Mr. Tuccillo
Chapter 2
AP Government
The Constitution
Objective(s):
1. Students will be able to explain why the Constitution is sometimes called the “higher law”.
2. Students will be able to outline the events that led early Americans to declare independence from Britain.
3. Students will review the basic philosophy that underlies the Declaration of
Independence.
4. Students will be able to summarize the parallels between Lock’s writings and
Jefferson’s language in the Declaration of Independence.
5. Students will be able to explain how the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation laid the groundwork for the Constitution.
6. Students will be able to describe what Madison meant by “factions” and how he proposed to solve problems presented by factions.
7. Students will be able to evaluate how the Constitutional Convention dealt with issues of equality.
8. Students will be able to summarize the major compromises of the Constitutional
Convention.
9. Students will be able to explain why economic issues were high on the agenda at the
Constitutional Convention and how the framers tried to strengthen the economic powers of the new national government.
10. Students will be able to demonstrate what we mean by the “Madisonian model” and how it is incorporated within the Constitution.
11. Students will understand why many critics claim that the Madisonian model actually reduces efficiency in the operation of government.
12. Students will be able to describe the major issues between the Federalists and the
Anti-Federalists in the debates over the ratification of the Constitution.
13. Students will ascertain how constitutional changes-both formal and informalcontinue to shape and alter the Madisonian system.
14. Students will examine the Constitution in terms of the theme of democracy that runs throughout this chapter.
15. Students will be able to identify factors that have led to a gradual democratization of the Constitution.
16. Students will be able to understand how the Constitution affects the scope of government in America.
Outline:
I. The Origins of the Constitution
A. A constitution is a nation’s basic law that:
1. Creates political institutions
2. Assigns or divides powers in government

3. Often provides certain guarantees to citizens
4. Includes an unwritten accumulation of traditions and precedents
5. Sets the broad rules of the game of politics
B. The Road to Revolution
1. the American colonists had a lot better life than most people in other colonies at the time
2. for the most part the King and Parliament only really governed
America’s foreign policy and trade, leaving the rest up to the individual discretion of individual colonial governments
3. The French and Indian War, fought in American was a great but costly war for Britain a. the British obtained a vast expanse of new territory from the
French b. the British felt it was only fair that the colonists help to pay for the war since they are the primary beneficiaries of what was won
4. the British Parliament passed a series of taxes of official documents, newspapers, paper, glass, paint, and tea
5. the British also started to tighten enforcement of trade regulations
6. the colonists resented taxation without representation a. they boycotted the taxed goods, protested, and held the Boston
Tea Party (342 chest of tea)
7. the British responded with a naval blockade of the harbor and applied economic pressure
8. the colonists held the First Continental Congress in September 1774 a. they sent delegates from each colony to Philadelphia to discuss the future of relations with Britain
C. Declaring Independence
1. the Continental Congress was in almost continual session during 1775-
1776 a. talk of independence was common
2. Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense appeared in January 1776 and fanned the already hot flames of revolution
3. on July 2, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved to declare independence
4. on July 4, the Declaration of Independence, written primarily by
Thomas Jefferson (also John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston) was adopted a. the document stated the colonists’ grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence
D. The English Heritage: The Power of Ideas
1. the colonists frequently read from and quoted the works of philosophers in making many of their arguments
2. John Locke’s works, especially The Second Treatise of Civil
Government (1689), profoundly influenced the American leaders
3. Locke believed in natural rights

4. Natural Rights : rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments a. these rights include the right to life, liberty, and property b. natural law is superior to human law and therefore can justify a challenge to a tyrannical king c. the government must be built on the consent of the governed d. Consent of the Governed : there must be clear restrictions on what rulers can do
1. the people must agree on who their rulers will be
2. the sole purpose of government was to protect natural rights e. Limited Government : certain things are out of bounds for governments
1. governments must provide standing laws so that people know in advance whether their acts will be acceptable
2. a man’s property cannot be taken away by an authority without his consent f. in extreme cases, people have a right to revolt against a government that no longer has their consent
E. Jefferson’s Handiwork: The American Creed
1. there are a number of parallels between Locke’s thought and
Jefferson’s language in the Declaration of Independence
2. Jefferson felt that people should rule instead of be ruled
3. each individual was created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights
4. consent of the governed, not divine rights or tradition, made the exercise of political power legitimate
F. Winning Independence
1. it took the colonists from 1775 to 1783 to actually win their independence from the greatest military strength in the world
G. The “Conservative” Revolution
1. the Revolution was basically a conservative movement that did not drastically alter the colonists’ way of life
2. the primary goal of the War was to restore rights the colonists felt were already theirs as British subjects
3. there was no great social, economic, or political upheavals
II. The Government That Failed: 1776-1787
A. The Articles of Confederation : the first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and enacted in 1781
1. it established a government dominated by the states
2. the Articles established a legislature with one house: each state had only one vote a. its powers were strictly limited b. it had no power to tax

