Chapter 9: The Constitution

1
Chapter 9 The Constitution

• The framers wanted a central government that was
  strong and lasting
• They still wanted peoples freedoms
• Upon leaving Independence Hall in September 1787,
  how do you convince people to approve this
  document.

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Chapter 9 The Constitution

• The Constitution is written simply and organized
  clearly.
• Allowing ordinary people to understand it.
• The Constitution is divided into parts called
  articles
• The articles are split into numbered parts whose
  topics are in a careful order.

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The Constitution Cont.

• Article 2 deals with the Presidency.
• Section One tells you about the President and how
  he is chosen
• The second section lists the Presidents powers.
• The third section lists the Presidents duties.
• The fourth deals with how the President can be
  removed from office.
• This way people knew where to look for
  governmental structure and answers

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The Constitution III

• Strong framework with flexibility
• Congress, the President and the courts can add
  details to the basic framework.
• The Constitutional Convention also made
  provisions for changing the Constitution
• Remember the Bill of Rights

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The Constitution IV

• The combination of strength and flexibility has
  created a living document
• Just like a plant, or animal.
• Keeps its basic nature, but can change with the
  times
• The living quality tells you why it has lasted
  so long, even though things have greatly changed.

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The Preamble

• The Preamble states
• We the People of the United States, in Order to
  form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
  insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
  common defence, promote the general Welfare, and
  secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
  our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
  Constitution for the United States of America.

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The Constitution V

• The Preamble explains the reasons for the new
  government.
• We the people.. did not come from the states,
  the existing government, or a ruler appointed by
  God.
• Power of the government came from ordinary
  Americans.
• A concept called popular sovereignty

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The Constitution VI

• form a more perfect Union..
• A country that could take advantage of the
  strengths the states gained from working together
• establish justice..
• Ruled by laws, not by might
• Insure domestic tranquility..
• Means peace and order

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Constitution VII

• provide for the common defense..
• National government would be responsible for
  protecting Americans from foreign invaders.
• promote the general welfare..
• Support an economy and society in which people
  could prosper.

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Constitution VIII

• secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
  our Posterity..
• Wanted Americans to enjoy freedom then and in the
  future.
• At this time people did not want a strong central
  government.
• Delegates tried to create a balanced framework
  people could trust.

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Legislative Branch

• Legislative branch has the power to make laws.
• The Constitution created a bicameral (two part)
  legislature called Congress
• Bicameral comes from Latin words meaning two
  rooms.
• House of Representatives representing the people
• Senate representing the states

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Legislative Branch II

• Members of the Senate serve six year terms
• Members of the House serve two year terms.
• Framers wanted the House to be responsive to the
  wishes of the people and the Senate to be
  separated more from the people.
• House is based on population
• Done by a census every ten years
• Each state gets two Senators.

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The Legislative Branch III

• Senate is the upper house
• Must be at least 30 years old. And a citizen for
  9 years.
• House of Representatives is the lower house and
  you must be 25 to be elected and a citizen for 7
  years.
• House membership was set at 435.
• Reapportionment Act of 1929

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Legislative Branch IV

• State legislatures originally chose the states
  senators.
• Now the people vote for them
• Seventeenth Amendment (1913) Establishes direct
  election of senators.
• Congress makes laws. Any member may make a law.
• Called a bill.

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Legislative Branch V

• Only members of the House can propose new taxes.
• If a majority of one house approves a bill it is
  sent to the other.
• If a majority of the other approves the bill it
  goes to the President for approval
• If he approves it, the bill becomes law.

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Legislative Branch VI

• President can veto the bill.
• Congress can override the veto, but it takes a
  two thirds majority of both house to do that.
• Only congress can decide how to spend money
  raised through taxes.
• Raise an army and a navy.
• Declare war.
• Pay government debts.
• Grant citizenship

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Legislative Branch VII

• ELASTIC CLAUSE
• Congress may make all laws which shall be
  necessary and proper to carry out its other
  powers.
• Over the years the elastic clause has been
  stretched to allow congress to do many things
  that were not listed amongst its powers in the
  Constitution.

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The Executive Branch I

• Article II deals with the Executive Branch
• Designed to execute the laws approved by the
  legislative branch.
• Delegates at the Constitutional convention did
  not want the people to elect the President.
• They set-up a group of electors
• Electoral College
• Under the 22nd Amendment the president can only
  be re-elected once.

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Executive Branch II

• Each state has the same numbers in the Electoral
  College as it has in the house and the senate.

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Executive Branch III

• To win the Presidency, a candidate needs a
  majority of the electoral vote
• Many Presidents have been elected without winning
  by popular vote.
• In the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000,
  the candidate who received a plurality of the
  popular vote did not become president.

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Executive Branch IV

• President serves a four year term.
• After Franklin Delano Roosevelt served three
  terms the twenty-second (1951) amendment made it
  so a President could only be re-elected once.
• A new President makes a solemn promise called the
  oath of office
• To defend the Constitution.

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Executive Branch V

• (Article II, Section 1)
• I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
  faithfully execute the Office of President of the
  United States, and will to the best of my
  Ability, preserve, protect and defend the
  Constitution of the United States.
• Designed to reinforce the importance of the
  Constitution as the basic law of the land.

