Answer:
Cause: Rice exports dropped sharply; trade fell off when Great Britain closed the West Indian market to Americans; the little bit of money available went to pay foreign debt.
Effect: A depression occurred.
Cause: American farmers could not pay the taxes levied by the states.
Effect: State officials seized farmer’s land to pay the farmer’s debts.
Cause: Daniel Shays led Shays’ Rebellion, during which four rebels were killed by the state militia.
Effect: Americans worried whether the government could control unrest and prevent violence.
Cause: Virginia passed a law that encouraged manumission.
Effect: The state’s free African American population grew rapidly.
Cause: George Washington agreed to travel to the Constitutional Convention.
Effect: The meeting took on a higher significance.
Cause: The proceedings of the convention were kept secret.
Effect: Delegates could speak freely and change their minds.
Cause: In the Virginia Plan, the number of representatives in the legislature would correspond to a state’s population.
Effect: Some delegates rallied around William Paterson’s proposal for a one-house Congress with equal representation.
Cause: Southern states refused to abolish slavery.
Effect: Congress agreed not to interfere with the slave trade for twenty years.
Cause: The Constitution did not contain a bill of rights.
Effect: Elbridge Gerry and George Mason would not sign the constitution.
Cause: The Articles of Confederation had required unanimous approval of the states, a slow and frustrating process.
Effect: The approval process for the Constitution was nine of the thirteen states.