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Declaration of Independence
July 4,1776
 Influenced by John Locke
 Natural rights granted by God
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Life, liberty, & the pursuit of
happiness (property)
Equality of all men
Principle of limited government
Government by consent
Right to rebel against tyranny
Thomas Jefferson
Primary Author
What’s next
 So
the colonies win Independence after
the Revolutionary War…
 But that doesn’t mean they are ready to
be a unified country.
 The first style of government was called
the ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
Weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation
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Confederate system w/one branch at the national level
Unicameral Congress - one vote per state
National Congress powerless to tax
National Congress powerless to regulate foreign &
interstate trade
No executive branch to enforce acts of Congress
No national court to settle disputes between states
Amendment: ALL 13 states had to agree - unanimous
9/13 majority to pass laws
Solutions provided by the
U.S. Constitution
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Federal System
Bicameral Congress: (Connecticut Compromise)
 Senate – States are equally represented – 2 per state
 House of Representatives – Based on population size
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Congress given power to tax
Congress given power to regulate trade
Executive Branch to enforce laws
Judicial Branch to interpret laws & Constitution
Amendment: Proposed by 2/3 Congress
 Ratified by ¾ of the state legislatures
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50%+1 to pass laws
Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution
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Confederate system
Unicameral Congress - one
vote per state
Powerless to tax
Powerless to regulate foreign
& interstate trade
No executive branch to
enforce acts of Congress
No national court to settle
disputes between states
Amendment: ALL 13 states
had to agree - unanimous
9/13 majority to pass laws
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Federal System
Bicameral Congress: Senate
& House of Representatives
Congress given power to tax
Congress given power to
regulate trade
Executive Branch to enforce
laws
Judicial Branch to interpret
laws & Constitution
Amendment: 2/3 Congress +
¾ State Legislatures
50%+1 to pass laws
Who wrote the Constitution:
55 men
 experienced in politics
 men of wealth and
prestige (elite)
 most were formally
educated
 all were white
 owned property
James Madison = Primary Author
“Father of the Constitution”
 relatively young
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The Constitution (1789)
Ratification - approval process:
Issues: Representation, tyranny of the majority,
governmental power
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Federalists (James Madison, John Jay & Alexander
Hamilton)
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Representative of the people and have a
measure of autonomy from the people =
efficiency & competency
Feared tyranny of the majority
Favored strong national government
Ratification of the Constitution…
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Anti-Federalists (Thomas Jefferson, Robert Yates & Patrick
Henry)
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feared giving too much power to the
national government
favored state power
feared aristocratic nature of governments
opposed the lack of a bill of rights
Connecticut Compromise
 Compromise
between New Jersey and
Virginia Plans
 Bicameral Congress – two chambers
 House of Representatives – states are
represented according to the size of their
population
 Senate – equal representation – each state
receives two seats
Three-Fifths Compromise
 In
Slave-owning states
– Every five slaves would be counted as
three people for the purposes of counting
population size for representation in the
U.S. House of Representatives and for
purposes of taxation
The United States of America
First President
 George Washington (1789-1797)
– Chairman of the Constitutional
Convention
– chosen President by unanimous
consent by the members of the
Constitutional Convention
– opposed political parties
– established tradition of serving only
two terms
First Vice President
 John Adams
Principles of the Constitution
 Federalism
 Popular
Sovereignty
 Limited Government
 Separation of Powers
 Checks and Balances
 Judicial Review
Federalism
 The
powers of government are divided
between national and state levels
 Results in a dual system of government
 Each level has some independent
powers
FEDERALISM
NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT
STATE
GOVERNMENTS
SHARED
POWERS
Federalism
 Inherent/Exclusive Powers: Powers given to the
national government because it is the only representative of
the entire nation (i.e., war powers)
 Delegated/Expressed Powers: Powers written in the
Constitution (i.e., power to regulate trade)
 Implied Powers: Powers not exactly written in the
Constitution - based on the Necessary & Proper Clause
 Reserved Powers: Powers of the state government /
10th Amendment (i.e., public schools, marriage laws)
 Concurrent Powers: Powers shared by both the
national and state levels of government (i.e., power to tax)
Layer Cake vs. Marble Cake
Federalism
Dual Federalism
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A constitutional theory that
the national government and
the state governments each
have defined areas of
authority, especially over
commerce
– Federal government has
very limited delegate
powers
– States Rights- states have
vast reserved powers not
delegated to the federal
government
– Each entity is sovereign
within its own powers
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Powers of one can’t
encroach on the other
Article 10-US Const
– Reserved Clause
Cooperative Federalism
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Theory of federalism in which
federal, state, and local
governments interact
cooperatively and collectively
to solve common problems
rather than making policies
separately.
