SAT II History Episode 1 Part 6 pps

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION No chief executive; the Congress worked through committees No coordination of committees and no uniform domestic or foreign policy Required nine of thirteen sta

Patriots); (3) shortages of supplies for the military; (4) lack of a large, well equipped navy; (5) few Native American allies (most of the Iroquois League fought with the British in an effort to keep the Americans from their lands); (6) lack of European allies until late in the war; (6) lack of unity (Loyalists and those indifferent to the cause); and (7) a weak central government, for example, lacking the power to levy taxes

• As early as 1776, France had been secretly sending arms, supplies,

and money to the new United States In 1778, France recognized the colonies as a separate nation and agreed to enter the war as an ally France lent the new nation money and sent a large contingent

of well-trained and well-equipped soldiers to reinforce the Conti-nental Army as well as a fleet that effectively hindered British troop movements Spain and the Netherlands joined the war against Great Britain Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, and Portugal formed the

League of Armed Neutrality against the British navy.

• Historians estimate that from 20 to 30 percent of the colonists remainedLoyalists Although Loyalists lived in all states, the largest

numbers lived in New York, Georgia, and South Carolina Many were officeholders, wealthy landowners and merchants, and professionals—people who had financial ties to Great Britain At the end of the war, some 80,000 fled, about half to Canada Their property was confiscated by the states and sold

• Although the fighting ended in 1781, the Peace of Paris (Treaty

of Paris) was not ratified until 1783 Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Adams, and Henry Laurens negotiated the following

concessions: (1) independence, (2) the territory between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to Florida (the latter returned to Spain), (3) fishing rights in the Gulf

of St Lawrence and off Newfoundland, (4) payment by both countries of debts owed prior to the war, (5) agreement by Congress to ask states to allow Loyalists to sue for the value of their confiscated property; and (6) agreement by Great Britain to remove its troops from U.S soil

Government Under the Articles of Confederation

Test-Taking Strategy

The weaknesses of the

Articles were important, but

the most significant act of

the new government was its

establishment of a policy for

settling new lands and

creating new states.

• From 1781 until 1789 when the U.S Constitution was ratified, the new nation was governed under the Articles of Confederation.

Because the former colonies were fighting against strong external control of their affairs, their leaders shaped a document that allowed each state a great deal of freedom at the cost of a weak central government State governments were similar to their

colonial governments and divided power among a governor, legislature, and judiciary, with most power reserved to the legisla-ture Although each state constitution included a bill of rights, political power rested with the wealthy Voting was restricted to

propertied white men, and although slavery was prohibited in Northern states, the Southern economy continued to depend on it

• Under the Articles of Confederation, the new nation accomplished the following: (1) signed the Peace of Paris ending the Revolution-ary War, (2) established a policy for settling new lands and creating new states (Land Ordinance of 1785, Northwest Ordinance of 1787), and (3) established the departments of Foreign Affairs, War,

Marine, and Treasury

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

No chief executive; the Congress

worked through committees

No coordination of committees and no uniform domestic

or foreign policy Required nine of thirteen states to

approve laws (each state had one vote)

Rarely delegates from all thirteen states in Congress at once; often voted as blocs of smaller states (5) versus larger states (8)

Required all states to approve

amendments

Never get agreement of all thirteen states, so Articles never amended

No power to levy or collect taxes;

Congress could raise money only by

borrowing or asking states for money

No reason for states to agree to requests; Congress always in need of money to fight the war

No power to regulateinterstate

commerce

Led to disputes between states and inability to regulate trade with foreign nations to protect American business

No power to enforce treaties No power to force British to abide by the Peace/Treaty

of Paris of 1783

No power to enforce its own laws Only advise and request states to abide by national laws

No national court system; state courts

interpreted national laws

Difficult to get states to abide by state court decisions

KEY PEOPLE

Review Strategy

See if you can relate these

people to their correct

context in the “Fast Facts”

section.

