Chapter 2
The Constitution
• The First Founding: Interests and
Conflicts
• The Second Founding: From
Compromise to Constitution
• The Constitution
“No Taxation Without
Representation”
• These words stirred a generation of
Americans to action against their own
government.
• Opposition to changes in British tax and
trade policies were challenged by the
colonists on the grounds that the colonies
had no representatives in the British
Parliament.
The First Founding:
Interests and Conflicts
• British Legacy and Colonial Interests
• Political Strife and the Radicalizing of the
Colonists
• 1st and 2nd Continental Congress
• The Declaration of Independence
• The Articles of Confederation
• The Constitution
British Political Legacy
• Magna Carta - 1215
– Protection of life, liberty, and property
– Trial by peers
– Taxation with Parliaments approval
• Petition of Rights - 1628
– Prohibits imprisoning political opposition
(habeas corpus)
– Crown must obey laws
• Bill of Rights - 1689
– Crown cannot interfere in elections
– Parliamentary approval to raise army
– Crown has to rule with consent of Parliament
Tax and Trade Policy
• Seven Years War (French and Indian War)
- 1754 to 1763
• Changes in British tax and trade policy
became necessary after war.
• Britain needed to find new sources of
income to pay off growing national debt.
The Five Sectors of Colonial
Society
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•
•
New England merchants
Southern planters
Royalists
Shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers
Small farmers
Colonial
Beginnings
1609 to 1620
Colonies
1621 to 1639
Colonies
1662 - 1732
Colonial Population
Colony
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Free White Other Free
141,097
373,324
64,470
232,674
314,142
169,954
424,099
46,310
208,649
442,117
288,204
140,178
52,886
630
5,463
3,407
2,808
4,654
2,762
6,537
3,899
8,043
12,866
4,975
1,801
398
Slave
158
none
948
2,764
21,324
11,423
3,737
8,887
103,036
292,627
100,572
107,094
29,264
Tax and Trade Policy
• The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Sugar Act
of 1764 were met with opposition by the
New England merchants and Southern
planters.
• Quartering Act of 1765.
• More taxes on commodities including tea
occur in 1767.
• Boston Massacre - 1770.
• Burning of the Gaspee - 1772.
• Boston Tea Party - 1773.
Tax and Trade Policy
• The British response to colonial opposition
only strengthened colonial resistance.
• Closed Boston Harbor, restructured
Massachusetts government, restricted town
meetings, forced quartering of troops, trials
in England or Canada.
• These Coercive Acts led to a call for a
boycott, the Battles of Lexington and
Concord.
First Continental Congress
•
•
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•
•
9/5/1774 - 10/26/1774
“Association of 1774”
Ban and boycott of British goods.
British troops fortify Boston area.
Battle of Lexington and Concord occur
4/19/1775.
Second Continental Congress
•
•
•
•
•
•
5/10/1775 to 3/2/1789
John Hancock elected first President.
Militia’s declared full army.
George Washington selected as CinC.
Sent the Olive Branch Petition.
Established –
–
–
–
–
Committee of Whole
Board of War
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Spies
Committee of Five.
• Suggested colonies write state
constitutions.
• “Common Sense”
The Declaration of
Independence
• Committee of Five - Jefferson, Adams,
Franklin, Sherman, Livingston
• Thomas Jefferson is the principal author.
• It relies heavily on the philosophy of John
Locke. Locke claimed all people had
inalienable rights to life, liberty and
property.
• It outlines the principles of government
and declares independence from England.
The Articles of Confederation
• Creates our first constitutional
government in November of 1777.
• Better known for the lack of powers given
to the national government.
• One state one vote, no executive, no
authority over states, no economic
controls, had foreign policy powers.
• Lasted only 12 years.
Weaknesses in the
Articles of
Confederation
2-3
The Articles of Confederation:
International - Financial Crisis
• The inability of the Articles of
Confederation to tax resulted in a
weakening of bonds.
• Trade wars erupted between the states.
• Inflation resulted from each state printing
currency.
• An economic and political crisis
developed.
The Articles of Confederation:
Shays’s Rebellion
• An individual was more likely to be
imprisoned for debt than for any other
crime.
• Daniel Shays led a rebellion of debtors in
Massachusetts in the August of 1786.
• The rebellion demonstrated need for
stronger government.
The Articles of Confederation:
The Annapolis Convention
• The crisis led to a meeting in Annapolis in
the fall of 1786.
• At the convention, delegates agreed to
meet in Philadelphia one year later to
discuss revising the Articles of
Confederation.
