Foundation of Government in America

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Foundation of Government in America

• Articles of Confederation and the Constitution

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Foundations of the Constitution Documents

• Declaration of Independence
• July 4,1776
• 5 parts
• Reason for the document
• Theory of good (relationship) government
• Grievances
• What was done to fix the problem
• Announcement of freedom

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Foundations of the Constitution Documents

• Articles of Confederation
• 1777 1789
• The nations first government
• Single-chamber of Congress
• Each state had one vote in Congress

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Foundations of the Constitution Documents

• Weaknesses of the Articles
• No power to collect taxes, regulate trade, or
  enforce laws
• Amending Articles required the approval of all
  states
• No executive branch
• No court system

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Foundations of the Constitution People

• Baron de Montesquieu
• Spirit of Laws - Argued for separation of powers
  and 3 branches of government
• John Locke
• Two Treatises on Government
• checks and balances no branch more powerful
  than the other
• man is born free with certain rights

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Foundations of the Constitution People

• Thomas Paine
• Rights of Man- government only has rights
  granted by the people
• John Rousseau
• Social Contract
• sovereignty is in the hands of the people
• people give up some rights and contract
  government for protection

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Constitutional Convention

• Philadelphia meeting of delegates
• Meet in secret
• George Washington made president of the
  convention
• Virginia Plan New Jersey Plan
• Compromises
• Federalists and Anti-Federalists

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Foundations of the Constitution People

• James Madison-
• Father of the Constitution person who deserves
  the most credit for creating the U.S.
  Constitution
• Virginia Plan (James Madison)
• Strong executive branch
• National judiciary
• Two-House Legislature
• Upper House chosen by people (more people more
  votes)
• Lower House chosen by Upper House
• Favored large, more populous states

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Foundations of the Constitution People

• William Patterson
• New Jersey Plan
• Weak executive branch of more than one person
  elected by government
• National Judiciary with limited powers
• One house legislature chosen by state legislature
  with one vote per state
• Favored by small states

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Foundations of the Constitution People

• Roger Sherman
• Connecticut Compromise or The Great Compromise
• Virginia Plan
• Bicameral Legislative
• House of Representatives
• Two per state

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Foundations of the Constitution People

• John Jay and Alexander Hamilton
• key writers in the Federalist papers which
  explained the document

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Foundations of the Constitution Documents

• 1787-88 Federalist Papers - essays written by
  supporters of the Constitution explaining it and
  convincing people to support it

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The Constitution
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The Constitution

• Federalism
• Government based on written document
• Bill of Rights
• Supreme Law of the Land
• Oldest constitution in the world
• Based on Enlightenment ideas of Locke,
  Montiesqueiu, Rousseau, and Voltaire

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Structure

• The Constitution consists 3 parts.
• Preamble- explains goals of Constitution
• Articles- explains branches of government(I, II,
  III), role of states(IV), amending the
  Constitution(V), debts assumption and oath(VI),
  and original ratification(VII).
• Amendments- basic rights and laws that can not be
  changed
• 1-10 are called the Bill of Rights
• 11-27 have been added over time
• Many have been changed over time(18, 14, etc)

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PreambleWe the People of the United States, in
Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for
the common defense, 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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We the People of the United States

• Framers were an elite group - among the best and
  brightest
• Nation made up not of an elite, but of the common
  man
• Preamble speaks to the common man
• Notion that the people were creating this
  Constitution
• Popular Soverenty

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in Order to form a more perfect Union

• The Framers were dissatisfied with the United
  States under the Articles of Confederation
• They felt that what they had was the best they
  could have, up to now.
• Not perfect, but more perfect

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establish Justice

• Injustice, unfairness of laws and in trade, was
  of great concern to the people of 1787
• People looked forward to a nation with a level
  playing field
• Today there still exists discrimination
• But we still strive for the justice that the
  Framers wrote about.

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insure domestic Tranquility

• Shays' Rebellion
• The keeping of the peace was on everyone's mind,
  and the maintenance of tranquility at home was a
  prime concern
• The framers hoped that the new powers given the
  federal government would prevent any such
  rebellions in the future.

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provide for the common defense

• The new nation was fearful of attack from all
  sides
• With a wary eye on Britain and Spain, and
  ever-watchful for Indian attack, no one of the
  United States could go it alone
• Each colony needed each other to survive

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promote the general Welfare

• The next part of the Preamble, are the
  culmination of everything that came before it
• To allow every state and every citizen of those
  states to benefit from what the government could
  provide
• The framers looked forward to the expansion of
  land holdings, industry, and investment, and they
  knew that a strong national government would be
  the beginning of that

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and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity

• They were very concerned that they were creating
  a nation that would resemble something of a
  paradise for liberty
• opposed to the tyranny of a monarchy
• And more than for themselves, they wanted to be
  sure that the future generations of Americans
  would enjoy the same.

