Constitution - Class

8/10/2019 Constitution - Class

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I. European Settlement in

America

first permanent and successful settlementtook place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in1620 (they called themselves Pilgrims and

arrived on the ship the Mayflower)

because their new settlement neededsome set of rules, the Pilgrims came upwith the Mayflower Compact, the first realcontract in the colonial U.S.

II. Colonial Rebellion

problems started to arise in the coloniesbecause the British government wasincreasingly raising the taxes of the

colonists without consulting with them

1756-1763 French and Indian War

British paid for the defense of the coloniesso they figured the colonists should pay fothe costs of war


the British also angered the colonists by

taking complete credit for the victory over

the French

1765 - Stamp Act is passed, placing a tax

on almost all paper documents imported

into the colonies


a number of delegates from the colonies

got together to ask the King to revoke the

Stamp Act

while it was revoked, the King continued to

impose taxes on the colonies

the eventual result was a boycott by the

colonies on all British goods


1773 Boston Tea Party takes place

colonists dressed as Native Americansthrow British tea into Boston Harbor in

protest of British taxes

British government responded by closing

Boston Harbor and taking direct control of

the Massachusetts government


the big complaint of the colonists wasnt

necessarily the taxes imposed upon them

but the principle of no taxation without

representation

while people in Great Britain had

representatives in Parliament, the

colonists had no representatives


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a. Continental Congresses

Sept. 1774 - fearing a crackdown by the

British government, delegates from 12 of

the 13 colonies got together in the First

Continental Congress to decide on a

response to the actions of King George



Continental Congress decided:

1. the actions of colonial citizens would be

monitored to check against loyalty towards theBritish crown

2. an army would be raised in every colony

the British government almost immediatelycalled the actions of the First ContinentalCongress acts of rebellion and responded witheven more of a crackdown



the first fight of the Revolutionary War

broke out in April 1775 in the towns of

Lexington and Concord in

Massachusetts

a month later, the colonists convened

again in the Second Continental

Congress



Second Continental Congress decided to

raise an army & name George

Washington its commander in chief

over time, they realized that the colonies

couldnt continue to oppose British goods

and policies and maintain its relationship

with Britain



popular support for independence alsogrew with the widespread publication of

Common Sense by Thomas Paine, a

pamphlet attacking King George of

England and laying out the benefits of

colonial independence

III. American Fight for

Independence

Late Spring 1776 Continental Congress,

which was serving as a kind of national

government, imposes a ban on British

goods at all American ports

Continental Congress also suggested that

each colony form a state government

separate from Britain


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Independence

a committee of five, including Ben

Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas

Jefferson, was given the task of coming up

with a formal Declaration ofIndependence from Britain

this formal declaration was adopted on

July 4, 1776

Presentation of the Declaration

of Independence


Independence

because each state was leery of too muchpower coming from a central government(like Britain), they opted to form aconfederation

confederation a league of independentstates that are united only for the purposeof achieving common goals (ex. United

Nations)


Independence

each of the states wanted to maintain

sovereignty over its own territory

sovereignty exclusive right to exercise

political control over a territory

the new government was designed to be

small and weak and leave most power in

the hands of state government


Independence

the Second Continental Congress formally

laid out the powers of a new central

government with the ratification of the

Ar ticles of Confederat ion in 1781

the Articles were the first constitution in

the U.S.


Independence

Articles of Confederation established:

1. A central government composed of a

unicameral legislature (1 house),

known as the Congress of the

Confederation

2. no separate executive branch


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Independence

while the central government wasnt

threatening to the states like British rule, it

was also very ineffective

this confederation system did not work, as

it was impossible for the states to interact

based on different laws, currencies, and

numerous disputes


Independence

the biggest problem with the Articles was

that they did not provide enough power to

the central government:

it couldnt collect national taxes

couldnt carry out foreign policy due to

blocking by the states

had no real structure to successfully

exercise power


Independence

all the colonies were also hurt by a seriouseconomic depression in 1784

states started printing out money to pay oftheir debts and people who couldnt payoff their debts were sent off to debtorsprison

this led to a series of rebellions, led byShays Rebellion, featuring formerRevolutionary War soldiers


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Independence

a new meeting of delegates was called to

make changes to the Articles, resulting in

the Constitutional Convention, a

meeting of delegates in Philadelphia in1787

IV. Creation of the U.S.

Constitution

a. Constitutional Compromises

the first big proposal of the convention

was the Virginia Plan, a plan endorsed

by larger states such as Virginia

Virginia Plan = favored by larger states


Constitution


Components of the Virginia Plan

1. created an executive branch elected bythe legislature

2. a national court system created by thelegislature

3. created a bicameral (2 house) legislaturewith representation based on population(favoring the bigger states)


