Download The Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation

Essential Documents of the
American Government
Government – Libertyville HS
Structure of Constitution
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Seven Articles
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1st article = powers of Legislative branch
2nd article = powers of Executive branch
3rd article = powers of Judicial branch
4th article = Relations among the states
5th article = How to amend the Constitution
6th article = Supremacy of National Law; Oaths
7th article = Ratification (approval) of Constitution
US Constitution
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In 1787, after months of
debate & compromise,
the Constitution was
approved
Document of
Compromises
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Legislature: how
composed?
Executive: direct or
indirect election?
Judicial: power + life
appointments?!
Slavery: how to avoid
disunion with South?
At the Constitutional Congress, 1787
Compromise: The Legislature
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Virginia Plan
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New Jersey Plan
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Base representation on
population
Favored big states
Base representation
equally, by state
Favored small states
Connecticut Compromise
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Bicameral (two chamber)
legislature
Compromise: Direct Election or
Indirect Selection of President?
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Why didn’t the Founders
want direct election of
the president?
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Difficulty of nationwide
vote
Distance,
 Difficulty of travel
 Corruption
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“Favorite Son” concern
Fear of direct democracy
Executive (s)election
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Benefits of Electoral College
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Requires President to have support across the
country, not just one region
Contributes to political stability of country by
favoring two party system
We ARE a federal system…!!!
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50 state elections plus one election by Electoral
College = President
Compromise: The Judiciary
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United States Supreme
Court (USSC) the
supreme law in country,
but…
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Congress creates all
other courts and
establishes which courts
get jurisdiction
And the Executive
appoints all justices /
judges
Idea = checks / balances
Compromise: Slavery
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New England states
wanted to outlaw
slavery completely
Southern states
wanted to count every
slave a person for
representation in
national legislature
Compromise: Slavery
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1) Slaves would count as 3/5 a
person for purposes of
counting population to
determine how many House of
Representatives a state
received (who benefited?)
2) Congress could not pass a
law outlawing slavery until
after 1808 (who benefited?)
3) Fugitive slaves escaping to
a non-slave state had to be
returned to their home state,
if captured (who benefited?)
Constitutional Principles
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Popular
Sovereignty
+
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Separation of
Powers
+
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Federalism
Judicial Review
Limited
Government
Checks and
Balances
Popular Sovereignty (PS)
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National government gets
its power from… the
PEOPLE!
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“We the People” – preamble
to the Constitution
Declaration of
Independence = failure of
Brits to consider rights of
colonists
People are the ONLY
source of governmental
power
Limited Government (LG)
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Government may exercise
ONLY those powers given
to it by the people
Government must obey
the law (b/c the law comes
from the people)
“Rule of Law”
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Government officials are
subject to same laws / rules
as ordinary citizens
“Government of laws” vs.
“Government of man” (i.e.
laws don’t apply to dictator)
PS + LG
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Why do these two principles go together?
If government gets its power from the people, and
the people are its only source of power, then the
government is one of LIMITED powers.
The government is not above the law because the
PEOPLE are the source of laws. Thus, the
government must follow the rules, just like
everybody else.
Separation of Powers (SOP)
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The Constitution separates powers of government
(derived from who?) among three co-equal
branches of government
Article I, section I = “All legislative powers herein
granted shall be vested in Congress…”
Article II, Section I = “The Executive power shall be
vested in a President of the USA”
Article III, Section I = “The judicial power of the US
shall be vested in one supreme court . . .”
Separation of Powers
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Imagine that a bucket held all the power
the people had, due to popular
sovereignty….
…and from that bucket of the People’s Power
you were to create a government…
Separation of Powers
You would pour that power into three additional buckets:
Bucket
One:
Legislative
Power
Bucket
Two:
Executive
Power
Bucket
Three:
Judicial
Power
Checks and Balances (C&B)
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Further limits on each
branch’s powers are
explicit restraints, held
by other branches
Idea of framers was to
balance the operations
of government by
dividing power up
among branches, to
check each other (no
one branch had too
much power)
Examples of C&B
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Congress makes law ...
. . . But president can veto!
President declares
war...
. . . But Congress must
approve AND fund!
President enters into
treaty…
. . . But Senate ratifies!
President names a
federal judge...
. . . But Senate “advises and
consents” to choice!
SOP + L&G
Why do these two go together?
Two sides of the same coin; idea of both is
to limit the power that each branch has,
so no one branch can dominate the
government and become dictators.
SOP + C&B
Or, in terms of our bucket analogy….
Bucket
One:
Legislative
Power
Bucket
Two:
Executive
Power
Bucket
Three:
Judicial
Power
…a spoonful of each bucket is shared with the other buckets!
Federalism
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Distribution of power of government on a
territorial basis
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National government has some powers, states have
other powers
Framers wanted to assure that local control over
local matters remained with the states
BUT they wanted a central government that was
strong enough to act for the entire country
Federalism: National Government’s
Powers
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Express Powers = contained in Constitution
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Implied Powers = reasonably suggested within
Constitution
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Example: Congress’ power to create the Internal Revenue
Service (I, VIII, xviii)
Inherent Powers = belong to national government
because it is a sovereign nation
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Example: Congress’ power to tax (I, VIII)
Example: Central government’s power to enter into treaties,
control borders
What are Reserved Powers? Powers of the States – all
power that doesn’t go to central government as express,
implied, or inherent power
Federalism: Floor and Ceiling?!
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Federalism as a ceiling
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Laws of the national legislature can also EXCLUDE states
from regulating something
Ex” private sector labor unions, health insurance and
pension regulations are areas of NATIONAL regulation
Federalism as a floor
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Laws of the national legislature establish a floor under which
states cannot go
Ex: with min. wage, drunk driving laws, states can adopt
MORE STRICT laws than the national standard
Principle of Judicial Review
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Origins
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Not in Constitution
Marbury v. Madison
summary
Made judicial branch
equal to other branches
by giving it the power to
decide whether a law,
regulation or decision of
the other 2 branches is
constitutional
Federalist Papers (1787-88)
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With Constitution complete,
persuasion began
“Federalist Papers” were essays
published in NYC newspapers during
debate to ratify Constitution
Authors
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Hamilton (wrote 52)
Madison (wrote 28)
John Jay (wrote 5 – pneumonia)
Why were FP important?
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One of the most imp. sources for
interpreting and understanding the
original intent of the Constitution
Convinced a lot of people to support
Const. despite legit concerns (big one =
lack of protection of individual from
government, in Constitution)
Civil Liberties contained in
Constitution
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Prohibited ex post facto
laws
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Prohibited bills of attainder
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Laws that punish actions
that, when committed,
weren’t against the law
A law that singles out an
individual or group for
punishment without a trial
Guaranteed habeus corpus
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Protect against illegal
detention
Person must be told why
they are being held
Bill of Rights
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Signing the Constitution, 1787
Federalists did not
include a list of rights of
citizens
This was best argument
against ratification
Several states demanded
a bill of rights as a
condition of ratification
(Mass., NH, VA, NY, NC)
Bill of Rights
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First Congress met in 1789
James Madison, a Federalist,
wrote the Bill of Rights
Madison wrote 12
amendments; 11 were
ratified (first 10 amendments
ratified by 1791; 27th
Amendment, limiting
congressional pay raises,
ratified in 1992) (not adopted
dealt w/ 1780s
apportionment)
Copy of Bill of Rights
James Madison
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was
intended to PROTECT THE
PEOPLE FROM THEIR OWN
GOVERNMENT!!!