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The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights

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Title: The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights


1
Chapter 5
  • The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights

2
What style of government did Americans favor?
  • Democracy- people have the right to govern
    themselves.
  • Republic- a government in which the people elect
    representatives to govern
  • Republicanism- idea that governments should be
    based on the consent of the people.

3
What were the state constitutions like?
  • Written set of laws.
  • Limited power of government
  • Guaranteed rights of citizens such as freedom of
    speech, religion, and the press.
  • States constitutions differed from one another.

4
What issues did the Continental Congress face?
  • 3 issues
  • 1. How much representation should each state
    have in the federal government?
  • 2. How would the states and federal government
    share power?
  • 3. How should the federal government govern land
    west of the Appalachians?

5
What was the Articles of Confederation (1781-1787)
  • First form of federal government.
  • Unicameral legislature with each state getting
    equal representation.
  • No Executive (president)
  • No judicial branch
  • No power to tax
  • Ineffective form of government.

6
What was passed to settle the territories beyond
the Appalachians?
  • Land Ordinance of 1785- Federal government
    surveyed the land and sold it to settlers at
    affordable prices.

7
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
  • organized land into territories and developed a
    process for statehood

8
What were the weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation?
  • Little to unify the country
  • Larger states felt they were not represented on
    the federal level fairly.
  • No power to tax
  • Trouble with foreign nations (Britain and Spain)
  • Lacked uniform currency
  • No executive or judicial power

9
What was Shays Rebellion (1787)?
  • Showed the Articles of Confederation was weak and
    ineffective.
  • Group of Massachusetts farmers revolted against
    the state because of high taxes.
  • Protesters led by Daniel Shays fought the state
    militia.

10
Who was James Madison?
  • Father of the Constitution
  • Author of the Virginia Plan
  • Author of the U.S. Bill of Rights

11
What was the Virginia Declaration of Rights?
  • Written by George Mason in 1776.
  • Many statements used in the Declaration of
    Independence and Madison used many ideas later in
    the U.S. Bill of Rights.

12
What was the Virginia Statute of Religious
Freedom?
  • Written by Thomas Jefferson (1779)
  • Government cannot interfere with practice of
    religion
  • Basis for the 1st Amendment.

13
What was the Great Compromise?
  • Addressed the question of how states were
    represented at the federal government.
  • Virginia Plan states represented by population.
  • New Jersey Planstates represented equally.
  • Great Compromise by Roger Sherman-bicameral
    legislature called Congress (House of
    Representatives by population and Senate- 2 per
    state.

14
What was the 3/5 Compromise?
  • Addressed the issue of representation and
    taxation of slaves as property.
  • Every 5 slaves was equal to 3 free persons for
    representation in Congress.

15
What is federalism?
  • Division of powers between state and federal
    government.
  • Delegated federal powers
  • Reserved state powers
  • Concurrent shared powers

16
Under the Constitution, what were the 3 branches
of government?
  • Legislative- makes the laws (U.S. Congress made
    up of 2 houses- House of Representatives and
    Senate)
  • Executive- enforces the laws (President and the
    Cabinet)
  • Judicial- interprets the laws (Supreme Court)

17
What are checks and balances?
  • Ensures that one branch of government is not too
    powerful.
  • All 3 branches check one another.

18
What is the electoral college?
  • Each state has a number of electors equal to the
    number of members in Congress for Presidential
    elections.
  • This was put in place so average people would not
    have too much power.
  • Many think today we have moved passed the
    electoral college.

19
What is ratification?
  • Official approval of the state to accept the
    Constitution.
  • In order for an amendment to pass 9 out of 13
    states had to agree.
  • George Washington- Chairman of the Constitutional
    Convention.

20
Who were the Federalists?
  • George Washington, John Jay, James Madison, and
    Alexander Hamilton.
  • Thought that people could not be trusted.
  • Did not need a U.S. Bill of Rights because states
    have own constitutions.
  • Federalist Papers- written to support
    Constitution (Hamilton, Jay, and Madison.

21
Who were Anti-Federalists?
  • Mostly rural America, farmers.
  • Led by Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Sam
    Adams.
  • Wanted a U.S. Bill of Rights
  • States rights
  • Richard Henry Lee- Letters from a Federal Farmer,
    basic rights should be protected.

22
What was the Bill of Rights?
  • First ten amendments added to the Constitution.
    (Anti-Federalists wanted this!)
  • Written by James Madison

23
1st Amendment
  • Protects freedom of religion, press, speech,
    right to assembly, and right to petition the
    government.
  • Many court cases are about this amendment and its
    protections.

24
2nd Amendment
  • Right to bear arms (weapons)
  • Controversial amendment
  • Debated often be NRA and gun rights activists.

25
3rd Amendment
  • No quartering of soldiers in peacetime.

26
4th Amendment
  • Protection and against unreasonable searches and
    seizures.
  • Need warrant or probable cause

27
5th Amendment
  • Criminal rights
  • No double jeopardy
  • Indicted by grand jury
  • Dont have to testify against yourself (plead the
    5th)
  • Eminent domain

28
6th Amendment
  • Criminal rights
  • Trial by Jury
  • Speedy and public trial
  • Able to confront witnesses
  • Right to an attorney

29
7th Amendment
  • Trial by jury in civil court cases (money
    decisions, not criminal)

30
8th Amendment
  • No cruel or unusual punishment and no excessive
    fines or bail.
  • The death penalty is debated under this amendment.

31
9th Amendment
  • Any rights not in specifically denied in the
    Constitution are given to the people.
  • Example Right to privacy (Example legalization
    of abortion both 9th and 14th)

32
10th Amendment
  • The powers not delegated to the United States by
    the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
    States, are reserved to the States respectively,
    or to the people.
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