BELLRINGER

Our Founding Fathers looked to others when writing the Constitution. Why do you think they looked at past governments and documents for guidance? Do you think this benefitted our current government or hindered it? Why or how?

ROOTS OF THE CONSTITUTION

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

Framers of the Constitution had studied gov’t, history, & politics

Many ideas in the Constitution came from the study of European political institutions & political writers

British system of gov’t & British ideas & institutions influenced the framers of the Constitution

Framers took ideas about government from European writers of the Enlightenment Promoted knowledge, reason, & science as the way to

improve society

THE ENLIGHTENMENT PHILOSOPHERS

John Locke (English philosopher)-all people have natural rights, including life, liberty, & property; gov’t is an agreement between the people & the ruler Declaration of Independence includes our Unalienable Rights-

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Constitution was a contract between the American people & their gov’t, & it protected the people’s natural rights by limiting the power of the gov’t

French writer Baron de Montesquieu-separation & balance of powers should exist; powers of gov’t should be clearly defined & limited Framers provided for a separation of powers; provided for a

system of checks & balances to make sure that no one part would gain too much power

MAGNA CARTA (1215)

Was the first English document to limit absolute power of the king and grant rights to freemen.

Created rule by law rather than rule by men

Meaning that there were laws that even the king could not break

Set a precedent for rights guaranteed by the Constitution

Where we got the ideas of:

Limited Government

No new taxes unless approved by Congress

Trial by jury

ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS (1689)

England’s rulers agreed not to have a standing army or impose new taxes without the permission of Parliament

States rights of individual citizens:

Guaranteed trial by jury, the right to petition, freedom of speech, and other personal freedoms

Served as a model for the U.S. Bill of Rights

MAYFLOWER COMPACT (1620)

Social contract signed by the Pilgrims

Established representative form of self-government in the colony

Also agreed that they would follow the laws of the colonial government

Created a model for the rule of law and representative government.

Influenced Constitution – people can rule themselves

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (1776)

Grievances listed in the Declaration were regarding violations of rights committed by King George III

All grievances were addressed in Constitution

Many of the provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were included to prevent a repetition of similar abuses of power

THE FEDERALISTS PAPERS

Federalists supported the Constitution

Included: George Washington, Ben Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay

Madison, Hamilton, & Jay wrote the Federalist Papers, a collection of essays explaining & defending the Constitution

Series of 85 essays to persuade the states to ratify the Constitution

Helped explain how the new republican system of government worked

Federalists feared disorder without a strong federal gov’t

ANTIFEDERALISTS WRITINGS

Antifederalists opposed ratification

Included: Samuel Adams, George Mason, and Patrick Henry

Wrote a series of essays known as the Antifederalists Papers

Believed that the new Constitution would take away peoples liberties, create a strong central government, & ignore the will of the states & the people

Wanted a bill of rights

Worried gov’t would be run by a small educated group of people