Download Chapter 3: The Constitution

The Constitution
“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”
Road to the Constitution
1. Magna Carta (1215)
English barons wanted the King to have
limited power.
Includes: Trial by jury, due process of law,
protection of life, liberty, and property
2. Mayflower Compact (1620)
• Pilgrims joined together to govern
themselves
3. Declaration of Independence
(1776)
• We don’t like what England is doing to us.
• We tell them to go away.
• We have officially declared ourselves
free… Now what?
4. Revolutionary War
• England doesn’t want us to be free.
• They fight to keep us under their control.
• We don’t necessarily win the war, but end
up fighting just well enough to make them
leave.
5. Articles Of Confederation
(1777)
• We create our first system of national
government.
• States want to have most of the power.
• People don’t like the idea of a national
government telling us what to do.
5. Articles Of Confederation
(1777)
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Problems arose
Too weak to enforce own laws
Can’t borrow or make money
No national court
Nation split
6. Drafting the Constitution
(1787)
• Virginia Plan – 2 house legislature.
Representation based on population
• New Jersey Plan – 1 house legislature
Representation is equal
• Great Compromise – 2 house legislature,
Representation based on population for one,
and equal representation for the other.
6. Drafting the Constitution
(1787)
• Do slaves count in population?
• 3/5 Compromise says only count 3/5 of a
slave for population.
• Makes Southern states happy to get some
extra numbers.
• Makes Northern states happy to not count
slaves as a whole person.
7. Ratification (1789)
• 9 states were needed to ratify the
Constitution.
• All 13 original states ended up ratifying.
This was very important to have all states
agree upon the government system.
8. Bill of Rights
• Once the Constitution was ratified, we
added the Bill of Rights.
• This helped calm peoples fears about a
national government becoming too strong.
Road to the Constitution
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1. Magna Carta (1215)
2. Mayflower Compact (1620)
3. Declaration of Independence (1776)
4. Revolutionary War
5. Articles Of Confederation (1777)
6. Drafting the Constitution (1787)
7. Ratification (1789)
8. Bill of Rights
PARTS
1.
2.
3.
PREAMBLE: Introduction to the
Constitution; it lists the six basic
principles for our government
ARTICLES: The articles laying out the
framework for our government (seven)
AMENDMENTS: Changes made to the
Constitution after the initial ratification
Basic Principles
These six principles are the
ideas and standards that
our government is based
on and functions
according to.
1.
Popular Sovereignty
2.
Limited Government
3.
Separation of Powers
4.
Checks and Balances
5.
Judicial Review
6.
Federalism
With these in mind, why did
the framers include the
Preamble in the
Constitution?
Popular Sovereignty
People are the ONLY source of
government’s power
 “We the People…do ordain and establish”
 Government’s power comes from the
people, and the people have given
government permission to govern by the
constitution

Checks and Balances

Checks and balances is a way for the
government to give each branch power over
the other two

The idea is to keep one branch from
becoming more powerful than the others and
controlling government
– Why would the framers want to ensure one
branch did not become too powerful?
Limited Government
The idea that government is not all powerful
and can be limited
 Government can do only those things the
PEOPLE have given it the power to do

States that government must obey the law
 The entire Constitution is a statement of
Limited Government

When did the idea of
Limited Government begin?
Judicial Review
Has the power of the
courts to determine
whether what
government does is in
compliance with what the
Constitution says
 Basically, if a case is
brought to the courts
questioning a law or
some other government
action, the court must
look at the law and
determine if it violates
the Constitution
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If it does, the courts
declare it
unconstitutional, and the
law or action is thrown
out and no longer in
effect (Null and Void)
The Articles
There are 7 articles in the second section of the Constitution,
each accomplishing different things
 Article 1: The legislative article lays out the structure and
powers of the legislative branch
 Article 2: The executive article lays out the structure and
powers of the executive branch
 Article 3: The judicial article establishes a national
judiciary and gives Congress the power to create
additional court systems
 Article 4: Deals with the relationships between states
 Article 5: Provides methods for amending the Constitution
 Article 6: Deals with the National Debt
 Article 7: Provides provisions for ratification of the
Constitution
Amending the Constitution
Article V provided
four methods to
amend the
Constitution
 An amendment is
a change to the
Constitution or
clarification of
something in the
Constitution

The Four Methods
Method 1:
 Proposed by a 2/3 vote in
each house of Congress
 Ratified by ¾ of the state
legislatures
Method 2
 Proposed by a 2/3 vote in
each house of Congress
 Ratified by conventions in
¾ of the states
Method 3:
 Proposed by a national
convention called by
Congress at the request
of 2/3 of the states
 Ratified by ¾ of the state
legislatures
Method 4:
 Proposed by national
convention called by
Congress at the request
of 2/3 of the states
 Ratified by conventions in
¾ of the states
Amendments, continued
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There is no time limit
for ratification of an
amendment once it is
proposed
Congress may set a
time limit if they so
choose
Example: The 27th
amendment was
proposed in 1789 as
part of the Bill of
Rights, however it was
not ratified until 1992,
203 years later!!!
26 of the 27 amendments
have been added through
method 1
 The 21st amendment was
added through method 2
in 1933
 This 21st amendment is
the only amendment that
cancels out another

– It repealed the 18th
amendment, which
outlawed the sale and
consumption of alcohol
Amendments, continued

