Landmark English Documents

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Landmark English Documents

• Magna Carta (1215) first attempt to limit the
  power of the monarch
• Petition of Right (1628) challenged the idea of
  divine right - monarch was not above the law
• English Bill of Rights (1689) protection
  against arbitrary rule - monarch must rule with
  consent of Parliament

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IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous
Declaration of the thirteen united States of
America                                         
                                           When
in the Course of human events it becomes
necessary for one people to dissolve the
political bands which have connected them with
another and to assume among the powers of the
earth, the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind
requires that they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation. We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the
governed, That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,
and to institute new Government.
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Declaration of IndependenceJuly 4,1776

• Influenced by John Locke
• Natural rights granted by God
• Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness
  (property)
• Equality of all men
• Principle of limited government
• Government by consent
• Right to rebel against tyranny

Thomas Jefferson Primary Author
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Weaknesses of theArticles of Confederation

• Confederate system w/one branch at the national
  level
• Unicameral Congress - one vote per state
• National Congress powerless to tax
• National Congress powerless to regulate foreign
  interstate trade
• No executive branch to enforce acts of Congress
• No national court to settle disputes between
  states
• Amendment ALL 13 states had to agree - unanimous
• 9/13 majority to pass laws

5
Solutions provided by theU.S. Constitution

• Federal System
• Bicameral Congress (Connecticut Compromise)
• Senate States are equally represented 2 per
  state
• House of Representatives Based on population
  size
• Congress given power to tax
• Congress given power to regulate trade
• Executive Branch to enforce laws
• Judicial Branch to interpret laws Constitution
• Amendment Proposed by 2/3 Congress
• Ratified by ¾ of the state legislatures
• 501 to pass laws

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Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution

• Confederate system
• Unicameral Congress - one vote per state
• Powerless to tax
• Powerless to regulate foreign interstate trade
• No executive branch to enforce acts of Congress
• No national court to settle disputes between
  states
• Amendment ALL 13 states had to agree - unanimous
• 9/13 majority to pass laws

• Federal System
• Bicameral Congress Senate House of
  Representatives
• Congress given power to tax
• Congress given power to regulate trade
• Executive Branch to enforce laws
• Judicial Branch to interpret laws Constitution
• Amendment 2/3 Congress ¾ State Legislatures
• 501 to pass laws

7
Who wrote the Constitution

• 55 men
• experienced in politics
• men of wealth and prestige (elite)
• most were formally educated
• all were white
• owned property
• relatively young

James Madison Primary Author Father of the
Constitution
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The Constitution (1789)Ratification - approval
process

• Issues Representation, tyranny of the majority,
  governmental power
• Federalists (James Madison, John Jay Alexander
  Hamilton)
• Representative of the people and have a measure
  of autonomy from the people efficiency
  competency
• Feared tyranny of the majority
• Favored strong national government

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Ratification of the Constitution

• Anti-Federalists (Thomas Jefferson, Robert Yates
  Patrick Henry)
• feared giving too much power to the national
  government
• favored state power
• feared aristocratic nature of governments
• opposed the lack of a bill of rights

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The United States of America

• First President
• George Washington (1789-1797)
• Chairman of the Constitutional Convention
• chosen President by unanimous consent by the
  members of the Constitutional Convention
• opposed political parties
• established tradition of serving only two terms
• First Vice President
• John Adams

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Principles of the Constitution

• Popular Sovereignty
• Limited Government
• Separation of Powers
• Checks and Balances
• Judicial Review
• Federalism

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Popular Sovereignty

• The people are the source of political authority
  - (power)
• Government by consent
• Representative democracy (republic)
• We the People of the United States

13
Limited Government

• Rule of law
• No one is above the law - including members of
  the government
• The government must operate within the boundaries
  of the Constitution

14
Separation of Powers

• Division of the national government into three
  co-equal branches
• Each branch given specific responsibilities
• Legislative Branch make laws
• Executive Branch enforce laws
• Judicial Branch interpret laws

15
Checks and Balances

• System designed to prevent any branch of the
  national government from becoming more powerful
  than another branch

16
Judicial Review

• The power of the courts to decide the
  constitutionality of laws and acts of government
• Marbury v. Madison

17
Federalism

• The powers of government are divided between
  national and state levels
• Results in a dual system of government
• Each level has some independent powers

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FEDERALISM
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
STATE GOVERNMENTS
SHARED POWERS
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Federalism

• Inherent/Exclusive Powers Powers given to the
  national government because it is the only
  representative of the entire nation (i.e., war
  powers)
• Delegated/Expressed Powers Powers written in the
  Constitution (i.e., power to regulate trade)
• Implied Powers Powers not exactly written in the
  Constitution - based on the Necessary Proper
  Clause
• Reserved Powers Powers of the state government /
  10th Amendment (i.e., public schools, marriage
  laws)
• Concurrent Powers Powers shared by both the
  national and state levels of government (i.e.,
  power to tax)