• Edmund Burke, Irish-born British politician

• Thomas Paine, Common Sense, The Crisis

SECTION 5 DRAFTING THE CONSTITUTION

The weaknesses of the Articles were soon apparent Although the new government could, among other powers, establish post offices, borrow and coin money, declare war, ask states for recruits to build

CHAPTER 2

an army, and build and equip a navy, these powers meant little in reality Each member of Congress was paid by his (no women allowed) state and voted according to his state legislature’s instruc-tions Most importantly to the new nation ravaged by recent war, the Confederation Congress did not have the power to deal with the

economic depression that hit the nation after the war or the

nation’s growing sectional differences Faced with mounting eco-nomic problems, including anunfavorable balance of trade, the

states met several times to discuss solutions

FAST FACTS

Working Out Compromises

• In 1786, at the Annapolis Conference, delegates recommended a

convention to make changes in the Articles Meeting in Philadel-phia, the fifty-five delegates soon saw that a new document was needed Competing interests put forth different plans, and the major areas of compromise were as follows:

VIRGINIA PLAN NEW JERSEY PLAN

FINAL U.S.

CONSTITUTION Representation Based on wealth or

population

Equal representation for each state

Senate: two

representatives per state

House: based on

population

Executive National executive chosen

by Congress

Executive Committee chosen by Congress

President chosen by electors, in turn elected

by the people

Judicial National judiciary chosen

by Congress

National judiciary appointed by Executive Committee

Supreme Court

appointed by the president with Senate confirmation; lower courts established by Congress

Legislative Two houses: upper

elected by the people with lower elected by the upper house

One house: appointed by state legislators

Two houses: upper chosen by state legislatures (changed to direct election by Seventeenth Amendment); lower elected by the people

• Other compromises included in the U.S Constitution are: (1) the Three-Fifths Compromise for counting slaves in determining

taxes and representation for the House, (2) prohibition on importa-tion of slaves after 1808, (3) the right of Congress to regulate

interstate commerce and foreign trade but not levy export taxes,

and (4) a four-year term for the president

Ratification of the Constitution

• Advocates and opponents soon squared off over ratification Federalists favored ratification because they claimed that without

a strong federal government, the nation would be unable to protect itself from external enemies or solve internal problems Initially, they argued against aBill of Rights as unnecessary but agreed to

its addition to gain support Anti-Federalists, mainly farmers and

others from the inland areas, claimed (1) that the Constitution was extralegal because the convention had not been authorized to create a new document, (2) that it took important rights away from the states, and (3) that the Constitution needed a Bill of Rights to guarantee individual liberties

• By June 1788, nine states had ratified the Constitution, but without Virginia and New York, the union would have little chance of survival In Virginia, Patrick Henry led the fight against

ratifica-tion Only promises that Virginian George Washington would be the first president and that a Bill of Rights would be added con-vinced Virginians to vote “yes.” The fight in New York enlisted

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to write a

series of essays called The Federalist in defense of the

Constitu-tion Once New York ratified, and the new government took office

in March 1789, Rhode Island and North Carolina became the last of the original states to ratify

KEY TERMS/IDEAS

Test-Taking Strategy

See if you can relate these

terms and ideas to their

correct context in the “Fast

Facts” section.

• Great Compromise, Roger Sherman; New Jersey Plan, William Patterson; Virginia Plan, Edmund Randolph

• right of deposit, New Orleans, Spanish interference with trade

• sectionalism: social, cultural, economic, and political

• Shays’s Rebellion, poor economic conditions in new nation

• Virginia Bill of Rights, U.S Bill of Rights

CHAPTER 2

SECTION 6 THE U.S CONSTITUTION

You may be asked questions about what led to the passage of certain amendments, the consequences of certain amendments, or the significance of certain Supreme Court decisions This section will give you the basic facts about the Constitution so that you have a context for understanding the significance of later events related to the Constitution

FAST FACTS

• The U.S Constitution consists of a Preamble, seven Articles, and twenty-six Amendments.

Test-Taking Strategy

Pay particular attention to

amendments related to large

themes in U.S history, such

as the Civil War (Thirteenth,

Fourteenth, and Fifteenth

Amendments).

• The Constitution sets out the structure and powers of government but does not try to provide for every possibility Knowing that they would not be able to provide solutions to all the circumstances that the nation would face in the future, the Framers developed the amendment process to allow later generations to change the government as situations arose

• The amendment process and the system of checks and balances enables the government to be both flexible and stable.