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Executive Branch VI

• President must be at least 35 years old
• To be President you must be a natural-born
  citizen.
• President is the Commander in Chief of the armed
  forces.
• With the consent of the Senate makes treaties,
  or formal agreements with other countries.

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Executive Branch VII

• Nominates ambassadors ( official representatives
  to other countries.)
• Nominates Supreme Court judges.
• Grant pardons of people convicted of violating
  Federal laws.

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Executive Branch VIII

• Framers of the Constitution knew the Executive
  Branch would need departments to carry out its
  duties.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Federal
  _Executive_Departments
• Congress has the power to remove a President from
  office

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Executive Branch IX

• House has the power to impeach the President.
• Impeach means to formally accuse the President of
  crimes specified in the Constitution.
• The President, Vice President and all civil
  Officers of the United States, shall be removed
  from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction
  of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and
  Misdemeanors.

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Executive Branch X

• House votes to impeach
• Senate puts the President on trial
• Senators serve as jurors.
• If found guilty the President is removed from
  office.

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Judicial Branch I

• Protecting the Constitution is one of the
  principal responsibilities.
• Constitution established the Supreme Court
• Allowed Congress the power to create lower courts
  to meet the nations needs.
• Federal Courts resolve disputes that involve
  national laws, the federal government, or the
  states.

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Judicial Branch II

• Congress has authorized two main sets of lower
  courts.
• District courts hear the cases first.
• Are set-up by dividing the United States into
  large geographical areas.

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Judicial Branch III

• Citizens can appeal the District Court decisions
  to the Court of Appeals
• Appellate court only considers whether the
  original trial was fair and legal.
• An Appellate Court decision can be appealed to
  the Supreme Court.
• Supreme Courts decision is final

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Judicial Branch IV

• Congress set the number of judges on the Supreme
  Court at. Nine.
• All federal judges serve for life.
• Supreme Court only reviews the case if the judges
  think that the lower court decision conflicts
  with the constitution, or federal law.

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Judicial Branch V

• Judicial Review
• Deciding whether laws and actions by the
  legislative, or executive branch conflict with
  the Constitution.
• Judicial review gives the Supreme Court great
  power in its role of protecting the supreme Law
  of the Land.

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Checks and Balances I

• Framers were concerned
• Strong national government/personal freedoms
• Each branch of government could limit each other
• System called checks and balances
• Checks allows one branch to block the other

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Checks and Balances II

• President can check Congresss power by veto.
• Congress can over-ride the Presidents veto.
• The Supreme Court can rule a federal law, treaty,
  or an executive action, unconstitutional
• Each branch has a role
• Supreme Court gets to rule on the
  Constitutionality of a law
• The President chooses the judges.

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Constitutional Changes I

• Times change, and the framers knew that.
• Provide a stable frame and allow future
  generations to change things. Amendments
• 2/3 vote of congress
• Or a national convention called by congress at
  the request of 2/3 of the legislatures of the
  states.
• Congress, or the states can start the amendment
  process

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Constitutional Changes II

• Amendment must be approved by the state
  legislatures in ¾ of the states
• Once approved it becomes part of the land.

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Constitutional Changes III

• Over the years 10,000 amendments have been
  proposed.
• 27 have been approved.
• The first ten are called the Bill of Rights
• Important ones
• Thirteenth Amendment (1865) Abolishes slavery

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Constitutional Changes IV

• Fourteenth Amendment (1868) Defines United
  States citizenship prohibits states from
  abridging citizens' privileges or immunities and
  rights to due process and the equal protection of
  the law repeals the Three-fifths compromise
• Fifteenth Amendment (1870) Prohibits the federal
  government and the states from using a citizen's
  race, color, or previous status as a slave as a
  qualification for voting.

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Constitutional Changes V

• Seventeenth Amendment (1913) Establishes direct
  election of senators.
• Nineteenth Amendment (1920) Prohibits the
  federal government and the states from using a
  citizen's sex as a qualification for voting.
• Twenty-second Amendment (1951) Limits president
  to two terms.

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Constitutional Changes VI

• Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) Prohibits the
  federal government and the states from requiring
  the payment of a tax as a qualification for
  voting for federal officials.
• Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) Prohibits the
  federal government and the states from forbidding
  any citizen of age 18 or greater to vote simply
  because of their age

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The Nation and the States I

• Framers wanted a strong National Government
• However, wanted the States to have a say
• Shared Powers
• Some powers only for the National government
• Making war and treaties
• Printing money
• Commerce with a foreign country interstate
  commerce U.S. is a trade zone

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Nation and States II

• Good things about a common market
• New England makes good cloth, but cant grow
  cotton
• South grows cotton, but cant make cloth
• This helps both groups.
• Large businesses can cross state lines.
• Railroads
• National economy

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Nation and States III

• States rule with Schools, marriage, local
  governments, owning property and most crimes
• However, the Constitution does say that each
  state has do deal with each other fairly.
• Full faith and credit
• A divorce in one state is good in another.
• Help each other in tracking down a criminal
• No discrimination from one state to another

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Nation and States IV

• Shared powers.
• Taxes
• Build roads
• And borrow money

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Nation and State V

• Every thing must agree with the Constitution
• State law, National law
• State office holder and National office holder
  must agree to uphold the Constitution
• Everyone 18 years and older has the right to
  participate
• Your vote counts, you have to participate