The Constitution
Chapter 2
You think you know…
British Colonial Rule
Unitary System – all power flows from one central government
Powerful British
Government
Political Subunits
(Colonies)
GA
MA
NY
Declaration of
Independence
• Written by Thomas Jefferson
• Inspired by John Locke
• D of I opens with Jefferson invoking Locke
philosophy… “Life, liberty, pursuit of
happiness”
• Jefferson continues by listing grievances
against George III for violating inalienable
rights
• declares US independence
Articles of Confederation
1781 – 1789 – RIP
Confederate System – power concentrated in political subunits (states)
with a weak central government (typically unite for a common goal)
GA
MA
Congress
NY
Articles of Confederation
•
•
•
•
1781-1789
Original American gov’t system
Weak central gov’t
Individual and state liberties not
threatened
• No executive (they hated kings)
• Confederacies are usually unstable
A of C – Weaknesses
• Article II – “Each state retains its sovereignty,
freedom, and independence.” Gov’t has no control
• Unicameral Congress (one house) with one vote
per state
– Supermajority (9 of 13) to pass a law
– Supermajority (13 of 13) to amend
• No Executive (No President), no central authority
• No Federal Judiciary (No Supreme Court), no
central law
• No control of taxation, commerce between states or
with foreign nations, money system
The Baron de
Montesquieu
• "In republican
governments, men are all
equal; equal they are also
in despotic governments:
in the former, because
they are everything; in the
latter, because they are
nothing."
• Montesquieu
The Spirit of Laws
Bk. VI, Ch. 2
Federalists v AntiFederalists
Who? Property owners, landed rich,
merchants of NE and Mid Atlantic
states
Philosophy? Elite, saw themselves
and those of their class as the
only ones fit to govern
Type of government favored?
Powerful central gov’t with 2
houses of legislature (6 yr term for
the upper house)
Who? Small farmers, shopkeepers
and laborers
Philosophy? Believed in the decency
of the common man and in
participatory democracy, viewed
elites as corrupt
Type of government favored? Wanted
strong state governments
Constitution
Federal System – powers are divided and/or shared between state
and central governments (Current gov’t designed by framers)
Executive
Legislative
Judicial
Central US government
State governments
VA
NJ
SC
Madisonian Principles of
Gov’t in the Constitution
• Popular Sovereignty – power to govern belongs to
the people, gov’t based on the consent of
governed
• Separation of Powers – division of gov’t between
branches: executive, legislative and judicial
• Checks and Balances – a system where branches
have some authority over others
• Limited Government – gov’t is not all-powerful, and
it does only what citizens allow
• Federalism – division of power between central
government and individual states
Separation of Powers
•
1.
2.
3.
Prevents an all-powerful ruling body
Legislature – passes law (Congress)
Executive – enforces law (President)
Judiciary – interprets law (Supreme
Court)
Amending the
Constitution
• Meant to be difficult
• Require action from national and state gov
• Amendment proposed by 2/3 vote in each
house of Congress and ratified (accepted)
in at least ¾ of state legislatures
Federalist #10
• Madison addresses biggest fear of gov’t
• Faction – a group in a legislature or political
party acting together in pursuit of some
special interest (think fraction – ½, 1/3, etc)
• Founding fathers were concerned that our
government would be ripped apart
• Madison defends our national Constitution
Federalist #10
• Separation of Powers check the growth of
tyranny
• Each branch of government keeps the
other two from gaining too much power
• A republic guards against irresponsible
direct democracy or “common passions”
• Factions will always exist, but must be
managed to not severe from the system.
Anti-Fed Response
• Central gov’t would threaten liberty
• Aristocratic tyranny could happen
• Demanded a guarantee of individual rights
and liberty
• States power was too limited
Bill of Rights
• 10 amendments to the Constitution
• guaranteed individual freedoms and rights
• limited power of national government,
guaranteed rights to states
• Ratified in 1789, Bill of Rights added 1791
•
Which of the following is a fundamental
element of the US Constitution?
a. Recognition of the centrality of political parties in
government
b. Direct election of members of the executive branch
c. An executive branch that is more powerful than the
legislature
d. Emphasis on a unitary system of government
e. Division of government authority across political
institutions
•
The debates between Federalists and
Anti-Federalists were primarily about
which of the following issues?
a. The right of the people to rebel
b. The existence of slavery
c. The scope of power of the central
government
d. The need to establish a standard currency
e. The representation of large and small states
•
Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the
Constitution does which of the following?
a. Restricts the ability of Congress to tax
b. Restricts the ability of Congress to establish
an army or navy
c. Establishes a unitary form of government
d. Emphasizes state sovereignty over national
sovereignty
e. Emphasizes both national sovereignty and
federalism
•
The importance of Shay’s Rebellion to the
development of the US Constitution was that it
a. Revealed the necessity of both adding the Bill of Rights to the
Constitution and creating a new system of checks and
balances
b. Demonstrated the intensity of antiratification sentiment within the
thirteen states
c. Convinced the delegates attending the Constitutional Convention
to accept the Connecticut Compromise
d. Reinforced the idea that slavery should be outlawed in the new
Constitution
e. Indicated that a strong, constitutionally designed national
government was needed to protest property and maintain
order