Download Chapter 2 - Profspace

Chapter 2
The Constitution
Before the Constitution
 “The Rights of Englishmen”
 French and Indian War
 1756-1763
 Stamp Tax (1765)
 Direct tax on colonists
 “No taxation without
Representatation”
 Boston Tea Party (1773)
 Coercive (intolerable) Acts
 First Continental Congress (1774)
Before the Constitution
 First Continental Congress (1774)
 Delegates from 12 colonies protested Coercive Acts
 Boycott British good
 Second Continental Congress (1775)
 Washington, Commander in chief-Military
 From Colonies to States
 Each colony form own govts
 All 13 colonies created individual state constitutions
2-4
Before the Constitution
 The Declaration of Independence
 July 4, 1776
 Locke: inalienable rights
 Jefferson: paraphrased Locke
 Call to revolution– not a framework
of government
 Liberty, equality, individual rights, selfgovernment, lawful powers
The Confederation of States
 The Articles of Confederation (1776-1787)
 1st National Constitution
 Writers were leery of a powerful central government
 Each state retained its “sovereignty, freedom and
independence”
 All power rested with the states
Powers of Central Government-AOC




Unicameral Congress
Congress had 1 vote per state (13 total)
9 out of 13 were required to pass any measure
For an amendment- a unanimous vote (all 13 states
must approve)
Powers of Central Government









National government empowered to:
make peace
declare war
enter into treaties
regulate Indian affairs
coin money (not paper money)
Control Army
control the post office
borrow funds
Central Government lack of Power under
AOC
 Congress could not force states to respect treaties
 Congress could not draft solders, states drafted
 Congress could not regulate interstate and foreign
commerce
 Congress cannot collect taxes directly from people, states
collected taxes
 Congress could not force states to pay government costs
 No money for military
 No Executive or Judiciary branch
Before the Constitution
 Shay’s Rebellion
 Late 1786 in Massachusetts, Daniel
Shay lead 2000 farmers, they seized
county courthouses
 Farmers faced loss of property and new
taxes on farms
 Rebellion emphasized the need for a
true national government
Constitutional Convention, May 1787
Philadelphia, PA
 Meeting of delegates
 12 out of the 13 states attended
 Rhode Island refused to sent delegates
 Delegates purpose to amend/revise the Articles of
Confederation
 55 delegates at the Convention wrote the U.S.
Constitution
 Created federal form of government
Negotiating Toward a Constitution
(A Two-chamber Congress)
 The Virginia Plan (Edmund Randolph)
 Bicameral (2-chamber legislature)
 Number of representatives would be proportional to
states’ population
 Creation of national executive, elected by the legislature
 Creation of a national judiciary, appointed by legislature
Negotiating Toward a Constitution
(A Two-chamber Congress)


The New Jersey Plan (William Paterson) – Small-state
plan
Keep the Articles of Confederation structure the same




One state, one vote
Equal Representation among states regardless of size
Congress would be given the power to regulate trade
and impose taxes
Supremacy Clause

All acts of congress shall be the supreme law of the land
Negotiating Toward a Constitution
(A Two-chamber Congress)


The Great Compromise
Roger Sherman (Connecticut)

Bicameral (2 chambers)
1) House of Representatives (Lower Chamber)
 Apportioned according to number of free inhabitants in each state, plus 3/5 of the
slaves
2) Senate-(Upper Chamber)
Two members per state,
Elected by the state
legislatures
Slavery
 North-South Compromise on economic issues
 No taxing exports, but allowed taxing imports
 Southern delegates allowed outlaw of importation of slaves
after 1808
 Escape slaves in free states be returned to their owners in
slave states
 Three-fifths compromise
 Applied to both taxation and representation
 Slaves would be counted as three-fifth of a human being
Article I: Legislative Branch



1.
2.


Makes Laws
Providing for Self-Government
Bicameral Congress (2 chambers)
Senate (2 per state)
House of Representatives (population)
Senators serve 6-year terms


To be selected by State legislature
17th Amendment (1913) allows voters to choose their 2
Senators directly
House members serve 2-year terms


Numbers of reps states can send depends on U.S. census
every 10 years
Elected directly by voters
Protecting Liberty
 Grants of Power
 Grants of power (Enumerated Powers)
 Article I, Section 8
 17 Powers given to Congress by the Constitution





Tax
Commerce
Coin Money
Post Office
Declare War
Article II: Executive Branch
 Enforces or Executes Laws
 President & Vice President
 Serve 4-year terms
 Original document gave no term limits
 22nd amendment (1951) limit the president to two-4 year
term or max 10 years
 President Chosen by Electoral College
Article III: Judiciary Branch
 Interprets Laws
 U. S. Supreme Court
 Lifetime Appointments
 President nominates and Senate approves all
Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges
Protecting Liberty
 Separated Institutions Sharing Power
 Checks and Balances
 Shared Legislative Powers
 Congress can impeach President & Federal Judges
 Shared Executive Powers
 President can veto bills passed by Congress
 Shared Judicial Powers
 Judicial Review (Implied Power)
Negotiating Toward a Constitution
 A Strategy for Ratification
 Federalist Papers
 9 out of 13 states required to ratify the
Constitution
 The Ratification Debate
 Anti-Federalists
 Federalists
 Bill of Rights added
to protect individual
liberties
The Formal Amendment Process

1.
2.
26 out of the 27 Amendments have been amended
by:
Congress can propose an amendment by 2/3 vote in
each house
State Legislatures can ratify (approve) an
amendment by a vote of ¾ of the states.
Negotiating Toward a Constitution
 The Framers’ Goals
 Stronger national government
 Preserve states as viable governments
 Preserve liberties through checks and balances
on power
 Based on popular sovereignty
 Restricted in uses of power
 Give the people a voice in government
Protecting Liberty
 The Bill of Rights
 Existed in many state constitutions
 Jefferson argued for federal constitution
 Judicial Review
 Marbury v. Madison (1803)
 Precedent for court interpretation of the constitution
Judicial Review




Implied Power (Not in Constitution)
Power of the Courts to declare governmental acts
Unconstitutional. (Established in Practice)
Marbury V. Madison (1803)
Judiciary Act of 1789
Congress extended court jurisdiction to allow to hear
Writ of Mandamus
Court order that directs an official to take a specific
action (Unconstitutional)