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do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America

• That the Constitution is "ordained" reminds us of
  the higher power involved here - not just of a
  single person or of a king, but of the people
  themselves.
• That is it "established" reminds us that it
  replaces that which came before - the United
  States under the Articles (a point lost on us
  today, but quite relevant at the time).

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SSCG3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of
the United States Constitution.a. Explain the
main ideas in debate over ratification including
those in The Federalist.b. Analyze the purpose
of government stated in the Preamble of the
United States Constitution.c. Explain the
fundamental principles upon which the United
States Constitution is based including the rule
of law, popular sovereignty, separation of
powers, checks and balances, and federalism.
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We the people

• Article One provides for
• Legislative Branch of government
• Congress power and authority
• Elastic clause
• States remain sovereign in some matters
• Powers denied federal and state government
• Taxes
• Ability to conduct war

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The Powers of Government

• National Government - one of
  delegated powers.
• 3 types of delegated power
• - enumerated (expressed)
• - implied
• - inherent

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Enumerated powers - literally expressed

• Article I, section 8
• lay and collect taxes, duties, and imposts
• provide for the common defense and general
  welfare of the United States
• regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among
  the states, and with Indian tribes
• coin money and regulate the value thereof
• declare war
• Activity one
• Give one real life example of each of these

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Implied Powers- not literally stated but
reasonable implied

• Article I, Section 8, clause 18
• necessary and proper clause or
• elastic clause
• The necessary and proper clause has often been
  used to expand the powers of the national
  government.

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Inherent powers

• Powers which belong to the national government by
  virtue of their existence

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Denied Powers

• Article I, section 9 lays out powers denied to
  the central government.
• For example give preference to ports of one
  state over another
• Article I, section 10 lays out the powers denied
  to the states.
• For example enter into treaties, alliances, or
  confederations

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Concurrent powers-

• Powers shared by the national and state
  governments

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Reserved powers or State Powers (police powers)

• Most of State powers come from the Tenth
  Amendment that says "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."
• Discussion
• Could these powers be twisted for someone to use
  or are they the same as always.

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Article II

• Executive Branch
• Terms of office
• Elections
• Salaries
• Oath of office
• Powers of the president
• Ability to make treaties and appointments

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Article III

• Judicial Branch
• Federal Courts
• Jurisdiction
• Supreme Court
• Jury Trials

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Article IV

• Explains the powers of the state
• Mutual duties and privileges
• Extradition
• Fugitive slave clause
• New states and territories
• Federal protection for states
• Amending process

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Article V

• National Supremacy
• Public debts and treaties
• Supreme law
• Oaths of Office

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Article VI

• Ratification of the constitution
• Signing of the delegates
• Bill of Rights necessary and promised by
  Federalists to secure final ratification of the
  constitution

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A Living DocumentAmending the Constitution

• Permission and guidelines for amending the
  Constitution are in Article V. It is more
  difficult to amend Constitution than to pass an
  ordinary law. It has two phases, proposal and
  ratification.

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Changing/Amending the Constitution Proposal

• Proposal- 1)Proposed in Congress and be approved
  by 2/3 of House and Senate 2)Congress calls
  national convention(never done because fear of
  too much change)

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Ratification

• Ratification- 1)¾(38) of state legislature must
  approve 2)Special convention if ¾ of states
• Timeline for ratification is not set in
  Constitution, usually about 7 years though

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Misc.

• Full Faith and Credit- All states must recognized
  documents from other states

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Activity 3

• List 3 ways changing the Constitution is
  different from changing the Articles of
  Confederation.
• Pg. 788
• What states signed the Constitution?

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Ramifications of Amendments

• Bill of Rights(1-10) protect individual freedoms.
• Social Change-(13,14,15,17,19) expanded rights to
  blacks and women
• Extended Government Powers- (16, 17) expanded
  power of national government

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Bill of Rights

• Freedom of speech, religion, and assembly
• Right to bear arms
• Quartering of troops
• Search and seizures
• Rights of accused persons
• Right to a speedy trial
• Civil suits

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Bill of Rights

• Bail and punishment
• Powers reserved to the people (the peoples
  rights are not limited to those mentioned in the
  written document)
• Powers reserved to the state (protects the states
  and the people from a too powerful central
  government/ a check on the necessary and proper
  clause in Article I)

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Views

• Tight Constructionist-strict interpretation of
  Constitution Constitution must literally mention
  something for it to be legal
• Loose Constructionist-easy interpretation
  Constitution must deny something for it to be
  illegal.