The Constitution
2
Video: The Big Picture
2
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MED
IA_1/polisci/presidency/OConner_Ch02_The_Constitution_
Seg1_v2.html
Learning Objectives
2.1
2.2
2
Trace the historical developments
that led to the colonists’ break with
Great Britain and the emergence of
the new American nation
Identify the key components of the
Articles of Confederation and the
reasons why it failed
Learning Objectives
2.3
2.4
2
Outline the issues and compromises
that were central to the writing of
the Constitution
Analyze the underlying principles of
the Constitution
Learning Objectives
2.5
2.6
2
Explain the conflicts that
characterized the drive for
ratification of the Constitution
Distinguish between the methods for
proposing and ratifying amendments
to the Constitution
Video: The Basics
2
http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MED
IA_1/polisci/presidency/Seg2_Constitution_v2.html
Roots of the New American
Nation
 Trade and Taxation
 First Steps Toward Independence
 First Continental Congress
 Second Continental Congress
 Declaration of Independence
2.1
Trade and Taxation
 Mercantilism
 Strict import/export controls
 Widely ignored
 Costly French and Indian War
 New taxes on sugar (Sugar Act) and paper items
(Stamp Act)
 “No taxation without representation”
2.1
First Steps Toward
Independence
 Stamp Act Congress formed to address
grievances
 Boston Massacre
2.1
What really happened at the Boston Massacre?
2.1
First Steps Toward
Independence
 Committees of Correspondence build
public opinion against Britain
 Boston Tea Party
 Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)
 Quartering of British troops
2.1
First and Second Continental
Congresses
 First Continental Congress (Sept. 1774)
 Battle of Lexington and Concord
 Second Continental Congress (May1775)
 Olive Branch Petition (July 5, 1775)
 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
2.1
Declaration of Independence
 Committee of Five
 Thomas Jefferson – principal author
 John Locke
 Social contract theory
 Life, liberty, and property
2.1
2.1 What was the main grievance of
2.1
the Stamp Act Congress?
a. The Stamp Act barred the colonists from
using their own stamps
b. The Stamp Act included the taxing of books
and playing cards
c. The taxes imposed by the British had a
religious context and therefore conflicted
with the separation of church and state
d. The British Parliament had no authority to
tax the colonists without colonial
representation in that body
First Attempt at Government:
The Articles of Confederation
 Problems Under the Articles of
Confederation
 Shays’s Rebellion
2.2
Problems Under the Articles of
Confederation
 No power to tax
 No power to regulate commerce
 No executive to implement laws
 No judicial system
 No coercive power over states
2.2
Shays’s Rebellion
 Farmers protest farm foreclosures
 Shays and followers shut down court
 No state militia to quell the uprising
2.2
What was the result of Shays’s Rebellion?
2.2
2.2 What type of government did the
Articles of Confederation create?
a. Direct democracy
b. Confederacy
c. Republic
d. Federal government
2.2
Miracle at Philadelphia:
Writing the U.S. Constitution
 Characteristics and Motives of the
Framers
 Virginia and New Jersey Plans
 Constitutional Compromises
 Unfinished Business: Executive Branch
2.3
Characteristics and Motives of
the Framers
 All wealthy white males
 Mostly young
 Some slave owners
 Relatively educated
 Social motives
 Maintain social order which benefited them
 Economic motives
 Maintain property rights which benefited them
2.3
Virginia and New Jersey Plans
 Virginia Plan
 Large states
 Powerful central government
 Representation based on population
 New Jersey Plan
 Small states
 Weak central government
 Representation by state
2.3
Constitutional Compromises
 Great Compromise
 Bicameral legislature
 Number of representatives based on population
 Representatives directly elected
 States given equal votes in Senate
 Senators elected by state legislatures
 National power supreme
2.3
Constitutional Compromises
 Issue of Slavery
 No limits for 20 years
 Three-Fifths Compromise
 Representation determined by counting slaves as
three-fifths of a person
 Gave southern states more representatives
2.3
Unfinished Business: Executive
Branch
 One-person executive
 4-year term
 Electoral College
 Impeachment
2.3
2.3 How was the disagreement over
the Virginia and New Jersey Plans
resolved?
