Unit 4    The Young Republic

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. 

                                                                              --Benjamin Franklin

     

Unit Goals   

※ To learn about the founding of the U. S. A. 

※ To know the essence of American Constitution.   

※ To learn the useful words and expressions about the American 

     Constitution and the founding of the U. S. A.   

※ To improve English language skills.    

Before You Read 

1. If you were forming a new country or a new organization, how would 

    you run it？ Would there be one leader or representatives from each state 

    or section? Would larger ones have more representatives and more votes 

    than smaller ones?

2. What do you know about the Constitution of the United States? Have 

    you ever heard of “check and balance” of a government? Comment on it. 

3. Form groups of three or four students. Try to find, on the Internet or in 

    the library, more information about the early period of the republic which 

    interests you most. Prepare a 5-minute classroom presentation.

Start to read

         Text A    The Creation of a National Government

1.     The revolutionary generation of Americans bequeathed (遗赠)to posterity(后世) a workable system of national government. No national political institutions(机构) existed in America before the war. To fight the war against Britain, the states in 1781 agreed to Articles of Confederation, which created a weak but workable national government. Then in 1787, nationalist-minded Patriots devised a constitution, creating a “national republic” whose powers were drawn from the people at large （一般民众） and which established a much stronger central government. 

2.    The government toward centralized government began slowly and sporadically(逐步地). The First and Second Continental Congresses, held at Philadelphia in 1774 and 1775, were attended by delegates from most colonies and claimed to speak for the entire American population.  

3.     Following the Declaration of Independence in1776, the states voluntarily joined together in the Continental Congress, in which each state had one vote. The Congress mediated disputes among the states, raised and maintained the Continental Army, secured loans from European bankers, and made military and commercial alliances with France. Its success laid the basis for more permanent national political institutions.  

4.     The Continental Congress was a temporary government without clearly defined powers. To establish its authority, the Congress in November 1777 enacted the Articles of Confederation, drafted by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, and declared they would go into effect when ratified(批准) by all of the states. The Articles proposed a loose confederation in which each state kept its sovereign independence and control over all of its internal affairs. However, certain powers, primarily relating to diplomacy and defense, were entrusted to the Confederation Congress. It was given the powers to declare war, make treaties, borrow and print money, and requisition() funds from the states.  

5.     At first, a number of states refused to ratify the Articles. Some state governments hesitated to create a central political authority that might restrict their autonomy like the British Parliament had done. Gradually, the pressure of war overcame this reluctance. And the Congress did its part(尽自己的职责), persuading the states to give up their western land claims and to allow creation of a national domain(产业). Finally, in 1781, under the threat of British invasion, Maryland became the final state to ratify the articles.  

6.    The central government created by the Articles was simple in structure and limited in authority. There was no governor or chief executive and no system of courts. In the Congress, each state had one vote, regardless of population or wealth. Furthermore, the powers of the Confederation could be changed only by the unanimous(全体一致的) consent(同意) of the states.  

7.     Even as the Articles of Confederation were ratified, some Patriots were campaigning for stronger central government. One group that wanted a more powerful Confederation was composed of nationalists. These men – military officers, diplomats, delegates to Congress, and bureaucrats(官僚) – had served the Confederation during the war and had acquired a national perspective and outlook. In their thinking, there was a self-evident need for central control over the western lands, commercial politics and dealings with foreign states. 

8.     The 55 delegates gathered in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall in May 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation, including some of the most prestigious men in the United States – among them George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. Most of the delegates were mostly merchants, slave-owning planters, and landlords.  

9.     Some members objected that it discriminated against states with large populations by leaving all states with a single vote in the one-house Confederation legislature(立法机构). Many other delegates were convinced that it left too many powers to the states.  

10.    The convention turned its attention to the plan for a national republic presented by James Madison of Virginia, known as the “Father of the Constitution”. Madison was determined to create a powerful central government. His Virginia Plan would limit the sovereignty of the individual states and ensure “the supremacy of national authority.” The Virginia Plan proposed a three-part national government, with a lower house – the House of Representatives(众议院), elected by the voters, an upper house – the Senate(参议院), selected by the lower body, and an executive and judiciary chosen by the entire legislature.  

11.    The delegates endorsed the basic principles of Madison’s plan in June. During the following month, they fashioned(做成....的形式) two compromises(折中方案). The first compromise sought to balance the political power of states with large and small populations. Under the terms of the compromise, the states would be represented in the lower house on the basis of population. In the upper house, each state would have an equal number of votes. 

12.    Although the main conflict over representation was between the large and the small states, a second compromise was necessary to solve an important regional issue. The Southern states contained a large number of black slaves. Since these slaves were not allowed to vote, Northern delegates argued that they should not be counted for purposes of representation. They maintained that the number of seats held by Southern states should be based on their white population. Southerners wanted slaves to be counted equally with free people. The delegates compromised. Three-fifths of a state’s enslaved population would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.   

13.    After reaching these compromises over representation and slavery, the delegates spent two months working out the details of the new plan of government. 

14.    In the middle of September, 38 of the delegates still in Philadelphia signed the Constitution of the United States (3 refused to sign). The document stipulated(规定) that it would go into effect upon ratification by special conventions(会议) in 9 of the 13 states. 

15.    The new constitution produced exciting debates and bitter political battles both in the state conventions and among the public at large(整个). Supporters of the new document called themselves Federalists. Merchants as well as the commercial-minded farmers were the advocates of the Constitution, hoping it would spur business activity. 

16.     The Anti-federalists, who opposed ratification of the Constitution, were drawn from all sections and classes and included political leaders in many states. However, their arguments appealed primarily to small-scale farmers, who would have little voice in the new government and feared its power. Anti-federalist leaders argued that republican institutions were possible only in cities or small states. They contended(主张) that the new central government would be far removed from the people; and that the lack of a bill of rights would expose citizens to arbitrary national power.     

17.     Some Federalists saw merit(价值) in this last criticism and, in order to win ratification in the crucial states of Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York, promised that a bill of rights would be added. The other Anti-federalist arguments were answered by Madison, Hamilton, and John Jay in a series of newspaper articles known as The Federalist (1788). They stressed that the state governments, which were closer to the people, would retain(保留) substantial(实质的) powers. The authors also asserted that the three branches of the new government would “check and balance” one another, thus preventing an arbitrary exercise of power.   

18.     These arguments of The Federalist and the promise of a bill of rights secured the ratification of the Constitution. By 1789 the Constitution had been ratified in 11 states and was put into effect with the election of the first Congress of the United States and a first president, George Washington.