A Survey of USA: ---- Founding a New Nation

Prof. Niangen Huang

Founding a New Nation

Questions:1. What does confederation mean?2. What was the chief difference between the Gove

rnment under the Articles of Confederation, and that established by the Constitution?

3. What was the Bill of Rights? What were the main contents of the Bill?

4. What were the events that led to the War of 1812?

Founding a New Nation When the Revolutionary War was over, the

differences between the colonies became important again. The colonies were now states in one nation. Some states earned money from farming. Others were centers for manufacturing and trade. Some states had slaves, while others did not. Some states claimed large areas of land to the west. Others had no western territory.

Founding a New Nation There was, however, a central government that was created

in 1781. This first national government was established under the Articles of Confederation. A confederation is a government in which the constituent governments, called states in America, create a central government by constitutional compact but do not give it power to regulate the conduct of individuals.

The central government makes regulations for the constituent government, but it exists and operates only at their direction. According to the Articles of Confederation, the Congress could conduct war and foreign affairs, make commercial treaties, and negotiate with the Indians. It could borrow and coin money and issue bills of credit. Yet many imperfections remained.

Founding a New Nation Under the Articles of Confederation, the government

consisted of only a legislature; it had no separate executive or judicial divisions. And not all of the Congress's powers were exclusive. The states could continue to deal directly with foreign governments and engage in war with Congress's consent. And even without it, they could borrow, maintain mints, and issue bills of credit. The states also had sole right to legislate in matters concerning debts, contracts, and family affairs. Most important of all, they alone could tax their citizens. And if experience showed that changes in the Articles were desirable, they would be hard to make, since amendments required the consent of every state. Above all the Articles formed a very loose union of states within the framework of a central government. Such weak government couldn't serve the capitalists and landowners welt. Especially the Shays" rebellion in 1786 made the capitalists know a strong and powerful government was needed very much.

Founding a New Nation On May 25, 1787, fifty-five delegates

from all states except Rhode Island met in the opening session of the Constitutional Convention in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. For four months, they talked and argued about what the government of the United States should be like. At last they drafted the Constitution of the United States.

Founding a New Nation The Constitution represents a series of compro

mises between strong government and government limited in the interests of freedom, between national and local authority, and between the interests of the large states and those of the smaller ones. Borrowing from the French philosopher, Charles Louis de Montesqieu, the delegates adopted the idea that each branch of government -executive, legislative, and judicial-must exercise distinct powers and be selected in a distinct way.

Founding a New Nation This separation would ensure the

independence of each branch. In addition, the delegates adopted the idea that each branch must be able to "check and balance" the others. By such an arrangement the greatest freedom would be ensured, for if one branch grew too powerful and sought to dominate the others, it could be stopped. Besides establishing a new structure, the Constitution greatly enlarged the powers and scope of the national government.

Founding a New Nation The new government would impose its authority on

the people directly, not through states. It would also fuse the nation into a single legal whole. Under the Constitution each state was required to give "full faith and credit" to all laws and court decisions of the others. The new government could also do many specific things the confederative government could not do. It could impose and collect taxes from citizens, control and regulate foreign and interstate commerce. It had sole control over the coinage of money and could establish a postal system, build post roads, and pass laws of naturalization.

Founding a New Nation Finally, the constitution declared that the

new government could "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States. " In sum, a strengthened national government was to exercise broad authority over economic and political affairs, and over a single economic and legal unit.

Founding a New Nation The Constitution created a federal

government; that is, it left the states with independent authority in some spheres. Crime and breaches of the peace were in the states" jurisdiction, except when a state legislature or governor specifically requested federal help to put down local violence. Social relations, including marriage, divorce, and education, were also left to the states.

Founding a New Nation After the Constitution was finally finished, it wa

s up to the states to approve it. Everywhere, people were talking about it. The people who were against the Constitution were called antifederalists. They were afraid of a strong central government. They didn't think enough powers were left to the states. Many people wanted the Constitution to spell out the people's rights. Still others did not like the Constitution because it did not do away with slavery.

Founding a New Nation

The Constitution may be changed by amendments, but only if three-quarters of the states agree to the change.

In 1791 the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, were approved by three-fourths of the states, so it was adopted.

Founding a New Nation The Bill of Rights guaranteed freedom of speech, religion,

peaceful assembly, and the press; the right to bear arms; freedom from unreasonable search; and the right to the protection of certain legal procedures known as the due process of law.

The Ninth and Tenth Amendments promised that the federal government would not assume any powers not accorded it in the Constitution, thus confining Congress and the President to their allotted spheres, Since the Bill of Rights, many more amendments have been added to the Constitution.

Now the Constitution of the United States contains seven Articles and twenty-six Amendments. These later amendments have made it possible for the Constitution to meet the needs of a changing nation.

Founding a New Nation

When the 1787 Constitution came into effect in 1788, the first election followed precisely the letter of the Constitution. George Washington was elected as the first president of the new republic.

Western Frontier At this time the boundaries of the new country extended no

further than the Mississippi River in the west, Spanish Florida in the south, and British Canada in the north. The population of the country was less than 4,000,000 of which about 800,000 were the blacks.

The greatest number of the people lived in the northern and middle states, and only about a million people lived in the South. The west territories were still mainly inhabited by the American Indians, but a steady stream of immigration continued to pour westward across the Appalachian Mountains.

In 1780s, the American government passed some laws to encourage people to move to the frontier region between the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers. When a part of this territory had 60,000 people, it could become a state. The pioneers would then govern themselves.

A New Nation The acquisition and the later exploration of Louisiana

showed dearly that Jefferson was capable of vigorous action in pursuing the national interest. But besides creating opportunities, European antagonisms caused serious difficulties for the United States that Jefferson found harder to handle.

The 2nd Independent War During the two administrations of Jefferson (1800-

1808), the relations between U. S. and Britain were becoming worse. The British were not reconciled to the loss of their thirteen colonies. Using Canada as the base, they always challenged to battle with the young Republic. British warships were often placed outside American harbors to keep a watch on shipping that came and went. At the same time, in order to find more men for the crews of its large navy, Britain began to impress great numbers of sailors from seized American ships. Americans had always been angry at this British practice..

The 2nd Independent War This angry reached its peak in1807 when

one British warship attacked and boarded the American ship, killing or wounding 21 men and impressing four sailors. Jefferson had to take action, and in order to avoid war for which he knew the United States was ill-prepared, he persuaded Congress to pass an Embargo Act. This Act forbade all ships, except foreign ones without cargo, to leave American ports. After that, the relations between the two countries became even worse.

The 2nd Independent War In 1812, President Madison asked Congress to declare

war on Britain, and the war broke out. The war lasted for three years and ended in another American victory over the British. This war is usually known as the Second War of Independence in American history. This war had one important result- the strengthening of national unity and patriotism. And it was only after this was that the United States was able to effect the change of a semi-colonial economy into a really independent national economy.