a. The Three-Fifths Compromise
b. Checks and balances
c. Creation of a bicameral legislature
d. Electoral College
2.3
U.S. Constitution
 Basic Principles of the Constitution
 Articles of the Constitution
2.4
Basic Principles of the
Constitution
2.4
 Federalism
 Power divided between national and state governments
 National government considered supreme
 Power derived from the people
Basic Principles of the
Constitution
2.4
 Separation of Powers
 Executive branch
 Legislative branch
 Judicial branch
 Checks and Balances
 Each branch has powers to check the other two branches
What are the separation of powers and
checks and balances under the U.S.
Constitution?
2.4
How do the Articles of Confederation and the
U.S. Constitution compare to one another?
2.4
Articles of the Constitution
 Article I: Legislative branch
 Article II: Executive branch
 Article III: Judiciary branch
 Articles IV through VII
2.4
Articles of the Constitution
 Article I: Legislative branch
 Enumerated powers
 Necessary and proper clause
 Also called the Elastic clause
 Implied powers
2.4
Articles of the Constitution
 Article II: Executive branch
 commander in chief
 authority to make treaties and federal appointments
 execute the laws faithfully
2.4
Why does the president deliver a State of
the Union Address?
2.4
Articles of the Constitution
 Article III: Judiciary branch
 Articles IV through VII
 Full faith and credit
 Supremacy clause
 Amendment process
2.4
2.4 Which clause makes federal laws
supersede conflicting state laws?
a. Necessary and proper clause
b. Full faith and credit clause
c. Elastic clause
d. Supremacy clause
2.4
Drive for Ratification of the
Constitution
 Federalists versus Anti-Federalists
 The Federalist Papers
 Ratifying the Constitution
 Bill of Rights
2.5
Federalists Versus AntiFederalists
 Federalists favoured strong national
government
 Anti-Federalists favoured strong state
governments
 Ratification process was contentious
2.5
The Federalist Papers
 85 essays by Federalists





Alexander Hamilton (51)
James Madison(26)
John Jay(3)
Appeared in New York newspapers
Theoretical, scholarly
 Anti-Federalists responded with critique
of Constitution
2.5
Ratifying the Constitution
 Delaware first state
 Small states first
 New Hampshire 9th state
 New York and Virginia
2.5
The Bill of Rights
 Condition of ratification
 Sought by Anti-Federalists to protect civil liberties
 First ten amendments to Constitution
2.5
TABLE 2.2: What were the differences
Between the Federalists and the
Anti-Federalists?
2.5
2.5 What did the Anti-Federalists
fear?
a. A strong national government
b. A weak national government
c. Strong state governments
d. Limited taxing power
2.5
Toward Reform: Methods of
Amending the Constitution
 Formal Methods of Amending the
Constitution
 Informal Methods of Amending the
Constitution
2.6
Formal Methods of Amending
the Constitution
 Proposal
 Two-thirds members of both houses
 Two-thirds of state legislatures
 Never used
 Ratification
 Vote in state legislature
 Vote in ratifying convention
2.6
FIGURE 2.2: How can the U.S. Constitution be
amended?
2.6
Which is the only constitutional amendment
to be repealed?
2.6
Informal Methods of
Amending the Constitution
 Judicial interpretation
 Supreme Court can decide if laws are unconstitutional
 Social and cultural change
 Legislation can alter balance of power between
government and states
 Technological change
 Media is redefining free speech
2.6
2.6 Which of the following is an
informal method of amending the
Constitution?
a. Ratification by two-thirds of states
b. Presidential decree
c. Legislative oversight
d. Judicial interpretation
2.6