The Constitutional Convention:
A Marriage of Interest and
Principle
• Delegates met beginning in May 1787.
• Delegates represented the elite in American
society.
• Charles Beard argues that the Constitution
reflects an interest in protecting economic
power.
The Constitutional Convention:
Conflict and Compromise
• The Virginia Plan favored states with
large populations.
• The New Jersey Plan favored the smaller
states.
• The Connecticut Plan reached a
compromise over representation.
The Constitutional Convention:
The Question of Slavery
• Were the slaves to be counted for
representation purposes?
• The Three-fifths Compromise resolved the
issue of how to count the slaves for purposes
of representation
• Twenty year moratorium on slave importing
Fight for Ratification
• The struggle for ratification centered
around two factions—Federalists and
the Antifederalists.
• Each reflected different sectors of
early American society.
Federalists vs. Antifederalists
• These two groups debated the necessity
and design of the new and stronger
central government on the following
grounds:
— representation,
— tyranny of the majority,
— the scope of governmental power.
Ratification Battle
• Federalists
– Elites favoring
oligarchy feared
“excessive
democracy”.
• Strong national
government
• Alexander Hamilton
• George Washington
• James Madison
•Antifederalists
–Small farmer and
shopkeepers wanted
government close to
people.
•Stronger state
governments and
protection of liberties
•Patrick Henry
•Samuel Adams
The Compromise
• The Bill of Rights
• First 12 amendments to Constitution
• Patrick Henry and others continued to
oppose.
• Delaware ratified in December of 1787.
• Bill of Rights proposed by Congress in
September 1789.
• Rhode Island ratified in May of 1790.
• Bill of Rights (only first 10) ratified by 9
states by December 1791.
Constitutional Principles
•
•
•
•
Limited government
Popular sovereignty
Federalism
Checks and Balances by Separating the
Power of each branch
• Bill of Rights
Constitutional Structure
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•
•
•
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Article I - Creates legislative branch
Article II - Creates executive branch
Article III - Creates judicial branch
Article IV - Defines state relations
Article V - Defines how to amend the
Constitution
• Article VI - Defines national debt and
supremacy
• Article VII - Ratification
The Constitution:
The Legislative Branch
• Bicameral
• House
— 65 (435) members
— two year terms
— elected by the people
• Senate
— 26 (100) members
— six year terms
The Constitution:
Legislative Branch
• Senators initially
• House members
chosen by the state
were to be elected
legislatures.
directly by the
• Designed to
voters.
insulate Senate
• Designed to
from voters
encourage popular
• The 17th
control over the
Amendment (1913)
legislative process
direct election of
U.S. senators.
The Constitution:
Legislative Branch
• Article I, Sec. 8, spells out the
enumerated or delegated powers of the
United States government, including the
power to
— collect taxes,
— regulate commerce.
• The necessary and proper clause provides
Congress with greater latitude in
exercising its Article I, Sec. 8, powers.
The Constitution:
Executive Branch
• Article II creates the presidency.
• President is to be elected through an
electoral college that insulates the office
from Congress and the masses.
• Powers of the president are rather vague
and ambiguous.
The Constitution:
Judicial Branch
• Article III creates the U. S. Supreme
Court.
• Judges are appointed by the president
with the advice and consent of the U.S.
Senate.
• Judicial review
• Marbury v. Madison
The Constitution:
National Unity and Power
• Article IV provides that the civil acts of
one state shall be recognized by all the
states (marriages, divorces, etc.).
• Article VI, the supremacy clause, provides
that the Constitution and laws of the
United States enacted pursuant to
constitutional authority are the supreme
law of the land.
The Constitution:
Amending the Constitution
• Amending the Constitution is a lengthy
and difficult process.
• Only twenty-seven amendments have
been ratified since 1789.
The Formal Constitutional Amending Procedure
2-9
The Citizen’s Role and the
Changing Constitution
• Amendments: Many are Called, Few are
Chosen
• Which Were Chosen? An Analysis of the
Constitutional Amendments
Amendments:
Many are Called, Few are Chosen
• Between 1789 and 1996, more than 11,000
amendments have been offered in
Congress.
• Only twenty-seven have been ratified.
• The amendment process is a difficult one.
The Constitution:
Limits on Power
• The Constitution attempts to limit the
power of the national government
through
— separation of powers with a system of
checks and balances,
— Federalism,
— The Bill of Rights.
The Constitution:
The Separation of Powers
• The Constitution provides for the
separation of powers to ensure that no
one branch holds too much power.
• Madison used ambition to counter
ambition.
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances among the Branches of Government
2-7