The
Constitution

CONSTITUTION ORIGINS
 Creates political institutions, allocated power within government, and often provides guarantees to citizens.
 After the British Parliament passed a series of taxes on North American colonists (to raise revenue) colonists boycotted due to TAXATION
WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
 First Continental Congress was formed
September 1774

CONSTITUTION ORIGINS CONTINUED
 Continental Congress began debating resolutions about independence.
 Richard Henry Lee moved “that these United
States are and of right ought to be free and independent state.”
 Declaration of Independence was adopted July
4 th 1776
 The Declaration was a political polemic, announcing and justifying a revolution, but today is studied more as a statement of philosophy.

JOHN LOCKE
 American political leaders were influenced by his thoughts of natural rights: before governments arise, people exist in a state of nature where they are governed only by the laws of nature (life, liberty, and property).
 Sole purpose of government was to protect natural rights, built on the consent of the governed, and it should be limited.

LOCKE VS. JEFFERSON
 Thomas Jefferson altered Locke’s wording for the Declaration to say “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” versus “life, liberty, and property.”
 Which is more accurate to American’s
Declaration of Independence? Why?

THE GOVERNMENT THAT FAILED: 1776-
1787
 1776 the Congress appointed a committee to draw up a plan for a permanent union of the states called the
Articles of the Confederation.
 This government favored White males.
 Postwar depression left many small farmers unable to pay their debts and threatened mortgage foreclosures.
 Small band of farmers led by Captain Daniel Shay undertook a series of armed attacks on courthouses to prevent judges from foreclosing farms.
 Shay’s Rebellion spurred the birth of the Constitution and reaffirmed the belief of the Philadelphia delegates that the new federal gov’t needed to be STRONG.

THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION
 Delegates who were sent to Philadelphia were instructed to meet “ for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of the Confederation.”
 Amendments to Articles required unanimous consent of the states; so delegates began writing a new constitution.
 Pennsylvania delegate Morris was responsible for wording of the U.S. Constitution.
 Written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, the
Constitution sets forth the institutional structure of the U.S. government and the tasks these institutions perform.

PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION CONT.
 The 55 delegates at the Constitutional Convention were the postcolonial elite, representing wealthy planters, successful lawyers and merchants, college grads.
 As a result, they would seek to strengthen the economic powers of the new national government.
 The founders believed that the secret of good government is “balanced” government. A limited government would have to contain checks on its own power.
 James Madison said “ ambition must be made to counteract ambition.”

AGENDA IN PHILADELPHIA
 Although the Constitution is silent on the issue of equality, some of the most important issues on the policy agenda at
Philadelphia concerned issue of equality.
 Three issues occupied more attention than others: 1.) whether or not the states were to be equally represented 2.) what to do about slavery 3.) whether or not to ensure political equality.

REPRESENTATION OF THE STATES
 New Jersey Plan: called for each state to be equally represented in the new Congress.
 Virginia Plan: called for representation in Congress based on the state’s share of the American population.
 Connecticut Compromise: solution adopted by the delegates that created a bicameral legislature in which the Senate would have two members from each state and the House of Representatives would have representation based on population.

SLAVERY
 Delegates agreed that the Congress could limit future importing of slaves, but they did not forbid slavery itself.
 The Constitution stated that persons legally “held to service or labour” who escaped to free states had to be returned to their owners.
 Under the famous three-fifths compromise, both representation and taxation were to be based upon the “number of free persons” plus threefifths of the number of “all other persons.”

ESSAY QUESTION
 Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The Constitution belongs to the living and not to the dead.”
Explain how the Constitution has endured for over 200 years by:
Identifying a constitutional provision that supports Jefferson’s statement and giving two examples of how the provision had an impact on public policy.

POLITICAL EQUALITY
 Some delegates favored suffrage for all free, adult males; some wanted to put property qualifications on the right to vote.
 Ultimately, they decided to leave the issue to the states

THE ECONOMIC ISSUES
 Philadelphia delegates were committed to a strong national government and charged that the economy was indeed in disarray and the following problems needed to be addressed:
 The states had erected tariffs against products form other states
 Paper money was virtually worthless in some states, but many state governments, which were controlled by debtor classes, forced it on creditors anyway.
 The Congress was having trouble raising money because the economy was in a recession.

THE ECONOMIC ISSUES CONT.
 The delegates made sure that the Constitution clearly spelled out the economic powers of Congress.
 Congress was to be the chief economic policymaker
(it could obtain revenues through taxing and borrowing).
 The Constitution also allocates to Congress power to build the nation’s infrastructure by constructing post offices and roads and to establish standard weights and measures.
 Congress was charged with punishing counterfeiters and pirates, ensuring patents and copyrights, and legislating rules for bankruptcy.

ECONOMICS CONTINUED
 Framers also prohibited states from maintaining individual state monetary systems; states were to respect civil judgments and contracts made in other states; states were to return runaway slaves to their owners.
 All in all, the Constitution helped to spur a capitalist economy.

THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS ISSUES
 Founders were constructing a limited government that, by design, could not threaten personal freedom.
 They dispersed power among the branches of the national government and between the national and state governments so that each branch or level could restrain the other.
 As a result, the Constitution says little about personal freedom.

ESSAY QUESTION
 Answer the following question in a short essay. You should take approximately 25 minutes to write this essay and it should be approximately 1-2 pages in length. Be sure to be specific using terms and vocabulary from Chapter Two. Also be sure to use specific examples that are relevant to the question.
 Question: Discuss the evolution of American Constitutional philosophy from the Revolution through the Constitutional
Convention and the impact that the historical events of the time had on this development. You should include the following items in your discussion :
 Jefferson's Declaration of Independence (the Preamble)
 Early State Constitutions
 The Articles of Confederation

MADISONIAN MODEL
 Founders believed that human nature was self-interested and that inequalities of wealth were the principal source of political conflict.
 Protecting private property was a key purpose of government.
 Madison and his colleagues feared both majority and minority factions.

MADISONIAN MODEL CONT.
 To thwart tyranny by the majority, Madison believed it was essential to keep most of the government beyond their power.
 Madisonian plan provided a system of separation of powers, in which each of the 3 branches of government would be relatively independent.
 System of checks and balances establishedpowers against power to constrain government actions.

RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION
 Federalists supported the Constitution and the Anti -
Federalists opposed it.
 Position of Federalists were strengthened by the
Federalist Papers written by James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.
 Federalist Papers remains second only to the
Constitution itself in symbolizing the ideas of the framers.
 Due to fear that the Constitution would restrict personal freedom, 12 constitutional amendments were introduced, with 10 being ratified (Bill of
Rights).