Constitution


this arrangement didnt go over well with

smaller states, which countered with the

New Jersey Plan

New Jersey Plan = favored by smaller

states


Constitution


Components of the New Jersey Plan1. Congress would regulate trade and

impose taxes

2. each state in a unicameral legislature

would have one vote

3. acts of Congress would be the supreme

law of the land


Constitution


Components of the New Jersey Plan

4. an executive office of several people would becreated

5. the executive office would appoint a nationalsupreme court

a Connecticut delegate successfully offered upa compromise, now known as the GreatCompromise


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Constitution


Great Compromise

created the legislature we have today:1. lower house based on population (House

of Representatives)

2. upper house featuring equal

representation of all the states (Senate,

with 2 Senators from each state)


Constitution


Slavery

slaves made up 40% of the population in the

South northern states didnt want slaves to count in the

population in the South, as none of them werecitizens

southern states refused to give up slavery andwanted as much representation in the House ofRepresentatives as possible


Constitution


Slavery

the compromise was the three-fifths

compromise, in which it was decided that

for the purposes of calculating state

population, slaves would count as 3/5 of a

person


Constitution


the economy of the South was heavily based on

the export of agricultural products to not only

northern states but also to other countries

since the North made up the majority in

Congress, the South feared that taxes might be

passed on these exports, hurting the southern

economy (in retaliation for slavery)


Constitution


as a compromise, it was decided thatCongress would be put in charge of

interstate commerce, and that taxes

wouldnt be placed on U.S. exports


Constitution

after many additions and changes, the

remaining delegates approved a final draft

of the Constitution in September 1787

it still had to be approved (or ratified) by

the states to go into effect


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Signing of the Constitution

George Washington John AdamsThomas Jeffers

James Madison Alexander Hamilton Benjamin Frank

The Founders

V. Debate Over Ratification

a. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton

and John Adams, they supported the

adoption of the Constitution and the

creation of a federal form of government



Anti-Federal ists led by ThomasJefferson, they opposed the Constitutionbecause they believed it created toostrong of a central government andlacked a Bill of Rights

Federalist Papers editorials written to

promote ratification of Constitution



Complaints of Anti-Federalists

1. Small and powerful minority groups (factions) wouldtake over government & hurt the interests of themajority

factions group of people forming a united minority (ex.business groups, particular religions, professions)

Federalists argued that factions would not be able totake over the government because the U.S. was toobig and diverse

there were too many groups in existence for one or asmall number to take control of the government



2. the Anti-Federalists also worried that theConstitution would create a government

which was able to exercise tyranny

tyranny arbitrary (random) or unrestrained

exercise of power by an oppressive

individual or government


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the only way for the Federalists to

address this concern was to give in to

the creation of a Bill of Rights in the

Constitution

the original 1787 version of the

Constitution had no Bill of Rights

VI. Major Principles of

Government in the Const itut ion

1. l imited government

government can only do what is allowedunder the law

the Constitution specifically talks aboutwhat government CAN DO (Articles I, II,III) and CANNOT do (Bill of Rights)

both members of government and thegoverned must also follow the rule oflaw (act according to existing law)


Government in the Constitut ion

2. federal system

the Constitution created a federal system

of government

federalism - system in which significant

government powers are divided between

a central government and smaller state

and local governments



2. federal system

while federal and state/localgovernments do share powers, ultimatelyfederal law is the supreme law of theland

the central (federal) government wasalso given the power to coin money, levyand collect taxes, and regulate interstate

commerce (in the commerce clause)


Government in the Constitut ion

3. separation of powers

created by James Madison with the

Madisonian Model, our government

features powers separated into three

branches: executive, legislative, and

judicial



4. checks and balances

the Founders also wanted to make surethat no one branch of government wasmore powerful than another, so we have:

checks and balances each of the threebranches is given the ability to check(restrain or balance) the actions of theothers


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VII. Bil l of Rights

The Bill of Rights are ten formal

amendments (additions) to the

Constitution which explain the freedoms

individuals have from governmentintervention


Amendment Liber ty

1st freedom of speech,religion, assembly

2nd right to bear arms

4th freedom from

unreasonable search andseizure


Amendment Liberty

5th protection against

double jeopardy & self-

incrimination, due process

8th prohibition of cruel &

unusual punishment, cant

have excessive bail & fines


Amendment Liber ty

9th individuals have morecivil liberties than justthose listed in theConstitution

10th powers not expressly givento the federal governmentgo to the states (ex. thepower to police citizens)

Constitution - Class

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