The creators of the Constitution wanted to create a government that was powerful enough to take care of business, but not so powerful that is could threaten tyranny. One key idea in designing such a powerful, but limited, government was the doctrine of separation of powers. In old-fashioned monarchies, the key powers of government; the power to make the law, the power to enforce the law, and the power to judge the law, were all held by one person: the king. The King, claimed to rule by the direct authority of God, could do pretty much whatever he wanted. For Example, King Henry VIII. In Britain, the center of power eventually moved from the royal family to the Parliament. Still, there was no division of powers; Parliament held not only the
The aim of this paper is to talk about the different actions taken to replace the Articles of Confederation to bring about a new Constitution. I will first start out by giving some background on the Article of Confederation as to what it was and why it was important for the US? Secondly, I will provide the reader with some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Article of Confederation. Why did the Article of Confederation fail? Third, I will talk about the actions that were taken to replace the Article of Confederation and how these actions were worked out.
The number of representatives each state was to be based on its population, which gave more populated states more of say in government. This plan gave more power to the federal government, a factor the large states also supported. However, William Patterson countered with the New Jersey plan, which was backed by the smaller states. Similar to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, he proposed that Congress should consist of a unicameral house, and all the states should receive equal representation regardless of population. This single house would be elected by the state legislature, and while it did give the national government more power than it had previously, it still maintained equal representation of the states. After much deliberation, Roger Sherman proposed a solution which would become known as the Great Compromise, or the Connecticut Compromise. This resolution created a bicameral legislature with one house, the Senate receiving equal representation in each state, and another house with representation based on population, called the House of Representatives. Outlined in Article I of the Constitution, a solution that satisfied all parties was made. With this resolution also came the start of the census, which would count the population every ten years to determine each state 's representation. This resolution was so important,