– Overlapping state and federal
functions
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Most federal and state functions
are cooperatively undertaken
(highways, schools, hospitals)
Feds and states have shared
powers (police, taxes)
Fragmented centers of political
power
Article VI- the supremacy
clause- the Constitution
specifically subordinates state
law to federal law
Popular Sovereignty
 The
people are the source of political
authority - (power)
 Government by consent
 Representative democracy (republic)
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“We the People of the United States…”
Limited Government
 Rule
of law
 No one is above the law - including
members of the government
 The government must operate within
the boundaries of the Constitution
Separation of Powers
 Division
of the national government into
three co-equal branches
 Each branch given specific
responsibilities
 Legislative Branch = make laws
 Executive Branch = enforce laws
 Judicial Branch = interpret laws
Checks and Balances
 System
designed to prevent any branch
of the national government from
becoming more powerful than another
branch
CHECKS AND BALANCES
Judicial Review
 The
power of the courts to decide the
constitutionality of laws and acts of
government
 Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Established the doctrine of judicial review
 Article III - judicial powers
 Chief Justice John Marshall
 Issue of President John Adams appointing
Federalists and Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of
State James Madison refusing to deliver
commissions.
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– Mr. Adams, the late President of the United States, nominated the
applicants to the senate for their advice and consent to be
appointed justices of the peace of the District of Columbia; that the
senate advised and consented to the appointments; that
commissions in due form were signed by the said President
appointing them justices…
Necessary & Proper Clause
 Article
I, Section 8, Clause 18
 Basis for the implied powers given to
Congress
 Must be tied to an expressed power
 Known as the Elastic Clause
 “To make all laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into
execution the foregoing powers…”
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
 Upheld
the right of implied powers based
on the Necessary and Proper Clause and the
Supremacy Clause
 Called the “Bank of the United States” case
– involved the Second Bank of the United States and the
State of Maryland
 Supreme
Court landmark case
– unanimous decision
 Chief
Justice John Marshall
Supremacy Clause
 Article
VI, Section 2
 The Constitution and treaties of the United
States are “the supreme law of the land”
 U.S. Constitution heirarchy
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Acts of Congress & Treaties
State Constitutions
State Statutes (laws)
City & County Charters & Ordinances (laws)
 U.S.
Supreme Court = highest court
Article IV: Provision for reciprocity among states and
among citizens of all states:
Full Faith & Credit Clause
state had to give “full faith and credit” to
the official acts of all other states.
 Each
Privileges & Immunities Clause
Citizens of any state were guaranteed the
“privileges and immunities” of every other state,
as though they were citizens of that state
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Commerce Clause
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Which one of the steamboats
The Congress shall
is correct?
have power . . . To
regulate commerce with
foreign nations, and
among the several
states, and with the
Indian tribes;
– Gibbons v Ogden
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Can a state regulate
interstate?
Bill of Rights
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Quartering of Soldiers
Security from Unwarrantable Search & Seizure
Rights of Accused Persons in Criminal Proceedings
Right to Speedy Trial, Witnesses, Trial by Jury in
Criminal Cases
7th Trial by Jury in Civil Cases
8th Ban Excessive Bail, Fines, and Cruel & Unusual
Punishment
9th Unenumerated Rights of the People
10th Reserved State Powers
Grants-In-Aid
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Federal funds provided
to states and localities.
– Typically provided for
airports, highways,
education, and major
welfare services
Categorical Grants
 Federal
grants for specific purposes
defined by federal law
– Requires the state or locality to “match”
some part of the federal grant
– Formula Grants
 States
and Feds share costs of a proejct
 Ex. (20% fed-80% state)
– Project Grants
 Money
given out to states and localities for a
purpose
 Applied for by state
 Usually research based- universities, agencies
Block Grants
 Grants
of money from the federal
government to states for programs in
certain general areas rather than for
specific kinds of programs
– Money to states with few strings attached
– States have broad discretionary powers to
use money as they see fit
– Favored by Republicans/Conservatives
– Nixon and Regan: New Federalism
 More
Power to the states