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| | This compromise reflected the spirit of the Constitutional Convention. Disagreements arose on a myriad of issues. Again and again, the delegates compromised, gradually formulating the Constitution that we still use today. | | This compromise reflected the spirit of the Constitutional Convention. Disagreements arose on a myriad of issues. Again and again, the delegates compromised, gradually formulating the Constitution that we still use today. |
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| | + | Another compromise was required, this time between the North and the South, over the issue of whether slaves should be counted in determining how many congressmen a State could have in the House of Representatives. Representation was in proportion to population, but the North opposed counting slaves because that would give the South more power than if slaves were not counted. The "Three-Fifths Compromise" counted slaves as three-fifths of a free man for the purpose of determining how many representatives a State would have in the House of Representatives (Art. I, Section 2, Paragraph 3): |
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| | + | :"Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." |
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| | + | After all the compromises most (but not all) agreed to the final form of the new Constitution, and it was sent to the states for ratification. |
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| | The government established by the Constitution is not easily classified, but rather a mixture of other forms of government. At the time, nearly every county in the world was a monarchy. Many elements make American government the first of its kind. | | The government established by the Constitution is not easily classified, but rather a mixture of other forms of government. At the time, nearly every county in the world was a monarchy. Many elements make American government the first of its kind. |
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| | The first ten amendments -- the Bill of Rights -- was passed by the first Congress in 1789 and ratified by all the states by 1791. New Jersey was the first to ratify the Bill of Rights. | | The first ten amendments -- the Bill of Rights -- was passed by the first Congress in 1789 and ratified by all the states by 1791. New Jersey was the first to ratify the Bill of Rights. |
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| − | ==Slavery==
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| − | Also, be aware that there many slaves in Virginia and other colonies long before Bacon’s Rebellion. <!-- include info about how early the first slaves were brought from Africa -->
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| | 3/5s compromise. | | 3/5s compromise. |
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| | '''Debate: compare the views of [[Alexander Hamilton]] (the federal government has whatever powers are not denied to it, such as the power to establish a national bank, by virtue of the "elastic" or "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution) to the views of [[Thomas Jefferson]] (the federal government has only the powers expressly given it). Which one was right?''' | | '''Debate: compare the views of [[Alexander Hamilton]] (the federal government has whatever powers are not denied to it, such as the power to establish a national bank, by virtue of the "elastic" or "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution) to the views of [[Thomas Jefferson]] (the federal government has only the powers expressly given it). Which one was right?''' |
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| | + | == Other Events of the 1790s == |
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| | + | Two other events of the 1790s were significant, though unrelated to President Washington or Congress. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which is a mechanical way to separate cotton from its thorny branch and seeds. The cotton gin enabled a machine to do the work of 50 men, and greatly increased cotton production by the South. It turned the South into the powerful economic force and made it a major source of cotton production in the entire world. By the time of the [[Civil War]], the South thought it was invincible due to its ability to produce cotton. |
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| | + | Also in 1793, the new U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision named ''Chisholm v. Georgia'', which for the first time allowed a lawsuit to be filed in a new federal court against one state by a citizen of a different state. This outraged the states and was considered an "activist" decision by the Supreme Court. Within two years Congress passed and more than 3/4 of the states ratified the [[Eleventh Amendment]] to the Constitution to overturn this decision. This demonstrated a "check and balance" on Supreme Court power. |
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| | ==The Presidency of John Adams== | | ==The Presidency of John Adams== |
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| − | [[John Adams]], born to a prosperous farmer in Massachusetts, became president after Washington, and served just one term (four years). His presidency was a failure. Symbolic of his failure was his signing of the Alien & Sedition Acts, which made it a crime to criticize him! Jefferson and Madison responded with strong state resolutions (Kentucky and Virginia) to “nullify” or declare the Acts unconstitutional, viewing the act primarily as an attack on their Democratic-Republican party by Adams' Federalists. | + | [[John Adams]], born to a prosperous farmer in Massachusetts, became president after Washington, and served just one term (four years). His presidency was a failure. Symbolic of his failure was his signing of the Alien & Sedition Acts, which made it a crime to criticize him! Jefferson and Madison responded with strong state resolutions (Kentucky and Virginia) to "nullify" or declare the Acts unconstitutional, viewing the act primarily as an attack on their Democratic-Republican party by Adams' Federalists. |
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| | '''Debate: Can a State nullify an act of Congress? Can a State secede (withdraw) from the United States?''' | | '''Debate: Can a State nullify an act of Congress? Can a State secede (withdraw) from the United States?''' |
| | [[Category:United States History]] | | [[Category:United States History]] |