The Constitution and the New Republic
A failed first government, the deals struck to write a second one, and the fight over whether to ratify it at all.
5 topics · 16 questions
Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.
The Articles of Confederation and Shays' Rebellion
- How it worksHow did a national government with no power to tax or regulate trade run into trouble almost immediately?
- How it worksWalk me through how Shays' Rebellion in 1786 exposed a government too weak to put down its own uprising.
- Going furtherWhat changes in how leaders think about central power once Shays' Rebellion actually happens?
Your turn1 of 2
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could only ask the states for money and had no power to force payment, and it could not regulate trade between states or with other countries. How did a national government built this way run into trouble almost immediately?The Constitutional Convention's Compromises
- How it worksHow did the Three-Fifths Compromise count enslaved people for representation while denying them any rights?
- How it worksShow me the Great Compromise splitting Congress into a House based on population and a Senate with equal votes.
- Going furtherWhat happens to the slave trade compromise the delegates wrote once its 1808 deadline finally arrives?
Your turn1 of 2
Under the Three-Fifths Compromise, a state's enslaved population counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of representation in Congress. A state has 347140 free residents and 182779 enslaved people. How many people would that state count for representation under the compromise?Federalists vs. Antifederalists and the Bill of Rights
- Going furtherWhat happens to the Antifederalists' fear of a strong government once the first ten amendments are added in 1791.
- How it worksCompare the Federalist and Antifederalist arguments over whether a strong central government protects liberty or threatens it.
- How it worksWalk me through how promising a Bill of Rights won over enough Antifederalists to get the Constitution ratified.
Your turn1 of 2
Federalists argued the new Constitution's stronger national government was necessary to keep the states unified, defend the country, and manage its economy. Antifederalists argued that concentrating that much power in one national government, with no bill of rights, risked the very liberties the Revolution had been fought to win. How do these two positions compare?Hamilton's Vision Against Jefferson's
- How it worksCompare Hamilton's plan for a national bank and factories with Jefferson's vision of independent farmers.
- How it worksWalk me through how Hamilton's financial plan had the federal government assume every state's war debt.
- Going furtherWhat happens to American politics once Hamilton's and Jefferson's disagreements harden into the first political parties.
- Ties togetherHow does the Hamilton-Jefferson split over federal power reappear later in the fight over Andrew Jackson's national bank?
Your turn1 of 2
As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton proposed that the new federal government take over and pay off the war debts each state still owed from the Revolution. How did this assumption plan work, and what did it tie together?Washington's Presidency Sets the Precedents
- How it worksWalk me through how Washington personally led troops to crush the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't Washington's two-term limit something the Constitution actually required at the time?
- How it worksHow did Washington's Farewell Address warn against political parties and permanent foreign alliances?
Your turn1 of 2
George Washington chose to step down after serving two terms as president, and every president after him followed that same custom until it was finally written into the Constitution as the Twenty-Second Amendment in 1951. Why isn't the two-term limit something the Constitution actually required while Washington was president?