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Layer Cake vs. Marble Cake Federalism
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Dual Federalism

• A constitutional theory that the national
  government and the state governments each have
  defined areas of authority, especially over
  commerce
• Federal government has very limited delegate
  powers
• States Rights- states have vast reserved powers
  not delegated to the federal government
• Each entity is sovereign within its own powers
• Powers of one cant encroach on the other
• Article 10-US Const
• Reserved Clause

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Cooperative Federalism

• Theory of federalism in which federal, state, and
  local governments interact cooperatively and
  collectively to solve common problems rather than
  making policies separately.
• Overlapping state and federal functions
• Most federal and state functions are
  cooperatively undertaken (highways, schools,
  hospitals)
• Feds and states have shared powers (police,
  taxes)
• Fragmented centers of political power
• Article VI- the supremacy clause- the
  Constitution specifically subordinates state law
  to federal law

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Necessary Proper Clause

• Article I, Section 8, Clause 18
• Basis for the implied powers given to Congress
• Must be tied to an expressed power
• Known as the Elastic Clause
• To make all laws which shall be necessary and
  proper for carrying into execution the foregoing
  powers

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Supremacy Clause

• Article VI, Section 2
• The Constitution and treaties of the United
  States are the supreme law of the land
• U.S. Constitution
• Acts of Congress Treaties
• State Constitutions
• State Statutes (laws)
• City County Charters Ordinances (laws)
• U.S. Supreme Court highest court

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Full Faith Credit Clause
Article IV Provision for reciprocity among
states and among citizens of all states

• Each state had to give full faith and credit to
  the official acts of all other states.

Privileges Immunities Clause

• Citizens of any state were guaranteed the
  privileges and immunities of every other state,
  as though they were citizens of that state

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Commerce Clause
Which one of the steamboats is correct?

• The Congress shall have power . . . To regulate
  commerce with foreign nations, and among the
  several states, and with the Indian tribes
• Gibbons v Ogden
• Can a state regulate interstate?

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Connecticut Compromise

• Compromise between New Jersey and Virginia Plans
• Bicameral Congress two chambers
• House of Representatives states are represented
  according to the size of their population
• Senate equal representation each state
  receives two seats

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Three-Fifths Compromise

• In Slave-owning states
• Every five slaves would be counted as three
  people for the purposes of counting population
  size for representation in the U.S. House of
  Representatives and for purposes of taxation

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Bill of Rights

• 1st Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly,
  Petition
• 2nd Right to Keep and Bear Arms
• 3rd Quartering of Soldiers
• 4th Security from Unwarrantable Search Seizure
• 5th Rights of Accused Persons in Criminal
  Proceedings
• 6th Right to Speedy Trial, Witnesses, Trial by
  Jury in
• Criminal Cases
• 7th Trial by Jury in Civil Cases
• 8th Ban Excessive Bail, Fines, and Cruel
  Unusual Punishment
• 9th Unenumerated Rights of the People
• 10th Reserved State Powers

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Marbury v. Madison (1803)

• Established the doctrine of judicial review
• Article III - judicial powers
• Chief Justice John Marshall
• Issue of President John Adams appointing
  Federalists and Thomas Jeffersons Secretary of
  State James Madison refusing to deliver
  commissions.
• Mr. Adams, the late President of the United
  States, nominated the applicants to the senate
  for their advice and consent to be appointed
  justices of the peace of the District of
  Columbia that the senate advised and consented
  to the appointments that commissions in due form
  were signed by the said President appointing them
  justices

31
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

• Upheld the right of implied powers based on the
  Necessary and Proper Clause and the Supremacy
  Clause
• Called the Bank of the United States case
• involved the Second Bank of the United States and
  the State of Maryland
• Supreme Court landmark case
• unanimous decision
• Chief Justice John Marshall

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Grants-In-Aid

• Federal funds provided to states and localities.
• Typically provided for airports, highways,
  education, and major welfare services

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Categorical Grants

• Federal grants for specific purposes defined by
  federal law
• Requires the state or locality to match some
  part of the federal grant
• Formula Grants
• States and Feds share costs of a proejct
• Ex. (20 fed-80 state)
• Project Grants
• Money given out to states and localities for a
  purpose
• Applied for by state
• Usually research based- universities, agencies

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Block Grants

• Grants of money from the federal government to
  states for programs in certain general areas
  rather than for specific kinds of programs
• Money to states with few strings attached
• States have broad discretionary powers to use
  money as they see fit
• Favored by Republicans/Conservatives
• Nixon and Regan New Federalism
• More Power to the states