Because- You get the liberty of a democracy,
while hopefully avoiding the problems of mob
rule
In other words
• People get to vote on leaders
• Leaders, who are theoretically smarter than ‘the
mob’ make actual decisions
Why Created?- To bind the colonies together
during the American Revolution.
What is a Confederation? A union of political
groups in which more power is held in the
individual parts than in the central
government.
PLAN:
• Alliance among 13 states
• Each state had one vote in the legislature
• Federal government had limited powers
(cont.)
PROBLEMS: What problems emerged?
•
States functioned independently
• State representatives were not fairly distributed
• The Articles were very hard to amend
• Government did not have power to raise taxes or regulate trade
Hard to negotiate with foreign powers if the voice of each
state drowns out the central government
Inefficient economically to have different rules in each state
(ex.- tariffs)
A rebellion of farmers scared the government of
Massachusetts – no powerful central government to call on
for help—the decision was made to strengthen the Central
Government at a meeting in Philadelphia in 1787
• Constitution written in 1787 at
Independence Hall, Philadelphia,
Penn.
• The delegates had to solve a
number of problems at the
Convention
Fair Representation
in the Federal
Legislature
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
• two house legislature (bicameral)
• one house legislature
(unicameral)
• number of representatives
based upon population
• equal number of
representatives from all
states
• lower house would elect
upper house
• checks and balances
• supported by large states
• each state would have one
vote
• the house would appoint
executive and courts
• supported by small states
The Great Compromise
Two House Legislature
Senate:
• state legislature chooses senators (has
been modified)
• equal representation for each state
House of Representatives:
• based upon the population of the state
• voters choose representatives
Counting the
Population
Southern States
Northern States
• Wanted slaves counted
in the population when
figuring out the number
of representatives each
state should have
• Did not want slaves to
be counted to determine
representatives
• Did not want slaves
counted for taxes
• Wanted slaves counted
for taxes
The 3/5ths Compromise
Slaves were counted
as 3/5 of a person
How do you make
sure the Federal
Government does
not have too much
power?
Constitution
• three branches of government
•checks & balances limiting three branches powers
EXECUTIVE BRANCH (Article 2)
The President carries out the laws and can veto a
law. He is commander and chief of the military
and can be impeached if he breaks the law.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
(Article 1)
The Congress is made up of
a two-house legislature
(Senate and House of
Representatives). Congress
is responsible for making
the laws. Congress can
impeach and fire the
president for high crimes
and misdemeanors.
JUDICIAL BRANCH
(Article 3)
The Supreme Court and
other federal courts
interpret the law of the
land and decide if it is
constitutional.
• 9 out of 13 states had to ratify
(approve) the Constitution
• Debate ensued between the
Federalists and Anti-Federalist
• The Federalist side was outlined in
the Federalist Papers
Convincing 9 states
to ratify the
Constitution
Who should have the power?
• form of government where power is
divided between a national
government and state governments
1. In a federal government who should have more power –
the national or state government? Why would this concern
citizens?
2. What about individual powers? How do the rights of
individuals fit into the division of powers? Why would this
concern citizens?
FEDERALISTS
ANTI-FEDERALISTS
To address these questions our Constitution:
A. Authorizes the Congress to make laws only in
areas granted to it.
B. Some lawmaking authority was left to the
states.
C. A Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution
to guarantee that the laws passed by the states
and Congress do not violate Civil Rights
Even with distribution of power being
included within the Constitution, conflict still
arises between states, national government,
and individual rights.
Example #1: Medical Marijuana
Example #2: Gay Marriage
• Electoral College
 each state is assigned a number of electors
(number of senators and representatives combined)
 political parties in each state choose who will
serve as an elector and electors promise to vote for
the party’s candidate
 when an individual is in a voting booth and marks
‘Obama’ or ‘McCain’, they are actually voting for an
elector who has promised to vote for these people
A small number of electors in history have been
‘unfaithful’ (voting against what they promised to
vote for), but never enough to change an election
Electoral College (cont.)
Because most states have a ‘winner-takesall’ electoral college system, it is possible
for a candidate who wins the popular vote
to lose a presidential election
Candidate A- 11,000,000
votes
Candidate B11,000,001 votes
Candidate B gets
55 electoral votes
Candidate A- 50,000
votes
Candidate B- 0 votes
Candidate A gets
3 electoral votes
This has happened four times in
history
John Adams
Rutherford B. Hayes
Benjamin Harrison
George Bush
• Amending the Constitution
 there are two ways to amend the
Constitution – only one way has ever been used
 #1 - a bill can be proposed to amend the
Constitution, it must be passed by a 2/3 vote
in both the Senate and House of
Representatives
#2 – 2/3rds of state legislatures can demand
an amendment (never happened!)
Either way- 3/4 of the states must approve
the bill for the Constitution to be amended
 there are currently 27 amendments
• Impeachment
 House of Representatives must determine if
there is evidence that a crime has been
committed, if so, they submit the articles of
impeachment to the Senate
 The Senate has the job of overseeing the trial
of the accused government official
 2/3 of the Senate must vote that the official is
guilty in order for him/her to be removed from
office
 If found guilty, the official may NEVER hold a
public office again
 Crimes considered “impeachable” – treason,
bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors
• Two presidents have
been impeached, but
both were acquitted (NOT
kicked out of office)
• Richard Nixon resigned
because it was widely
believed that he would be
impeached and found
guilty
Andrew Johnson
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton