American Presidency ch 1

The Constitutional Convention:

o 1787 met to frame a new system of govt
o 55 convention delegates
o b/c of the constitution we have a one person office of the president who shares
power
o the president had antecedents, all of which influenced the form the office took

British and Colonial Executives:

o monarchs power limited by parliament. King could order nation to war, but his
order prevailed only if par was willing to give him the money
o par was bicameral: house of lords and house of commons
o brits seemed to have solved what has been regarded as the insoluble problem of
classical pol philosophy by Aristotle: monarchy. Aristocracy, democracy
o their solution was to meliorate these tendencies by blending elements of all three
forms of govt into one: king, house of lords, house of commons
o each element checked the others
o royal governors in America had right to cast an absolute veto over colonial
legislation, and dissolve legislature
o only the legislature was empowered to give the funds required to pay the
governors salary
o Americans learned from brit system that liberty was threatened by executive
power and safeguarded by legislative power

State Constitutions:
o State gov elected by legislature for a short term and couldn’t be reelected
o Very little power, and advised by council
o New yorks gov was elected by the ppl, not the legi for three years, and could be
reelected
o They executive power in NY was unitary, and not shared with a council and his
powers were defined by the NY state constitution

Articles of Confederation:
o They dec of independence made us free, but needed a common govt to fight the
war
o June 1776 committee of 13 formed in the Continental Congress to draft the
confederation. It was adopted nov 1777
o Radification by the states happened slowly
o Each state rep equally in congress, pres chosen by congress,
o Congress could enact laws if 9 out of 13 radified it
o Set up a weak institutional structure, undermined the power of the natl govt
o Funds and troops were supplied by the state according to wealth and population

National Problems:
 o Rev war ended 1781
o Overlapping claimes to western lands brought some staes into conflict
o Nation had a lot of debt. Foreign debt and they were threatening to stop trading
with us
o Border problems with spain along the Mississippi river
o Currency crisis b/c Americans had gone on a buying spree after the war
o Specie became scarce at home with all the gold and silver going out of the
country to buy luxuries that they couldn’t get during the war
o Debtors wanted states to print more paper money to pay debts and creditors were
horrified

Constitutional Convention:
o Commerce in the states was a problem
o Va assembly, at the urging of James Madison called for a trade conference to be
held at Annapolis in 1786
o Only three staes sent full delegations and seven states boycotted the meeting
altogether
o The group issued a call to congress to convene an even more wide ranging
meeting to look at the Articles
o Shays Rebellion: mobs of farmers in Mass closed down courts b/c they were not
able to get money to pay their debts
o In response to the Annapolis convention congress enacted a resolution but no one
really paid attention to it

The Delegates:
o 55 ppl who believed that a stronger natl govt was essential to preserving the
nation
o 42 were current or former members of congress
o 21 had been in the rev war
o the average age was 43
o ben franklin was 81
o almost all were prosperous lawyers or big farmers, only 2 were small farmers

Rules and Procedures:

o 1787
o first order was to elect a president. George Washington was a unanimous choice
o a secretary was then chosen
o they also had to accept the credentials of the various state delegations
o they decided that each state got an equal vote, no matter the size
o there was a rule of secrecy: no delegate was to communication anything to
anyone, even family, about the conventions discussions and deliberations
o another rule: its decisions were permited to be reconsidered at the request of a
single debate, this help disagreeing states not to just give up and leave

An Overview:
o Virginia Plan: introduced by Randolph, but written by Madison offered a radical
departure from the confederation, wanted to create 3 branches and to give it clear
supremacy over the state. It could veto state laws, heart of govt would be a
bicameral legi, lower house according to pop and elected by the ppl and upper
elected by the lower house. There would be a national judiciary, executive branch
was to be chosen by the national legi. It was very vague about the president
o Committee of the Whole: the convention gave itself a different name . they could
operate more formally. Any decision made by the delegates could be in the form
of a recommendation to the conventioni and thus could be voted on them again by
the “cont congress” which was them
o From may to june they mostly talked about the VA plan. They rejected the council
of revision, but most of the other stuff was accepted. Members of the upper house
would be chosen by state legislatures. Serve seven years lower house would serve
3 years
o New Jersey Plan: proposed to ass two branches to the one branch govt, a plural
executive, and a supremem court that was appointed by the executives. Congress
could get rid of president
o Main purpose of this plan was to preserve the structure of Congress under the
articles, a single house in which each state had one vote
o Hamiltons plan: he wanted a brit-style govt. natl government was supreme, upper
house serve for life, executive chosen by electors and granted lifetime tenure with
vast powers. His speech was dismissed.
o Convention Debate: on june 20, Washington as the chair as pres of the
convention, the delegates began their clause by clause evaluation of the plan of
govenerment they had laid out while meeting as the Committee of the Whole
o These were the changes: lower house elected for 2 years and must be 25, upper
house term 6 years, natl legi cant veto state laws, property requirement for
members of the executive, legi, and judiciary was est, no solution for legi election
of the president to a single seven year term
o Most argued issue: how legislature would be appointed
o On july 24 convention voted to have a Committee of Detail to review all of its
actions and draft a plan of government to incorportate them. It had 5 ppl
o They named the executive branch the president and the national tribunal the
supreme court and the legi congress
o Their most important decision was to transform general grants of power into
specific ones. Congress was given 18 enumerated powers
o The sates were forbidden certain powers, notably to make treaties with other
nations, print money, and tax imports
o Congress was forbidden to tax or ban the importing of slaves and the exporting of
goods
o Convention Debate: the delegates reviewed the draft of the const, much was
approved, modifications were made
o They barred govt from granting nobility status etc… pg 18
o The slavery provisions were under fierce assault, and there was controversy with
the large and small states, powers of the senate, cluster of issues regarding
presidential election
o Committee on Postponed Matters: made recommendations concerning the
presidency. They proposed a four year term, chosen by an electoral college, no
reelection restriction, electors equal in numberto its reps and senators in congress,
greatest number of votes was pres and the second would be vice pres
o The only change that was made was that if the electoral college was a tie that they
house of rep would choose the president
o The convention ended on sept 8th
o Final Adj: the committee of style reduced the number of amendements from 23 to
seven and made some innovations, also barred states from passing laws to impair
the obligations of contracts
o 42 of the 55 were still and the end and all but 3 signed the final draft
o