c. it lacked the power to regulate commerce, which inhibited foreign trade
3. there was no president and no national court
4. the weakness of the national government prevented it from dealing with the problems that faced the new nation
5. all power rested in the states
B. Changes in the States
1. there were important changes occurring in the states that led to an increase in democracy and liberty (for white males)
2. states were adopting bill of rights and expanding political participation
3. a new middle class that included artisans and small farmers was coming to power a. power from shifting from the wealthy to a more broad based group of individuals who now held the majority
4. the structure of government in the states also became more responsive to the people
5. Americans were on their way to becoming “the most liberal, the most democratic, the most commercially minded, and the most modern people in the world”
C. Economic Turmoil
1. there was an unequal distribution of property and money in America
2. a postwar depression left many small farmers unable to pay their debts and threatened them with mortgage foreclosures
3. state legislatures were under the control of people more sympathetic to debtors
4. a few states even supported debtors over creditors and tried to make it possible for people to pay their debts a. they printed more money for the debtors and used force acts to make creditors to accept the worthless money
D. Shays’ Rebellion
1. in 1786, a small band of farmers in western Massachusetts rebelled at losing their land to creditors a. they were led by Revolutionary Was Captain Daniel Shays b. there were a series of armed attacks on courthouses to prevent judges from foreclosing on farms
2. neither Congress nor the state could raise a militia to stop them a. a privately paid force was paid to do so
3. Shays’ Rebellion spurred the birth of the Constitution
E. The Aborted Annapolis Meeting
1. in September 1786, a handful of leaders assembled at Annapolis,
Maryland, to discuss problems with the Articles of Confederation a. only five states sent delegates
2. they concluded that a full-scale meeting of the states would be needed
3. it would meet in Philadelphia the following May and come to be known as the Constitutional Convention

III. Making a Constitution: The Philadelphia Convention
A. representatives from 12 states went to Philadelphia
1. Rhode Island refused to participate
2. the sole purpose of the meeting was to revise the Articles of
Confederation a. that was not really feasible because changes would require the unanimous consent of the states
3. the 55 delegates ignored this purpose and began writing a new document a. U.S. Constitution: the document written in 1787 and ratified in
1788 that sets forth the institutional structure of U.S. government and the tasks these institutions perform
B. Gentlemen in Philadelphia
1. the delegates were a select group of economic and political notables
2. mostly wealthy planters, successful (or once successful) lawyers and merchants, and men of independent wealth
3. many were college graduates and most had political experience
4. most were costal residents, a significant number being urbanites
C. Philosophy into Action
1. there were many different philosophical views among the 55 delegates, however, the group agreed on questions of (1) human nature, (2) the causes of political conflict, and (3) the object and (4) nature of a republican government
2. Human Nature: the delegates felt that people were self-interested and that government should play key role in containing the natural selfinterest of people
3. Political Conflict: James Madison who is often called “the father of the
Constitution,” was perhaps the most influential member of the Convention in translating political philosophy into governmental architecture a. Madison believed that the distribution of wealth (land included) is the source of political conflict b. other sources of conflict include religion, views of governing, and attachment to various leaders c. Factions : interest groups arising from the unequal distribution of property (wealth)
1. majority faction might be composed of the many who have little or no property
2. minority faction might be those with property d. today’s parties or interest groups are what Madison had in mind when he warned of the instability of government caused by factions e. if left unchecked one of the factions would become tyrannical
1. governments that are run by factions, the founders believed, are prone to instability, tyranny, and even violence

