1. Building a Republic
Benjamin Franklin By: Morgan Roberts
Jennifer Orris
Parisa Daftarian
Jackson Le
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
John Jay
George Washington

2. The Articles of Confederation
•Difficult to implement due to
disagreements over boundaries to
land to the west of the states.
•Reached agreement in November of
1777
•Acceptance was stalled for four
years because 9 out of the 13 states
had to agree to make changes.
•Also required representation from
seven states each of which needed 2
representatives.

3. The Sovereign States
• Sovereign states: a political organization with a
centralized government that has supreme
independent authority of a geographic area.
• Six of the states included bills of rights
(government could not change) and only
applied to those who were free.
• Agreements were made in the 1770’s as to who Elizabeth Freeman was the
first person to win freedom in
“the people” were referring to. a Mass. Court.
• Gradual emancipation law of 1780: Children
born to a slave mother on or after March
1, 1780 would be free at age 28.
• Many agreed that slavery needed to be
abolished but it was hard for white Americans
to envision a biracial society. George
Washington owned 390 slaves which he
claimed he would free after his wife died.

4. The Confederation’s Problems
Three concerns:
1) Paying off large war debt
-Articles did not have power to enforce its tax requisitions.
-increased in 1783 in effort secure pensions
-competing land claims and Indian inhabitants also made this
difficult.
2) Making peace with Indians
-At the Treaty of Fort Stanwix Americans demanded a return of prisoners of
war, give up their land, and recognition of the confederation’s
authority.
-This was not a peace offering and it was obvious that the confederation did
not believe the Indian’s had any power
3) Dealing with western settlement
-Thomas Jefferson’s Northwest Territory wanted nine new states with equal
boundaries
-Ordinance of 1785 wanted three to five states, divided into sections
-Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set forth a three step process by which
settlements could gain statehood

5. From Annapolis to Philadelphia: The Virginia Plan:
-1786: James Madison convinced the confederation •James Madison
congress to allow a meeting of delegates to try •3 Branches of Gov.
again to revise trade regulation powers of the •I president
Articles. •2 house legislatures-
-Only 5 states participated representation based on
-Meeting turned into a constitutional convention states’ population in both
with a goal of creating a national government. houses.
-
Hamilton, Madison, Washington, Jefferson, Hen
ry, and Franklin were all present at this meeting.
The United States Constitution
Three-Fifths
New Jersey Plan: Compromise/Clause:
•Maintained the existing single-house •“All free persons plus three-fifths of
congress of the Articles of Conf. Each all other persons constituted the
state had one vote. numerical base for the
•Equal representation for smaller apportionment of representatives.”
states. •Only 3/5 of the slave population
•Plural Presidency would be counted for representation
•Republican Government in congress.

6. Ratification of the Constitution
• Federalists believed in a centralized
government, supporting a national bank whereas Anti-
federalists did not believe in a national bank and preferred
a weaker centralized government.
• Federalists and Anti-Federalists often came from the same
social background as Federal leaders.
Anti-Federalist:
•Desired to block the constitution
Federalist: •Drew strength from states such as
•Federalists went after states like New York that were economically
Delaware that were most likely to comfortable and could afford to stand
ratify first. alone.
•Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and •Argued that distant power might
Georgia followed quickly after. violate people’s liberties.
•George Washington, James •After 8 states had ratified the
Madison, Alexander Hamilton Constitution Anti-federalists were
•Hamilton, Jay, Madison created working harder than they imagined
The Federalist Papers they would, they began to worry.
• Thomas Jefferson

7. Conclusion
• In this era there was widespread agreement that government
should gain it’s power from the people
• This idea of people was very limited and mostly excluded women, black
Americans, and Indians
• Originally in 1775 amendments were impossible to make because they
required unanimity, but the new Constitution offered a new
approach
• James Madison realized the diversity of opinion was not only
unavoidable, but also a strength for the country
• Federalists wanted leaders of exceptional wisdom who would discern the
best path for public policy
• Anti-federalists feared leaders who would be distant and self interested.
They believed the government needed to be held in check.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov7iYG9ZO_M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKhRERqPS4

8. Bibliography
• Roark, James L.. "Building a Republic." InThe
American promise: a history of the United States.
4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 251-
282.
• "Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and
Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com."
Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and
Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com.
http://www.dictionary.com (accessed February
21, 2013).