6/28/2011. The Glorious Constitution The Anti-Democratic Constitution

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1 The Glorious Constitution The Anti-Democratic Constitution 1

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3 We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson s Draft of the Declaration of Independence AMERICAN PROBLEMS 1780S FOREIGN DIFFICULTIES Trade restrictions by Forts Britain, France, Spain Britain failed to abandon N.W. forts Barbary (North African) Pirates Merchants and Plantation Owners most concerned DOMESTIC PROBLEMS Rebellion Daniel Shay s Rebellion , Western Mass. Farmer s debts Elite Response: threats to private property 3

4 Could these Problems Have been Addressed under the Articles of Confederation? Western Lands: Northwest Ordinance of 1787 began organizing the Northwest Western Land claims of individual states had been ceded to the National Congress National Debt: Sell Western Lands to pay debt Trade: From self interest, European countries would eventually trade with Americans out Constitutional Convention (1787) called partly out of sense of fear and belief in need of a strong central government. 55 DELEGATES TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION Merchants Plantation owners Lawyers William Few (Georgia delegate) Only small farmer at the convention 4

5 Patrick Henry Edmund Randolph (Virginia delegate) The country s ills originated in the turbulence and follies of democracy. The great dangers lay in the democratic parts of our (state) constitutions. Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. If you give more than a share in the sovereignty to the democrats (people), that is, if you give them the command or preponderance in the legislature, they will vote all property out of the hands of the aristocrats, and if they let you escape with your lives, it will be more humanity, consideration, and generosity than any triumphant democracy ever displayed since the Creation. John Adams (Mass. Delegate) 5

6 I expect that Congress will be composed of landholders, merchants, and men of the learned professions. *Advocated the return to Monarchy *Advocated that the President and Senate should be elected for life terms. Alexander Hamilton Hamilton & Burr Duel Roger Sherman (Connecticut delegate) He hoped that the people have as little to do as may be about the government. They want [lack] information and are constantly liable to be mislead. William Livingston (New Jersey delegate) The people have ever been and ever will be unfit to retain the exercise of power in their own hands. 6

7 Gouverneur Morris (Pennsylvania Delegate) The mob begin to think and reason. Poor reptiles! They bask in the sun, and ere noon they will bite, depend upon it. The gentry begin to fear this. Worried about factions created by class differences The most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property 10% of white males should be able to vote James Madison Father of the Constitution It seems indispensable that the mass of citizens should not be without a voice in making the laws which they are to obey, and in choosing the magistrates who are to administer them. James Madison Father of the Constitution 7

8 DILEMMA of the FOUNDING FATHERS Power should emanate from the people (rather than Divine Right of King) But majority of people should not rule because they were incapable of acting for the common good SOLUTION: CHECKS & BALANCES 3 branches of government: Presidency, Legislature, Judicial Two Houses of Congress: Senate & House of Representatives U.S. Senate (1790s) Philadelphia SOLUTION: CHECKS & BALANCES People Don t Elect Major Leaders House: direct election of people Senate: selected by state legislatures President: electoral college appointed by state legislatures Goal: Republic (representative) government but not controlled by mass of the people U.S. House of Representatives (1790s) Philadelphia 8

9 Property & Liberty Property = Liberty Government protect private property Only property owners should vote Slaves were 3/5 clause African slave trade protected until 1808 Fugitive Slave clause A Counterrevolution of the Wealthy Elite called convention which supposedly would offer Amendments to the Articles of Confederation Locked doors and met in secret Drew up a Constitution for a new government Ratification not by existing government Signing the Constitution 9

10 Ratification of U.S. Constitution What Patterns? Explanation? Sectional: Eastern vs Western Commercial vs Subsistence Urban vs Rural Religion and the U.S Constitution The Enlightenment & Religion Deism: rationalizes religion God the Great Watchmaker 10

11 A Generation of Deists George Washington Rarely attended church Deist Thomas Jefferson Deist Deist Separation of Church and State Revolution: only 20% of whites attended church Revolutionaries feared government supported churches Church of England in South Puritans in New England Catholic threat in Canada Religion played relatively little role in the Revolution Constitutional Convention: Model for Religion & State Virginia s 1786 Act for Establishing Religious Freedom Strict separation of church and state Written by Jefferson Supported by evangelical sects: Methodists & Baptists Model for 1 st Amendment to Constitution 11

12 Constitutional Convention: Separation of Church and State First Amendment (ratified 1791): Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof James Madison Constitutional Convention: Separation of Church and State God is never mentioned in the Constitution Not controversial at the Convention Ratification debated issue Support for Constitution not based on God or relition 12