Constitution & Government
STAAR Review 2015
Origins of the Constitution
Historical Document
Magna Carta:
King was subject to laws like
everyone else
Principle of
Government
Limited Government
English Bill of Rights:
Took away power of the
monarch and gave rights to
the people
Individual Rights
Mayflower Compact:
First signed government
contract in U.S. creating a selfgovernment
Popular Sovereignty
Articles of Confederation
Weaknesses of
the Articles of Confederation
National government could not…
• Collect taxes
• Have a federal court system
• Could barely handle Shay’s
Rebellion
Strengths of
the Articles of Confederation
1. Ordinance of 1785: allowed for
orderly expansion of the U.S.
through new added states
2. Northwest Ordinance: Created
the Northwest Territory
Constitutional Convention of 1787
The ________________________________met
to revise the Articles of
Confederation. However, they ended up throwing out the Articles of
Confederation and totally re-writing a new plan of government, the
Constitution
____________________.
Constitutional Convention
The New Jersey Plan
• Equal Representation - Each
state would have 1
representative in the legislature
The Virginia Plan
• Proportional Representation –
Representation in 2 houses would
be based on population
Analysis Questions:
1. Which plan appealed to the small states?
2. Which plan appealed to the large states?
The Great Compromise
Bicameral Legislature – 2 House
• Senate - equal representation (2
Rep each )
• House of Representation –
Proportional Representation
New Jersey
Virginia
3. Which size state, small or large, got more of what they wanted with the Compromise?
Large states
Constitutional Convention
Northern States
• Did not want slavery to count in
the population total
3/5 Compromise
Each enslaved person would count
as 3/5 of a free person
Southern States
• Did want slavery to count in the
population total so they could
have more representatives
Analysis Questions:
1. Why did the Northern and Southern states have differing ideas about how to count slaves in
the population total?
Because representation in the House of Representatives
was based on total population.
Ratification
After the Constitutional Convention, the Constitution could not
ratified
become law until 9 out of 13 states
___________, or approved, it. So the
Federalists
Constitution was sent to the states for approval. ____________were
Anti-Federalists did not.
people who supported the Constitution, and _______________
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
Supporters of the Constitution
Did not support the
Constitution
• Wanted a strong national
government
• Wanted to ratify the
Constitution
• Wanted stronger state
governments (States’ rights)
• Would not ratify without a
Bill of Rights
Federalists vs. Anti Federalists
“IT HAS been already observed “The remaining power for peace
that the federal government
and trade might perhaps be
ought to possess the power of
safely lodged with Congress
providing for the support of the
under some limitations. Three
national forces; in which
restrictions appear to me to be
proposition was intended to be essentially necessary to preserve
included the expense of raising
that equality of rights to the
troops, of building and equipping states, which it is the object of
fleets, and all other expenses in the state governments to secure
any wise connected with military
to each citizen.”
arrangements and operations.”
Excerpt
from
Federalist
Paper
#30
Does the
quote
above
represent
Alexander
Hamilton,
published Friday,
a Federalists
or Anti-Federalists
December 28, 1787
View Point??
Excerpt
from
Anti Federalist
Paper
Does the
quote
above represent
#11
Alexander Hamilton,
published 1787
a Federalists
or Anti-Federalists
View Point??
Principles of Government
Limited Government
Constitution lists the power of
the government, tells
government what it can and
cannot do.
Representative Government
People elect their political
representatives, and those
representatives serve at the will
of the people
Popular Sovereignty
People hold the final authority in
government, and are the source
of governments power. People
do this by by voting
Individual Rights
Basic liberties and unalienable
rights listed in the Bill of Rights
(1st 10 Amendments)
Principles of Government
SEPERATION OF POWERS
Government is divided up
between 3 equal branches,
Legislative, Executive, and
Judicial, and they all have their
own responsibilities
CHECKS AND BALANCES
Each branch of government
holds some control over the
other branches, to make sure
one branch does not become
too powerful
FEDERALISM
Dividing and sharing powers
between the national and state
governments
Bill of Rights
1.
Freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition, and
press
2.
Right to bear arms
3.
No quartering (housing) of soldiers in private houses
4.
No unreasonable searches and seizures
5.
Due process of law
6.
Right to a fair, speedy, and public trial
7.
Right to a trial by jury for civil cases
8.
No cruel and unusual punishment
9.
Rights of the people are not limited to the Constitution
10 All powers not given to the National government are
.
reserved to the state
Bill of Rights
The First Amendment guarantees 5 different freedoms. One of
those being religious freedom.
1. How did life before the Constitution lead Americans to want
to add Religious freedom to the Bill of Rights?
Many people migrated from Europe to the colonies
to escape religious persecution. Most American
colonies practiced religious tolerance because of
their negative experience in Great Britain
1. How does religious freedom impact our way on life in
America today?
America has influenced other nation’s around the
world through their practice of religious
tolerance, and today we get to practice our
different religions without fear or persecution
Checks and Balances
President can veto legislation
Executive Branch
May reject treaties
Legislative
Branch
Judicial Branch
Judicial Review:
Right of the Supreme Court (Judicial Branch) to declare acts of
the president and laws the Congress makes unconstitutional.
Amending the Constitution
Changes
Constitution
Amendments: _______________to
the _________________
Process for Amending the
Constitution
2/3 of each
house must
approve
change
You must
have both!
Amendment
created/changed
in the
Constitution
3/4 of states
must approve
the change
War of 1812
Causes
• Impressments
• Trade Embargos
• War Hawks
Major Events
• Burning of Washington D.C.
• Treaty of Ghent (no land exchanged)
• Battle of New Orleans (Jackson becomes
famous)
Effects
• War increased manufacturing of
supplies which helped boost the
U.S. into the Industrial Revolution