Russell Hardy

Vianney Reyes
Andrew Rodriguez
Natalie Garza
1A

1780s + Founding Documents

Important people:
Thomas Jefferson - He was the third president of The United States, and author
of The Declaration of Independence and Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom.
Benjamin Franklin - He was one of the 5 that helped write The Declaration of
Independence and he was really close to the French. Which helped us with the Revolution
because the French thought it was the right thing. He also wrote an anti-slavery treatise.
George Washington - First President of The United States. Was a general in the
Revolution. Retired after his 2nd year because he became tired of being president and did
not want to become a monarchy.
James Madison - Helped make the Constitution and created the foundation for
The Bill of Rights. He represented Virginia in the Constitution Congress. Believed that
having a system of checks and balances is important to have in a government.
John Hancock - He was involved in the protests against the stamp acts and other
laws that the British put on America. He became the first governor of Massachusetts.
First to sign The Declaration of Independence.
John Adams - Served as the 2nd president served as a diplomat in Europe and
helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris. Was the first vice president.
Samuel Adams - Tax-collector; Elected to Massachusetts Assembly, 1765;
Delegate to the First Continental Congress, 1774; Signed Declaration of Independence,
1776; Member of Massachusetts State constitutional convention, 1781; Appointed
Lieutenant Governor of Mass., 1789; Elected Governor of Massachusetts, 1794-'97.
Benjamin Rush - Was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush was a civic
leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, educator and
humanitarian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton - Was one of four Marylander's to sign the
Declaration of Independence. Carroll was the only Roman Catholic and the last survivor
of all 56 signers dying in 1832 in his 96th year.

 Patrick Henry - Was an American attorney, planter and politician who became
known as an orator during the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A
Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from
1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786.
John Peter Mclenberg - American clergyman, who distinguished himself as a
general in the American Revolution. Born in Trappe, Pa., he was the son of the Germanborn minister Henry Muhlenberg (1711-87), who in 1748 organized the first Lutheran
synod in America.
John Jay - Was an American statesman, Patriot, diplomat, one of the Founding
Fathers of the United States, signer of the Treaty of Paris, and first Chief Justice of the
United States
John Witherspoon - Delegate to the Continental Congress, 1776-1782; Twice
elected to State Legislature of New Jersey.

Important Documents:
Shays Rebellion (1786-1787)
Led by Daniel Shays, hundreds of farmers sought to shut down courts due to force
closure of farms and of taxes. Demonstrated need of central government
AOC
Central government was ineffective. Power remained within the states.

unicameral legislature
No authority for congress to impose taxes
One vote in congress for each state
No National Court System
No uniform national currency
no chief executive
9/13 states must approve passage of certain legislation
Unanimity for amendments
Congress couldnt regulate commerce

Constitutional Convention
5 delegates from 12 states amused at Philly to revise the government of the US (G.W,
James Mad, Ben Frank, George mason, Roger Sherman) They faced trouble trying to
design a strong central government while guarding individual liberties.
4 Goals in Mind:
Prevent tyranny of majority

 prevent tyranny of minority

have power for short/long term
economic development
form/conduct efficient foreign policy
Federalists
support came from coastal/urban areas and upper classes - merchants, farmers, shippers,
etc. Not all upper-class citizens were federalists though.
Leaders:

G.W
Alex
Ham
James Mad
Ben Frank

Favored strong central government to keep peace and stability and strengthen union in
ways AOC couldnt
Antifederalists
support came from agricultural areas and backcountry. Debtors - people opposed strong
central gov.
Leaders:
Patrick Henry
John Hancock
George Mason
Opposed strong central government that did not guarantee protection of individual rights.
Believed the constitution subordinated states rights.
BDR and Ratification of const.
citizens opposed ratification unless a list of rights was added to const.
Feds: that's unnecessary! the house of rep. is
elected by the people, after all. By defining the delegated powers of gov.,
well limit the abuse for power drastically. If the rights of citizens are
mentored one by one, that would place limitations on their rights!
Anti Feds: Only a list of basic rights can protect us
from a tyrannical gov!
Feds: Fine, well add a BOR when the const. is
ratified.
Anti Feds: ok

Despise opposition and having to coerce some states, the new government won over 9/13 states.
Yay! New government!
Whiskey Rebellion (1791)
In January Alexander Hamilton proposed an innocuous tax on
alcohol within the US. Americans on the frontier of western Philadelphia didn't
like this. By 1784, this rebellion threatened the stability of the U.S.; George
Washington was forced to personally lead the military to stop rebels.
Tax was imposed because of debt from the Revolutionary War. It
was passed despise resistance from anti-federalists. Farmers felt this was abuse of
federal authority.
George Washington wanted to stop this peacefully but the farmers
became violent. So, George Washington organized a militia of 17,950 men and led
them to west Philadelphia. The rebels got scared and dispersed.
The US survived its 1st true test of federal authority.
Virginia Plan
Proposed legislative branch consisting of two chambers (bicameral legislature). States
represented by population. States with high populations have more representatives than smaller
states.
New Jersey Plan
Proposed unicameral legislative. Each state would only have one vote, as under the
Articles of Confederation.
Connecticut Compromise (Like Today)
House of Representatives cast votes based on population (Virginia Plan), while the senate cast
one vote per state (New Jersey Plan). This is a combination of both plans.
Federalist Papers (1787 - 1788)
Collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John
Jay, promoting the ratification of the constitution. It also explains how the new government
would work and why it was the best choice.
Anti-Federalist Papers (1787 - 1789)
Collection of writings by authors who argued against the ratification of the constitution. They
consist of warnings of dangers from tyranny that weaknesses in the constitution did not provide

against. While some of those weaknesses were corrected by the Bill of Rights, others remained
and some of the dangers are now coming to pass.
Amendments of the Constitution
1. Freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition
2. Right to bear arms
3. Citizens don't have to house troops
4. No unreasonable search or arrest
5. No double jeopardy or witness against self
6. Rights of accused in criminal cases
7. Trial by jury
8. No excessive bail or cruel punishment
9. People get rights not listed in Constitution
10. Any rights not given to federal government are given to states and people

Questions for the Reading (p.213-251)<--??? (p.254-281):

1. What did the Revolutionaries develop in the
government?
2. What was the Critical Period?
3. What were some good things of the Confederate
government did?
4. What was Shays Rebellion? Why did it happen?
5. Who were the loyalists and what became of
them?
6. What were the achievements of the
Confederation Government?
7. What were the shortcoming of the article of
confederations?
8. Why did the delegates to the constitutional
convention draft a completely new constitution?
9. How important was the issue of slavery in the
constitution?

10. What were the main issue in the debate over

ratification of the constitution?