History Chapter 6 Creating More Perfect Union This Covers The Successes And Failures

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CHAPTER 6

Creating a “More Perfect Union”

1783–1800

This chapter covers the successes and failures of the Articles of Confederation government, the

movement for a new form of government, the political innovations in the Constitution, the Constitutional

ratification struggle, the new government in action, the unanticipated development of political parties as

CORE OBJECTIVES

1. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and explain how they prompted

the creation of a new U.S. Constitution in 1787.  

2. Describe the political innovations that the 1787 Constitutional Convention developed for the new

nation.  

CHAPTER OUTLINE

1. The Confederation Government

A. A Loose Alliance of States

B. An Important Foundation

C. Land Policy

D. The Northwest Ordinance (1787)

E. Foreign Tensions

F. Trade and the Economy

G. Scarce Money

H. Shays’s Rebellion (1786–1787)

2. Creating the Constitution

A. The Constitutional Convention (1787)

i. Drafting the Constitution

ii. The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

B. The Structure of the Federal Government

i. Legislature (Congress)

ii. Executive (President)

iii. Judiciary (Court System)

C. “We the People”

i. Dealing with Slavery

ii. The Absence of Women in the Constitution

3. The Fight for Ratification

A. A Fiery Debate

i. Anti-Federalists versus Federalists

ii. The States Decide

B. The Bill of Rights

C. A Flexible Framework

4. The Federalist Era

A. A New Government

B. Shaping a Federal Union

C. The Rise of American Capitalism

D. Paying Debts

E. Raising Federal Revenue

F. A National Bank

G. Encouraging Manufactures

H. Hamilton’s Achievement

I. The Republican Alternative

5. Foreign and Domestic Crises

A. Citizen Genet

B. Americans Take Sides

i. Jay’s Treaty

ii. Frontier Tensions

iii. The Whiskey Rebellion

iv. Pinckney’s Treaty

v. Settlement of New Lands and the Wilderness Road

vi. Washington’s Farewell

vii. The Election of 1796

viii. The Adams Administration

ix. The Quasi-War with France

x. The War at Home

xi. Republican Victory in 1800

LECTURE IDEAS

1. A lecture on the context of the creation of the two governments can help students understand their

relative merits as well as differences. Once the colonies decided to govern themselves, they had to

create a new government immediately. Thus the Articles were written during a time of war; in contrast,

the Constitution was written in a time of peace. See Kerry P. Callahn and Heather Moehn’s The

Articles of Confederation: A Primary Source Investigation into the Document That Preceded the U.S.

Constitution (2003).

2. Shays’s Rebellion highlighted problems facing the new nation. A lecture could go into detail regarding

the issues of taxation, government responses, and public perception. A comparison could be made to

3. Use the biographical approach to examine the “critical period,” with a lecture on the life of Alexander

Hamilton. His origins in the West Indies, service in the Revolution as Washington’s personal aide,

leading role as a critic of the Articles of Confederation, part as key instigator of the Constitutional

Convention, place as father of the Federalist essays, and service as the nation’s first secretary of the

4. A lecture on the Confederation period will help the students better understand and analyze the change

to the new Constitution. Include in this lecture both successes and challenges the Confederation

government faced. Discuss the composition of the government, land policy, financial issues, and how

the Confederation government handled the various crises that arose. See Merrill Jensen’s The Articles

of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social Constitutional History of the American Revolution,

5. Consider a lecture dedicated to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Take an in-depth look at the

personalities involved, and investigate who these people were. Include the issues of regionalism and

economic status, as well as a discussion on the political ideology of the Federalists and anti-Federalists.

See John P. Kaminski, Gaspare J. Saladino, et al. (eds.), The Documentary History of the Ratification

6. For a different angle on the developments of the 1780s, look at the activities of Thomas Jefferson, who

was out of the country much of that decade serving his country in France. A good lecture on

Jefferson’s experience while there will illuminate his political philosophy, his insights into the opening

phases of the French Revolution, and his view from a distance of events like Shays’s Rebellion and the

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES / FLIPPED CLASSROOM SUGGESTIONS

1. Divide the class into small groups. Have the groups read through the Articles of Confederation and the

Constitution. After carefully analyzing both documents, students can complete a Venn diagram

illustrating the similarities and differences between the two documents. Ask groups to share their

2. Stage a class debate. Divide the class into Hamiltonian Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans. Let

each side make its case. Afterward, let students discuss the origins of political parties. A second debate

3. This chapter describes Madison’s The Federalist 10 as the most famous of the Federalist essays. Ask

students to read it to see how Madison defines both “democracy” and “republic” and why he does not

favor democracy for the United States. Consider whether anything has changed over the more than two

centuries since this was written to now make democracy (classically defined) more desirable or

feasible. To explore this topic further play an episode of a currently popular reality series—one in

4. Although it failed, do not consider the Confederation to have been unpopular. Some states like Virginia

supported the style of government brought about after the Revolution. Examine the government of the

5. When examining the reasons for a new Constitution, the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

are often discussed. Examine those reasons and analyze how the new government promised to address

6. Slavery can sometimes appear to be a forgotten element of the Constitution, but it did play a significant

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Should the Articles of Confederation be considered a success or a failure?

2. Was the shift from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution necessary?

3. Was the Constitution an expansion of rights and privileges or a contraction of them? Was it a logical

extension of the American Revolution or an undoing of its gains?

4. How was the Constitution ratified? What was the ratification process like? How much of a struggle

was it?

5. How do Federalists and Republicans differ?

6. Was the development of political parties inevitable? Did the development of political parties strengthen

or weaken the new government?

7. What issues did the new government under the Constitution face? How do they compare to the issues

faced by the government under the Articles of Confederation?

PRACTICING CITIZENSHIP

The chapter states that the “United States was born in debt,” as the first secretary of the Treasury,

Alexander Hamilton, had to figure out a way to deal with the enormous debt incurred during the

American Revolution. His fiscal plan ensured the financial solvency of the new nation but also helped

lead to the first political party system as the implementation of the plan infuriated various segments of the

population. Government policy on handling debt continues to be a divisive issue today. Have students