The Constitution
Chapter 2
You think you know…but do you
really?
Ancient Greece
• First civilization to break away from totalitarian rule
and embrace democracy.
• “Demos” means people and “kratos” means rule or
authority.
• Athenian men voted in the Assembly; they used the
secret ballot, served on committees and juries, and
performed military service.
• This form of “direct democracy” has never been
practiced to such a full extent since.
Roman Empire
• Stretching from England to the Persian Gulf at its
peak, Rome evolved from a monarchy to a limited
representative democracy, to totalitarian state.
• Patricians (“fathers”) controlled the Roman Senate
and the lower classes had their own less powerful
representatives.
• The Romans contributed two major achievements to
the story of democracy: a system of Codified Laws
and a focus on Citizenship.
Roman Code of Laws
• The Laws of the Twelve Tables governed the
Roman Empire.
• It was broken down into two parts: Public Law and
Private Law.
• Public Law focused on the Roman state.
• Private Law focused on the behavior of the
individual.
• The test of any law was “what a person of common
sense and good faith would know to be right.”
Roman Citizenship
• Roman citizens were free subjects who could vote,
hold office, and be subject to the Roman code of
justice.
• Many groups willingly allowed themselves to be
subject to Roman rule in order to be citizens and
enjoy those rights.
Feudalism
• After the collapse of the Roman Empire around 450 A.D., a
period of chaos reigned only to be soothed by the rise of the
Catholic church in Europe.
• Feudalism emerged out of this, as well as the Crusades, in
which Christians fought to gain back the Holy Land in the
Middle East.
• The Lord of the Manor would rule over the lives of the serfs,
who worked to make each manor as self-sufficient as
possible.
• Knights served the Lord and fought to maintain prestige and
to protect the manor and the castle.
• Serfs were bound to the soil and unable to gain any higher
social standing. They were not educated and religious life
was on the manor was controlled by the priest.
Renaissance
• The Feudal period gave way to the Renaissance. Several
achievements led to the development of intellect and curiosity:
• The printing press and use of the vernacular (native language
instead of Latin) encouraged more people to want to learn to
read.
• Sea exploration to Asia and America led to exposure of new
ideas and cultures, as well as financial benefit (ownership of
colonies and Mercantilist Theory).
• Curiosity beget more curiosity and people begin to question
authority, especially that of the Pope, hence the Protestant
Reformation.
• “Divine Right of Kings” was questioned by Enlightenment
thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire.
British Colonial Rule
Unitary System – all power flows from one central government
Powerful British
Government
Political Subunits
(Colonies)
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)
Constitution
Federal System – powers are divided and/or shared between state
and central governments (Current gov’t designed by framers)
Central US government
State governments
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
Shays’s Rebellion
• Colonies were in debt after the war, central
gov’t tried to raise taxes
• Farmers in western Massachusetts rebelled
against tax they could not afford
• Rebelled against foreclosures, forced
judges out of court, freed debtors from jail
• Showed that national gov’t was weak,
needed to seek a stronger national gov’t
The Constitutional
Convention
• 1787
• Revising the A of C
• Demographics of Delegates
-55 delegates (none from RI)
-33 Lawyers
-half were college graduates
-7 former governors
-7 plantation owners
-8 business leaders
-age 26-81 (avg. age 42)
-all male, all white
Two “Revision” Plans
• Virginia Plan
– Favored large states
– Strong central government
– Bicameral (two house) legislature – larger
house elected by the people (House of
Representatives, and a smaller house that
was selected by larger house (Senate)
• (This would change in the 17th Amendment)
Two “Revision” Plans
• New Jersey Plan
– Agreed with strong central government…BUT
– Congress would be unicameral (one house)
with states having equal votes
– Did not want large population states to
dominate the legislature
Great Compromise
• A bicameral legislature in which the House
of Representatives membership
apportioned according to the state
populations, plus 3/5 the slave population
• An upper house, the Senate, which would
have two members from each state,
elected by the state legislature (popularly
elected today)
Three-fifths Compromise
• Agree to allow the South to count 3/5 the
population in each state to balance the
power of North and South
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
Fed vs. Anti-Fed
• Ratification – formal approval
• Federalist – in favor of adoption of US
Constitution creating a federal union and
strong central government
• Anti-Federalist – opposed to ratification in
1787, opposed to strong central
government
Federalist Papers
• Annoyingly hard to read
• Best political theory ever written in US
• Written by Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison, and John Jay
• Publius
• Convince public for ratification
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 destroy 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