Pols 110 Constitution Part I  copyright Paul Johnson
Revolutions, Articles, and other Tribulations
Overview
  Articles of Confederation 
  Problems under the Articles
  Reform "movement"
  Free-for-all in Philadelphia.

Articles of Confederation
  Proposed by Ben Franklin 1775
  Drafted by Continental Congress 1777
  1781 took effect when Maryland was final colony to agree

AoC: Flimsy in every way
  Few formal powers
  Weak decision making procedures
  Extreme autonomy of states

Congress under Articles
1 vote per state.
2/3 majority (that's 9 of 13) required on most laws
Amendments required 13/13 plus adoption by state legislatures

The Executive, or lack thereof
  No President!
  No Administration worth mentioning
  Congress could appoint committees to act as "executive departments" {War, Finance, Foreign Affairs}

Judiciary
No Courts!
Congress would resolve disputes among states

Nat'l Gov: Warm buckets of spit
States retained all rights not expressly granted to national government
National government was granted virtually no powers
No effective taxation power: could request money from states in relation to population

Terrible Problems under Articles
   National debt
   Trade wars between states
   Phony money: currency politics & debt forgiveness in the states
   Shay's rebellion
   National immobilism: Congress unable to act on anything important (treaties!)

Con Con
Delegates were sent from states to revise Articles of Confederation
A majority of delegates, led by James Madison, proposed to replace the Articles with new setup

About James Madison
Favored stronger national government 
Confederation = disaster
"Virginia Plan" author-- population based plan

Objectives of the Con Con
  Design a new constitution that would:
Solve specific problems
Design structure to deal with future problems
  Must "sell" to states when finished
     Most delegates were pro-national, "mainstream" business/social types

Virginia Plan
Bicameral-2 houses of congress
Proportional representation of states
Lower house elected by people, upper appointed from lists nominated by state legislatures
Exec. Appointed by both houses
Exec. And judiciary could veto Congress

Nat’l Power under Virginia Plan
Congress could veto state laws, and
Congress could legislate when states are incompetent
Congress could coerce states into paying taxes
Ratification by popular conventions, not state legislatures!

Alternatives	
New Jersey plan: minimal revision of articles 
declare war on states that would not pay taxes
Hamilton's plan: 
  Senate & President chosen for life by popularly chosen electors
  State governors appointed by nat'l gov.

Big vs Small States
   Great Compromise
	-House apportionment: population
	-Senate: 2 members per state	
	-Laws must pass both House & Senate
  Tax & revenue laws must pass House first
  No export tax by nat'l gov.
States forbidden to do many things
  Congress regulates interstate commerce

Nation vs States
Pro-national side called themselves "federalists"
Selection of Senate and Electoral College by state legislatures (concession to states)
Supremacy clause in Constitution, but no explicit power to overturn state laws.
Many enumerated powers of Congress (Article I, Sect. 8)

Congress vs President
Separation of Powers (law-making and administrative separation)
Lawmaking is a "shared" process (veto, etc)
4 year term, Electoral College result of complicated compromise at Con Con

North vs South
Slavery may not be forbidden until 1808
Slave counts as 3/5 of a person. 

ConCon vs States
How can we get the states to go along with this?
State conventions will be held—not state legislatures!
9/13 approval required for new constitution to take effect
Ratification
Constitution was not universally popular
Some feared power of national government (later prompted Bill of Rights)
Fear of being "left out" pressured many states into adoption