U.S. Government Chapter 2
 

  1. The Colonial Period:
     
    1. The English colonists brought with them a heritage of freedom and principles of government that helped shape the development of the United States.
       
    2. The concept of limited government, dating from the Magna Carta, was an accepted part of the English system.
       
    3. The Petition of Right in 1628 severely limited the power of the English monarch.
       
    4. The colonists believed in the limits on the ruler's power and the freedoms protected in the English Bill of Rights based by Parliament in 1688.
       
    5. The ideas of the seventeenth century English philosopher John Locke deeply influenced the American colonists.
       
    6. The colonists firmly believed in representative government, following the model of Parliament.
      • The present system of American government evolved largely from colonial governments and their practices.
      • Written plans of government were a key feature of the colonial period.
      • Representative assemblies elected by the people helped establish the tradition of representative government in America.
      • The division of government powers among the governor, the colonial legislatures, and colonial courts helped establish the principle of the separation of powers.
     
  2. Uniting for Independence:
     
    1. The Colonies on Their Own
      • Although Britain regarded the American colonies largely as a source of economic benefits, it allowed them limited self-government.
      • The British government tightened its control over the colonies after the French and Indian wars.
      • King George III and his ministers made the colonies help pay for the war by levying new taxes on the colonies.
       
    2. Colonial Unity
      • Harsh British policies and taxes helped unite the colonies.
      • To protest British policies, the colonists sent petitions to the king and also organized committees of correspondence.
      • The First Continental Congress held in Philadelphia in 1774 debated what the colonies should do about their relationship with Britain.
      • When the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1775, fighting had begun and Congress acted as a central government to carry on the Revolution.
       
    3. Independence
      • Thomas Paine's Common Sense strengthened the independence movement.
      • A committee of delegates to the Philadelphia Congress, headed by Thomas Jefferson, drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
      • The Declaration had three parts:
        1. A statement of purpose, including a description of basic human rights
        2. A list of specific complaints against King George III
        3. A statement of the colonists' determination to separate from Great Britain.
      • By 1776 eight states had adopted written constitutions, which were based on the consent of the governed, limited government, and the protection of individual rights.
     
  3. The Articles of Confederation:
     
    1. The Articles of Confederation established the first National government including a single-chamber Congress, with limited powers.
       
    2. Each State had one vote, but it had no executive branch or court system.
       
    3. Weaknesses of the Articles:
      • The Congress had no power to:
        • collect taxes and had to depend on the states money.
        • regulate trade.
        • enforce the laws.
      • Amending the Articles required the approval of all the states.
      • The central government had no president or executive branch and carried out much of its work through congressional committees.
      • There was no system of national courts; instead state courts enforced and interpreted national laws.
       
    4. Achievements:
      • Dispite its weaknesses, the Confederation government established a fair policy for developing western land.
      • The Confederation government signed the peace treaty with England.
      • The Confederation government set up several departments, establishing the precedent for cabinet departments later mentioned in the Constitution.
       
    5. The Need for Stronger Government:
      • Soon after the war, disputes broke out among the states; the government's debt left soldiers unpaid.
      • Many were alarmed when an economic depression in 1786 lead to Shay's Rebellion - an armed uprising by Massachusetts farmers who could not pay their debts.
      • Leaders who favored a stronger government failed to accomplish much at the 1786 Annapolis Convention, but persuaded the Confederation Congress to call a convention in Philadelphia to revive the Articles of Confederation.
     
  4. The Constitutional Convention:
     
    1. The Convention Begins
      • The delegates to the Constitutional Convention had great practical experience in politics and government and included man of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
      • The delegates held their meetings in secret, deciding each state would have one vote, all decisions would be by majority vote, and a quorum of seven states was required for all meetings.
      • The delegates decided to give up the idea of revising the Articles of Confederation and to draft a new plan of government about which they shared many ideas.
      • Thomas Jefferson wrote the rough draft that became the Constitution of the United States.
       
    2. Decisions and Compromises
      • The Virginia Plan proposed a strong executive, a national judiciary, and a strong two-house legislature in which the lower house would be chosen by the people and the upper house would be chosen by the lower house. This plan favored the large, more populous states.
      • The New Jersey Plan proposed a weak executive of more than one person elected by Congress, a national judiciary with limited powers, and a one-house legislature, with one vote for each state. This plan favored the small states.
      • A special committee devised the Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a legislative branch with two parts:
        1. A House of Representatives with state representation based on population.
        2. A Senate with two members from each state, regardless of size.
      • The Connecticut Compromise gave the large states an advantage in the House and protected the smaller states in the Senate.
      • The Three-Fifths Compromise settled the issue of representation in the House of Representatives, counting three-fifths of enslaved Africans in determining the number of a state's representatives.
      • The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise allowed the slave trade to continue until 1808. Congress was forbidden to tax exports and was granted power to regulate both interstate commerce and trade with other nations.
      • Although many Northern delegates wanted to end slavery, they realized that if they insisted on doing so, the Southern states would never accept the Constitution and the nation would face an uncertain future. Thus, the Founders compromised and refused to deal with slavery in the Constitution.
      • The delegates agreed to other compromises as well, including a four-year term for the president and an Electoral College rather than a direct election of the president.
       
    3. Ratifying the Constitution
      • Supporters and opponents of the Constitution began a great debate over whether to accept or reject it.
      • The Federalists who urged ratification argued that a strong national government was badly needed to solve the nation's problems and to deal with foreign countries; without the Constitution, disorder or anarchy would undermine the nation.
      • The Anti-Federalists who opposed ratification argued that the delegates had drafted the Constitution in secret and had been given no power to replace the Articles. They contended that the Constitution took important powers away from the states and lacked a Bill of Rights.  
      • When the Federalists promised to add a Bill of Rights, and the small states learned more about the Connecticut Compromise, the battle over ratification was finally won.
      • The new national government was launched in 1789 when Congress met for the first time in New York City. Soon after that George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States.