• The U.S Constitution is based on six principles of government:

• Popular sovereignty: The people are the only source of

governmental power

• Federalism: Government power is divided between a

national government and state governments

• Separation of powers: Executive, legislative, and judicial

powers are divided among three separate and co-equal branches of government

• Checks and balances: The three branches of

govern-ment have some overlapping powers that allow each to check, that is, restrain or balance, the power of the other two

• Judicial review: The courts have the power to declare

unconstitutional actions of the legislative and executive branches of government

• Limited government: The Constitution lists the powers

granted to the federal government, reserved to the states,

or shared concurrently

• The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill

of Rights and were added to satisfy the Anti-Federalists, who

opposed ratification because the proposed Constitution did not spell out the rights of the people

• The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were

passed after the Civil War to ensure the rights of newly freed slaves These amendments figure prominently in the history of

PROVISIONS OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

ARTICLES Article I Establishes the Legislative Branch

Make up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, elections and meetings, organization and rules, passing of laws, powers of Congress, powers denied to the federal government, powers denied

to the states; Three-Fifths Compromise for apportionment was repealed by the Fifteenth Amendment;“necessary and proper clause;” “commerce clause”

Article II Establishes the Executive Branch

Term, election, qualifications of the president and vice president; powers of the president; duties of the president; impeachment

Article III Establishes the Judicial Branch

Federal courts, jurisdiction of federal courts; defines treason

Article IV Relations among the states

Honoring official acts of other states; mutual duties of states; new states and territories; federal protection for states

Article VI Public debts, supremacy of national law, oaths of office;“supremacy

clause”

Article VII Ratification process

AMENDMENTS First Amendment Freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

Second Amendment Right to bear arms

Third Amendment Restrictions on quartering of troops

Fourth Amendment Protection against unlawful search and seizure

Fifth Amendment Rights of the accused in criminal proceedings, due process

Sixth Amendment Right to a speedy, fair trial

Seventh Amendment Rights involved in a civil suit

Eighth Amendment Punishment for crimes(cruel and unusual punishment)

Ninth Amendment Powers reserved to the people(nonenumerated rights)

Tenth Amendment Powers reserved to the states

Eleventh Amendment Suits against states by a resident or by another state must be heard in

state courts, not federal courts: repealed part of Article III

CHAPTER 2

PROVISIONS OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

AMENDMENTS Twelfth Amendment Election of president and vice president

Thirteenth Amendment Ratified as a result of the Civil War; abolishes slavery

Fourteenth Amendment Ratified after the Civil War; defines the rights of citizens; replaces

part of Article I by requiring that African Americans be fully counted

in determining apportionment; sets out punishment for leaders of the Confederacy; promises payment for federal debt as a result of the Civil War but not for debts of the Confederacy This amendment’s

“equal protection under the law” provision figures prominently in

later civil rights decisions by the Supreme Court

Fifteenth Amendment Ratified after the Civil War; grants the right to vote regardless of race,

color, or previous servitude Southern states defied the amendment until the 1960s when Congress passed various voting rights acts

Sixteenth Amendment Grants federal government the ability to tax income

Seventeenth Amendment Provides for direct election of senators; replaces Article I, Section 3,

paragraphs 2 and 3

Eighteenth Amendment

Twenty-First Amendment

Prohibits manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol Repealed Eighteenth Amendment

Nineteenth Amendment Grants women the right to vote

Twentieth Amendment Modified sections of Article I and the Twelfth Amendment relating to

when the terms of office begin for members of Congress and the president and vice president; known as the “Lame Duck”

Amendment because it shortened the time that a defeated legislator/

official served between the election and the new term of office

Twenty-Second Amendment Limits presidential term to two terms if elected on his/her own and

to one term if serving out the term of a predecessor for more than two years

Twenty-Third Amendment Provides three presidential electors for the District of Columbia

Twenty-Fourth Amendment Abolishes the poll tax for federal elections; part of the civil rights

legislation of the 1960s

Twenty-Fifth Amendment Provides for presidential disability and succession if the president is

unable to perform his or her duties

Twenty-Sixth Amendment Expands the right to vote to include 18-year-old citizens

Twenty-Seventh Amendment Limits the ability of Congress to raise its own salary

Reconstruction Beginning in the 1960s, the Supreme Court used the Fourteenth Amendment as the basis for many civil rights

decisions

• The Constitution can be changed formally by the amendment process, but it can also be changed informally through (1) legisla-tion, (2) executive action (Executive Orders), (3) party practices (as one example, the Constitution does not mention political conven-tions to nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates, but parties hold conventions every four years), (4) custom (secretaries

of the Executive Departments make up the president’s Cabinet), and (5) court decisions

• The Supreme Court is the major shaper of judicial change Since John Marshall’s tenure as chief justice, the tension betweenstrict constructionist and loose constructionist views has existed on

the Court and between its supporters and opponents

KEY PEOPLE

• Anti-Federalists: opposed ratification of the Constitution on a

number of issues, centered on (1) the increased powers of the central government over those listed in the Articles of Confedera-tion and (2) the lack of a listing of the rights of individuals; Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams, among others

• Federalists: supported ratification, basing their arguments on (1)

the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and (2) the need for a strong government to guide the new nation; James Madison, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton as chief advocates

Review Strategy

As you read Chapters 3

through 8, look for

land-mark Supreme Court cases

and other cases that have

shaped national policies.