4. Objects of Government: the most important object of government must be to protect property a. many delegates felt that the principal objective of government should be an economic one b. the preservation of the individual rights to acquire and hold wealth
5. Nature of Government: the secret of a good government is a balanced government so no faction could seize complete control of government
IV. The Agenda of Philadelphia
A. The Equality Issues: although the Constitution is silent of equality, some of the most important issues on the policy agenda at Philadelphia concerned representation of the states; what to do about slavery; and whether or not to ensure political equality
B. Equality and Representation of the States: formation of the new Congress
1. the New Jersey Plan : proposed by William Patterson of New Jersey, called for the equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state’s population
2. the Virginia Plan : suggested by Edmund Randolph of Virginia, call for representation of each state in Congress in Proportion to that state’s share of the U.S. population
3. the Connecticut Compromise: devised by Roger Sherman and William
Johnson of Connecticut, called for the creation of two houses in Congress or a bicameral legislature a. Senate would have two members from each state b. House of Representatives would have representation based on population
4. some people feel this compromise gives the small states more power than the larger ones
C. Slavery: at the time of the Convention, slavery was legal in every state except
Massachusetts
1. the delegates agreed to end the importation of slavery after 1808, but did not forbid slavery itself in the U.S.
2. delegates also said that persons legally “held to service or labour” who escaped to free states had to be returned to their owners
3. question arose as to how to count slaves in terms of representation in
Congress a. Three-fifths Compromise : representation and taxation were to be based on the “number of free persons,” plus three-fifths of the number of “all other persons”
D. Political Equality:
1. some delegates favored suffrage for all free, adult males
2. others wanted there to be property qualifications on the right to vote
3. ultimately they decided to leave the issue to the states a. people qualified to vote in state elections could also vote in national elections

E. Economic Issues: economic issues played an important role at the Convention
1. advocated of the Constitution (Federalists) stressed the economy’s weaknesses
2. opponents to the Constitution (Anti-Federalists, who opposed a strong national government) claimed the charges of economic weakness were exaggerated
3. the delegates felt the following problems needed to be addressed a. tariffs enacted between the states b. the fact that much of the paper money in some states was worthless, yet was still be forced on creditors c. Congress was having trouble raising money
4. it is not surprising that the framers of the Constitution would seek to strengthen the economic powers of the new national government since delegates to the Constitutional Convention were the nation’s postcolonial economic elite a. historian Charles Beard argued that the delegates primarily wanted these strong economic powers so that their own wealth would be protected
1. strong evidence does not support his theory
5. the Constitution clearly spelled out the economic powers of Congress a. Congress was to be the chief economic policymaker b. Congress could obtain revenues through taxing and borrowing c. Congress could appropriate funds d. Congress was to encourage economic enterprise and investment in the United States e. Congress also could build the nation’s infrastructure by constructing post offices and roads and establishing standards for weight and measure f. Congress was given the power to protect property rights
1. punish counterfeiters and pirates
2, ensure patents and copyrights
3. legislating rules for bankruptcy g. Congress could also regulate interstate and foreign commerce
6. the framers also prohibited certain practices in the states that they felt would hurt economic development a. maintaining individual state monetary systems b. placing duties on imports from other states c. interfering with lawfully contracted debts
7. states had to respect civil judgments and contracts made in other states, and had to return runaway slaves to their owners
8. the national government guaranteed the states a “republican form of government” to prevent a recurrence of Shay’s Rebellion, and the new government would repay all the public debts incurred under the
Continental Congress and Articles of Confederation ($54 million)
9. the Constitution helped to spur a capitalist economy

F. The Individual Rights Issues
1. the founders felt it was important and would be easy to preserve individual rights a. they were constructing a limited government that, by design, could not threaten personal freedoms b. powers were dispersed so that each branch or level of government could retrain the other c. most delegated believed that the various states were already protecting individual rights
2. as a result the Constitution says little about personal freedoms, but it does include the following a. prohibits the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus except during invasion or rebellion
1. writ of habeas corpus : a court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody b. prohibits Congress from passing bills of attainder, which punish people without a judicial trial c. prohibits Congress from passing ex post facto laws, which punish people or increase the penalties for acts that were not illegal or not as punishable when the act was committed d. prohibits imposing religious qualifications for holding office in the national government e. treason is narrowly define, and strict rules of evidence for conviction of treason are specified f. it upholds the right to a trial by jury in criminal cases
3. despite these there were still many criticisms of the absence of specific protections of individual rights
V. The Madisonian Model
A. the delegates of the Convention were faced with the dilemma of reconciling economic inequality with political freedom
B. Thwarting Tyranny of the Majority
1. James Madison and his colleagues feared both majority and minority factions
C. Limiting Majority Control
1. to prevent the possibility of a tyranny of the majority, Madison felt it was essential to keep most of the government beyond their control a. his plan placed only one element of government, the House of
Representatives, within direct control of the votes of the majority b. most government officials would be elected or nominated by a small minority, not the people themselves c. to further insulate governmental officials from public opinion, judges were given lifetime tenure and senators were given six year terms

