POLS 34102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Anti-Federalism, First Continental Congress, Connecticut Compromise
29 Jun 2018
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CH 02 OUTLINE
The First Founding: Interests and Conflicts
1. The American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution were outgrowths and expressions of a
struggle among economic and political forces within the colonies.
2. In an effort to alleviate financial problems, including considerable debt, the British government
sought to raise revenue by taxing its North American colonies. This energized New England
merchants and southern planters, who then organized colonial resistance.
3. Colonial resistance set in motion a cycle of provocation and reaction that resulted in the First
Continental Congress and, eventually, the Declaration of Independence.
4. The Declaration of Independence was an attempt to identify and articulate a history and set of
principles that might help to forge national unity.
5. The colonies established the Articles of Confederation. The first goal of the Articles was to limit
the powers of the central government. Under the Articles, the central government was based
entirely in Congress, yet Congress had little power. The relationship between the national
government and the states was called a confederation, which is a system of government in which
states retain sovereign authority except for the powers expressly delegated to the national
government.
The Second Founding: From Compromise to Constitution
1. Concern over America's precarious position in the international community, coupled with
domestic concern that "radical forces" had too much influence in Congress and in state
governments, led to the Annapolis Convention in 1786. Delegates from only five states attended,
so nothing substantive could be accomplished.
2. Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts provided critics of the Articles of Confederation with the
evidence they needed to push for constitutional revision.
3. Recognizing fundamental flaws in the Articles, the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention
abandoned the plan to revise the Articles and committed themselves to a second founding—a
second, and ultimately successful, attempt to create a legitimate and effective national system of
government.
4. Conflict between large and small states over the issue of representation in Congress led to the
Great Compromise, which created a bicameral legislature based on two different principles of
representation.
5. The Three-fifths Compromise addressed the question of slavery by apportioning the seats in
the House of Representatives according to a population in which five slaves would count as three
persons.
The Constitution
1. The new government was to be strong enough to promote commerce and protect property,
prevent the threat posed by "excessive democracy," provide for direct popular election of
representatives, and protect citizens' liberties and property rights.
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Document Summary
The first founding: interests and conflicts: the american revolution and the u. s. constitution were outgrowths and expressions of a struggle among economic and political forces within the colonies. In an effort to alleviate financial problems, including considerable debt, the british government sought to raise revenue by taxing its north american colonies. This energized new england merchants and southern planters, who then organized colonial resistance: colonial resistance set in motion a cycle of provocation and reaction that resulted in the first. The first goal of the articles was to limit the powers of the central government. Under the articles, the central government was based entirely in congress, yet congress had little power. The relationship between the national government and the states was called a confederation, which is a system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government.