• John Marshall: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801–

1835; known as the Great Chief Justice; would be called a judicial activist today Under the Constitution, the powers of the Supreme Court were not spelled out Marshall established the status and independence of the Supreme Court and led the Court in many rulings that set the basic principles of constitutional law for the United States

• Thurgood Marshall: argued Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) that overturned the decision in Plessy v.

Ferguson (1896); became the first African American Supreme

Court Justice; liberal and judicial activist

• Warren Court: named after Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953–1969);

judicial activist The Warren Court wrote many landmark decisions

in civil rights and individual rights, includingBrown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas and Miranda v Arizona.

KEY TERMS/IDEAS DEFINED

• elastic clause: Article I, Section 8; also known as the “necessary and proper clause”; grants Congress the right to make all laws

CHAPTER 2

“necessary and proper” in order to carry out the federal govern-ment’s duties; this is an expressed power and the constitutional basis for implied powers

• supremacy clause: part of Article VI; the Constitution, laws

passed by Congress, and treaties of the United States have superior authority over laws of state and local governments

• concurrent powers: powers, such as the right to tax and to

establish and maintain courts, that are shared by the federal and state governments but exercised separately and simultaneously

• denied powers: powers denied to all government; Article I,

Sections 9 and 10

• enumerated powers: powers stated directly in the Constitution as

belonging to the federal government; Article I, Section 8; Article II, Section 2; Article III; Sixteenth Amendment

• expressed powers: also called enumerated powers

• implied powers: based on the “necessary and proper” or elastic

clause; powers required by the federal government to carry out its duties as stated in the Constitution; not listed, but based in

expressed powers, such as the power to collect taxes implies the power to establish the Internal Revenue Service

• inherent powers: belong to the federal government by virtue of

being the federal government

• reserved powers: powers that belong to the states; Tenth

Amendment

• judicial activism: theory that the Supreme Court, through its

decisions, should shape national social and political policies

• judicial restraint: theory that the Supreme Court, through its

decisions, should avoid an active role in shaping national social and political policies

• loose constructionist: one who argues that the Constitution

needs to respond to changing times; theWarren Court, for

example

• strict constructionist: one who argues that the judiciary’s

decisions need to be based on the Framers’ intent; Justice Clarence Thomas, for example

Chapter 3

REVIEWING THE NEW NATION

TO MID-CENTURY

Red Alert!

See10 Facts About the SAT II:

U.S History Test for basic

information about the test

format, pp 2–5.

As you review the information on the concepts, trends, events, and people who were important in the nation’s history between 1790 and

1898, remember that the College Board asks questions about political, economic, and cultural and intellectual history and foreign policy As you review your course materials and read this book, look for trends, cause-and-effect relationships, differences and similarities, and the significance of events and actions on the development of the nation

Be prepared to analyze events and people’s motives and to evaluate outcomes The who, when, and why is only part of what you need to learn

SECTION 1 THE NEW NATION, 1789–1800

Once nine states had ratified the Constitution, the members of the

electoral college assembled in their states in February 1789 and

voted for president and vice president.George Washington was

unanimously chosen President, and John Adams, who received the

next highest number of votes, was elected vice president They took their oaths of office on April 30 and thus, began the new nation

FAST FACTS

The Presidency of George Washington

• The new government had to deal with (1) the national debt, (2) foreign affairs, and (3) its own frontier However, it had to deal with these in the context of realizing the promises of the new Constitution for the new nation The government under Washing-ton had to determine how to establish and maintain a balance between the powers of the federal government and the rights of the people and the states

• The Washington presidency is as important for the precedents

it set as for the business of the nation that it conducted Washing-ton established, among other precedents, (1) that the president was

to be addressed as “Mr President”; (2) that a president should serve only two terms (Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 was the first president to seek a third term, and the Twenty-Second Amendment turned Washington’s precedent into law); (3) that the president should be advised by able and experienced leaders; (4) that the