D. Separating Powers : requires each of the three branches of government, the executive, legislative, and judicial, to be relatively independent of the others so that one cannot control the others
1. power is shared among the three
E. Checks and Balances : each branch required the consent of the others for many of its actions
1. each branch can limit the powers of the other two a. veto power of president b. Congress holds the “purse strings” of government c. Judicial Review: the power of the courts to hold executive and legislative policies unconstitutional
1. this right was not specifically outlined in the
Constitution, but established in Marbury v. Madison (1803)
F. Federalism
G. The Constitutional Republic
1. the framers of the Constitution established a republic a. Republic : a form of government that derives its power, directly or indirectly, from the people and representatives of the public careful nurturing and balancing of diverse interest
H. the End of the Beginning
1. on the 109 th day of meeting the Constitution was completed a. not everyone was satisfied with the results and some did not sign it
VI. Ratifying the Constitution
A. after the Constitution was completed it then had to be ratified by 9 of the 13 states
B. Federalists and Anti-Federalists
1. a fierce battle erupted between the Federalists who supported the
Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists who opposed it
2. Federalists a. Federalists Papers : a collection of 85 articles written by
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the name
“Publius” to defend the Constitution in detail b. the articles defended the Constitution detail by detail and also represented an important statement of political philosophy exercise power
2. this deliberative democracy required and encouraged an elaborate decision making process
3. the system of checks and balances and separation of powers favors the status quo because people who desire change must have a sizable majority rather than a simple majority a. change usually comes slowly if at all
4. the Madisonian system encourages moderation and compromise
5. Franklin said a system like this is not easy to maintain – it requires

3. Anti-Federalists a. . they question the motives of the writers of the Constitution b. they sincerely believed that the new government was an enemy of freedom, the very freedom they had just fought a war to ensure c. they felt that the Constitution was a class-based document, intended to ensure that a particular economic elite controlled the public policies of the national government d. they also feared that the new government would erode fundamental liberties and weaken the power of the states
4. in a compromise to assure ratification, the Federalists promised to add amendments to the document specifically protecting individual liberties a. James Madison introduced twelve constitutional amendments during the First Congress in 1789 b. ten of the amendments – known as the Bill of Rights – were ratified by the states and took effect in 1791
C. Ratification
1. the Federalists specified that the Constitution be ratified by special conventions in each of the states, not by state legislatures (a shrewd move since state legislatures were populated with political leaders who would lose power under the Constitution)
2. only nine state shad to ratify the Constitution
3. Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution , doing so on
December 7, 1787
4. New Hampshire became the ninth state only six months later
5. George Washington was the electoral college’s unanimous choice for president, with John Adams as vice president a. they took office on April 30, 1789
VII. Constitutional Change
A. the Constitution is referred to as a living document because it is constantly be tested and altered
B. Constitutional changes can occur either by formal amendments or by a number of informal processes
C. The Formal Amending Process: Article V of the Constitution outlines this procedure
1. Formal Amendments change the written language of the Constitution
2. there are two stages to the amendment process a. Proposal: an amendment may be proposed either by a twothirds vote in each house of Congress or by a national convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures b. Ratification: an amendment may be ratified either by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states or by special state conventions called in three-fourths of the states

3. all of the amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by
Congress (no constitutional convention has been convened since the original Constitutional Convention)
4. all but one, the 21 st
Amendment, of the successful amendments have been ratified by the state legislatures
D. Effects of Formal Amendments
1. formal amendments have made the Constitution more egalitarian and democratic
2. the emphasis on economic issues in the original document is now balanced by amendments that stress equality and increase the ability of a popular majority to affect government
3. the most important effect that these amendments have had has been to expand liberty and equality
E. some amendments have been proposed but not ratified
1. Equal Rights Amendment : an amendment passed by Congress in
1972, and sent to state legislatures for ratification a. it called for equality between the sexes b. it failed to gain the necessary support from three-fourths of the states
F. The Informal Process of Constitutional Change
1. the Constitution changes informally as well as formally
2. Unwritten Constitution : refers to an unwritten body of tradition , practice, and procedure that when altered, may change the spirit of the
Constitution
3. ways that the Constitution changes informally a. Judicial Interpretation: the Courts have to decide how to interpret the Constitution when disputes arise
1. established with Marbury v. Madison in 1803
2. Judicial Review : implied but never explicitly stated in the Constitution, this power gives the courts the right to decide whether the actions of the other two branches on both the state and national levels of government are in accord with the Constitution b. Changing Political Practice: