POL 101: U.S Government 1B

Articles of Confederation - Law of the land before the constitution - Passed in 1777 by the second Continental Congress - Fraught with problems Articles of Confederation – Problems - Left most major decisions and power in the hands of the states - Gave little power to the Federal Government - No powerful chief executive - No federal courts system - Only needed 9 of 13 states approval to pass any law - No taxes meant that government could not finance anything - No ability of federal government to involve itself in foreign affairs - Allowed for trade competition between state that sometimes turned violent - Shay ’ s Rebellion (1786-1787) - Showed the weakness of the federal government - A national embarrassment that exposed the problems with the Articles of Confederation The United States Constitution - Ratified in 1788 - Gave more power to the federal government than the Articles of Confederation - Separated power between three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch - Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

- Anti-Federalists – did not support the ratification of the constitution, wanted the states To maintain the majority of power - Federalists – supported the ratification of the constitution The Founding Fathers - Profile - The founding father were the very elite of their time - Wealthy landowning professionals - All white males - Many founders owned slaves - Very well educated - Many opposed direct democracies because of a distrust of the intelligence of the Common man