The amendments are divided into three groups
(click the group below to see the amendments in each group)
BILL OF RIGHTS – Amendments 1 through 10
CIVIL WAR AMENDMENTS – Amendments 13
through 15
LATER AMENDMENTS – Amendments 16
through 27
(Amendments 11 and 12 are generally considered to be an extension of the Bill of Rights,
and therefore not included in any of the three groups)
Informal Amendments
The Constitution can be informally changed
through 5 methods
1. Basic Legislation of Congress
2. Actions of the President
3. Supreme Court Decisions
4. Activities of the Political Parties
5. Custom
Basic Legislation
Congress may pass laws that spell out
or add detail to one of the
Constitution’s brief provisions
Ex. 25th Amendment provides for
Presidential succession beyond what
the original Constitution stated

Congress can add to the Constitution
through the way it uses its powers
Ex. Constitution says Congress has the
power to regulate “foreign and
interstate commerce,” but does not
define what that is. Congress has
passed thousands of laws dealing with
all different aspects of trade.

Executive Action
The manner in which various Presidents have
used their power has also contributed to the
growth of the Constitution
Ex. Congress can declare war, but President is
Commander in Chief and can send military
where he chooses.

Court Decisions

Part of the job of the courts is
to interpret the Constitution.
These interpretations have
changed the Constitution over
the years.
Ex. In Plessy v. Ferguson,
the courts ruled that
separate facilities for
different races were
Constitutional. Later in
Brown v. Board of
Education, the court
struck down this ruling
and stated that separate
facilities are
Unconstitutional.
Marbury vs. Madison
McCulloch vs Maryland
McCulloch vs Maryland
Supreme Court ruled that the Bank of the United States was constitutional and that the
Maryland tax was unconstitutional. The Court turned to the Necessary and Proper
Clause of Article I, Section 8, which expressly grants Congress the power to pass laws
"necessary and proper" for the execution of its "enumerated powers."
Second, the Court ruled that Maryland lacked the power to tax the Bank because,
pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the Constitution, the laws of the
United States trump conflicting state laws.
Finally, the Court held that the "sovereignty" (political authority) of the Union lies
with the people of the United States, not with the individual states that comprise it.
Party Practices
The Constitution makes no
mention of political parties,
yet they have changed the
way politics are handled in
this country for as long as
the country has been
around.
Ex. The Constitution makes
no mention of how
candidates would be chosen
to run for President, yet
parties have been
nominating candidates since
the 1796 election.

Custom
Various customs and
traditions have contributed to
the Constitution over the
years, many thanks to
George Washington himself.
Ex. The Constitution makes no
mention of the President’s
cabinet, but Washington had
one, so every President since
him has had one.
Ex. Washington stated that
President’s should serve no
more than 2 terms, so none
did until FDR in the 1930’s
and 1940’s.

Review
What are the three parts of the Constitution.
The ________ lists the six basic principles.
 According to popular sovereignty, who is the source of
government’s power?
 Judicial Review gives the courts power to?
 Why do we have checks and balances?
 How can we amend the Constitution? Which one has
been used most often?
 Which amendments are included in the Bill of Rights?
The Civil War Amendments? The Later Amendments?
 Give an example of the President informally changing
the Constitution through executive action
 Give an example of an informal change through custom

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Later amendments
The later amendments include all those passed since the 3 civil
war amendments
16th Amendment – Income Tax
 17th Amendment – Popular Election of Senators
 18th Amendment – Prohibition of Alcohol
 19th amendment – Voting rights for women
 20th Amendment – Set dates/times for end of terms, sets
conditions in case of the death of a President-elect
 21st Amendment – Repeal of the 18th amendment
(prohibition)
 22nd amendment – Set limit at two terms maximum for a
president

Click to go Back to last slide
Civil War Amendments
The Civil War Amendments were passed as a direct
response to the outcome of The Civil war. They all
deal with slavery in one way or another.
13th Amendment – Outlawed slavery and
Involuntary servitude in the United States of
America
 14th Amendment – Helped make former slaves
citizens of the U.S. and gave them all the rights
that being a citizen entails
 15th Amendment – Written to give former slaves
the right to vote, however was not entirely
successful in doing so for nearly 100 years

Click to go Back to last slide
Bill of Rights
The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to list out the basic rights of all Americans
so these rights could not be violated as they were in the years of British rule
under King George III
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Amendment 1: Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly, and Petition
Amendment 2: The right to bear arms
Amendment 3: Protects against the Quartering of Troops
Amendment 4: Protects against illegal search and seizure of personal
property
Amendment 5: Insures due process, protects against eminent domain,
provides rules for criminal hearings, and protects against self-incrimination
Amendment 6: Right to a speedy and public trial and right to trial by jury
Amendment 7: Provides stipulations for civil trials
Amendment 8: Protects against excessive bail and cruel and unusual
punishment
Amendment 9: States that the rights listed in the Constitution are not all
the rights given to the American people
Amendment 10: States that all powers not granted to the National
government or forbidden to the states, belong to the states
Constitutional Dateline
The state delegates meet in Philadelphia.
MAY 1787
Most delegates have signed the Constitution and
returned to their states to “sell” it.
SEPTEMBER 1787
Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution.
DECEMBER 1787
New Hampshire is the 9th state to ratify the Constitution,
making it official.
JUNE 1788
1St session of Congress meets in NYC.
MARCH 1789
George Washington sworn in as first president.
APRIL 1789
The Bill of Rights is added to the Constitution.
DECEMBER 1791