A Guided Tour of the Constitution
I. A Brief Overview of the Structure: HAVE CLASS LOOK OVER THE
CONSTITUTION AS YOU GO
 Article I – Legislative Branch
 Pay particular attention to Section 8 (powers of Congress), Section 9
(powers denied to Congress), and Section 10 (powers denied to the
states)
 Article II – Executive Branch
 Article III – Judicial Branch
 Article IV – Relations between States (Full Faith and Credit)
 Article V – Process of Amending the Constitution
 Article VI – THE SUPREMACY CLAUSE – note that the Constitution
proclaims itself the supreme law of the land
 Article VII – Ratification – Go over this as an introduction to the
Federalist/Anti-Federalist Debate
II. Comparing the Constitution to the Articles of Confederation
Problem in the AOC
“Firm League of Friendship”
No Executive Branch
No Federal Judiciary
No power to tax
States retain power to coin money
No power to regulate trade
No unified military
Unanimous consent required for
amending the Articles
Central government not able to act
directly on the people
Enforcement of federal laws and
treaties left to the states
Remedy in the Constitution
“More Perfect Union” (Preamble)
Executive set forth in Article II
Supreme Court established and
provisions for establishing lower courts
set forth in Article III
Power granted to Congress in Article I,
section 8
Congress granted power in Art. I, sec.
8; States denied that power in sec. 10
Congress given the power to regulate
trade in Art. I, sec. 8
Congress can establish army/navy;
President is Commander in Chief
Rectified by Article V
Rectified by the Supremacy Clause of
Article VI
Congress takes on this responsibility
III.Major Compromises in the Constitution
 REPRESENTATION:
 Virginia Plan – supported by the larger states with large populations; called
for a bicameral legislature in which both houses would be apportioned by
population
 New Jersey Plan – supported by smaller states who were afraid that
representation based on population would cause them to lose influence;
supported a unicameral Congress in which there would equal
representation for each state
 Result: Connecticut Compromise – put forth by Roger Sherman –
bicameral legislature in which the lower house (House of Representatives)
is based on population, and the upper house (Senate) would be
apportioned equally
 Since equal representation won out in the upper house, the small states
conceded that all bills for raising revenue would originate in the lower
house
 Note also that the states determine the requirements for voting, which will
be an integral part of democratization
 COMMERCE: Northern states wanted to make sure that the national
government regulated interstate commerce and provided protection for
international trade (since most of the shipping came out of the North);
Southern states wanted to make sure that there were no taxes on their exports
and wanted to make sure that there was a 2/3 vote on all regulations of trade
 Result: No taxation of exports (specifically prohibited); Congress retains the
ability to regulate interstate trade and to make trade treaties for the whole
nation (states are denied that power in Article I, Section 10)
 SLAVERY: One of the stickiest issues of the convention; a number of antislavery movements had already begun, but northern delegates need the
support of southern states in order to make the whole thing work.
 There is also an issue of whether or not slaves count toward population;
Southern states want them to count (because it will give them more
representation in Congress), Northern states claim that if they can’t vote
and aren’t citizens, they shouldn’t count
 Results:
1. 3/5 Compromise – 3/5 of all “other persons” will count toward the
population of slave-holding states
2. The slave trade – the importation of slaves – was to be phased out after 20
years (1808)
3. The fugitive slave law – Article IV, Section 2 – as an extension of the
concept of “full faith and credit” and extradition, slaves that escape to nonslave-holding states are to be returned to their owners in the states in
which they were held
Probably the biggest complaint against the Constitution in its early phases was its
lack of a Bill of Rights; almost all of the states had them, but the Framers claimed
that they had built into the document enough restraints to make sure that the
federal government would not be able to abuse its citizens.
 THIS MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE CONCEPTS OF
SEPARATION (AND SHARING) OF POWERS, AND THE IDEA OF CHECKS
AND BALANCES (I don’t know how in depth you want to go)
 One of the major focuses of the Federalist papers will be to outline these two
ideas and explain how the system prevents abuses from any faction or
position
SOME ISSUES WITH THE BILL OF RIGHTS:
 Have students read the first five words of the First Amendment: “Congress
shall pass no law…”
 Be sure to note that the protections set forth in the B.O.R. apply only to the
national government, not the states – this will be the basis of states’ ability
to regulate behaviors (for example, states can deny rights of slaves, or
women, or whomever)
 Have students read Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 – explain the “elastic
clause” and the powers that it gives the government – then have students
read the Tenth Amendment
 Ask students to point out the inherent contradiction here:
 Loose Construction: relying on the “elastic clause” – claims that the
federal government has the ability to do all things “necessary and proper”
to function, even if it is not stated in the Constitution
 Northern states will embrace this because they (and their commerce)
will benefit from infrastructure
 Strict Construction: relying on the Tenth Amendment – the federal
government can only do what is explicitly set forth in the enumerated
powers of Article I, Section 8
 Southern states – and all supporters of states’ rights – will embrace this
because it protects them from “tyranny” of the federal government and
prevents the government from interfering with slavery
 AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SAY THIS AT THIS JUNCTURE OF THE
SEMESTER, the seeds of the Civil War were planted in the Constitution
itself