Strength and Weaknesses, Summaries of Political Systems

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Warm-Up October 8, 2014

• If you were in charge of creating your own country, what are the rules, laws, and manner in which you would run it. Be specific and justify your responses.

My response

• It is my belief that a government provide safety for its citizens and raise money. The way I would go about this would be to set up mandatory state taxes from each state. Taxes would vary depending on population size and average income, which means some states may not put into the government as much as they receive, but it would be countered by the larger states. Additionally, each state would have its own protectorate which would cover everything from defense to civil-unrest. The protectorates would function identically across the nation to ensure fairness and uniformity

Georgia Constitution of 1777

• After the Declaration of Independence was adopted Georgia’s provincial congress met to create a new government.
• The Constitution of 1777 created a separate legislative, executive, and judicial branch
• One house legislature—had the most power
• Legislature elected the governor and other state officials
• Governor served one term
• A superior court was created for each county

Georgia Constitution of 1777

• Strengths
  • Separation of government branches
  • Protection of basic rights
• Weaknesses
  • Legislature had too much power (elected governor and other state officials)
  • Legislature had only one house so they had no one to check them
  • Governor was only elected to one year term (limited effectiveness)
  • It was not ratified by the people so it did not fully represent their interests or desires

Articles of Confederation

• Written to be the foundation of our new national government
• At 1st^ it was written with a strong central government
• Many states disagreed with the idea of a strong central government
• When passed the Articles of Confederation set up a weak national government
• States had a lot of authority over their own rules and laws

Articles of Confederation

• Weaknesses:
  • No way to levy taxes—the country is unable to pay debts or soldiers
  • No way to regulate trade-created problems between the states
  • Could pass laws but had no way to enforce them on a state level
  • Each state received only one vote regardless of population
  • No executive or judicial branch of government only legislative—No one to decide disputes
  • No way to raise an army without the states’ permission—nation is defenseless

Why the change in Gov?

• Weak central government
• A confederation, or partnership, of independent states
• Economy was shaky
• States issued near worthless paper money that merchants would not accept
• State governments discouraged trade by taxing products of other states
• Shay’s rebellion (Massachusetts levied taxes to pay for war debt, and a group led by Daniel Shay rebelled)

Constitutional Convention

• Where: Philadelphia, PA
• Georgia sends four delegates – William Pierce, William Houston, William Few, and Abraham Baldwin

Warm-Up October 9, 2014

• Write down at least two weaknesses of the GA Constitution of 1777 and at least two weaknesses of the Articles of Confederations

The Great Compromise

Problem

 Legislative Branch

• States with large populations wanted representation based on population.
• States with small populations wanted equal representation

Solution  Two House legislature created

• Senate – equal representation (2 per state)
• House of Representative – based on population

Role of Abraham Baldwin

• Cast a critical vote that ended a tie for The Great Compromise (3/5th^ Compromise).
• Kept the convention together
• Allowed for the compromise

Georgians who signed the

U.S. Constitution

Abraham Baldwin

William Few