CHAPTER SUMMARY

Confederation Government Despite the weak form of government deliberately crafted under the Articles of Confederation, the Confederation government managed to construct alliances, wage the Revolutionary War to a successful conclusion, and negotiate the Treaty of Paris. It created executive departments and established the way in which western lands would be organized and governments would be formed in the territories.

Articles of Confederation Postwar economic conditions were difficult because British markets were closed to the new nation and the Articles had not provided for a means to raise taxes or stimulate economic recovery. Shays’s Rebellion made many Americans fear that anarchy would destroy the new republic and led them to clamor for a stronger national government.

Constitutional Convention Delegates gathered at the convention in Philadelphia to revise the existing government, but almost immediately they proposed scrapping the Articles of Confederation. An entirely new document emerged, delineating separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Argument about representation was resolved by establishing a two-house Congress, with equal representation by state in the Senate and by population in the House of Representatives.

Slavery and the Constitution Southern delegates would not support a constitution that failed to protect the institution of slavery and provide for the international slave trade. In determining how enslaved people would be counted for the sake of apportioning direct taxes and representation in the lower house, the framers decided that three fifths of the enslaved population would be counted. It was also agreed that Congress would not forbid participation in the transatlantic slave trade before 1808. Nevertheless, the framers of the Constitution avoided using the word slavery in the Constitution.

Ratification of the Constitution Ratification of the Constitution was difficult, especially in the key states of Virginia and New York. Anti-Federalists such as Virginia’s Patrick Henry favored a decentralized federal system and feared that the absence of a bill of rights would lead to a loss of individual and states’ rights. To sway New York State toward ratification, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist, a series of articles defending a strong national authority. Ratification became possible only with the promise of a bill of rights.