Chapter 3: The Constitution

1. Daily Dilemma #6: What Constitutional Amendment do you think our country needs to promote a specific public policy, improve government structure or advance equality? Chapter 3: The Constitution

2. Students will be able to: Summarize the revolutionary roots of the Constitution Understand the functions of the electoral college Account for the failures in the Articles of Confederation Outline main features of the New Jersey and Virginia Plans and explain the Great Compromise Explain the four basic principles underlying the Constitution and show how they reflected America’s revolutionary values Summarize the 7 articles of the Constitution

3. SWBAT (continued): Summarize the key distinctions between Federalists and Antifederalists Summarize the key components of Federalism Argue whether or not the new U.S. Constitution established a majoritarian or pluralist democracy Explain why and how the promise of the Bill of Rights was used to ensure the ratification of the Constitution Describe the formal and informal processes of Constitutional change.

4. I. The Revolutionary Roots of the Constitution The Constitution divides the national government into 3 branches, describes the powers of those branches and their connections, outlines the interaction between the government and the governed and describes the relationship between the national government and the states “The U.S. Constitution, written in 1787 for an agricultural society huddled along the coast of a wild new land, now guides the political life of a massive urban society in the postnuclear age.”

5. A. Freedom in Colonial America Americas Europe Restricted private property Compelled support for established religions Limited access to trades and professions • Landowners could control and transfer property at will • No compulsory payments to churches • No ceiling on wages, no guild of exclusive professional associations

6. B. The Road to Revolution 1773: Boston Tea Party “The die is now cast. The colonies must either submit or triumph.” GEORGE III 1774: The Intolerable Acts British wanted order, Americans wanted liberty The British believed that taxing the colonies was the obvious was to meet the cost of administering the colonies

7. C. Revolutionary Action America: The Story of Us “No one knows who fired the first shot at Lexington, but it was the shot heard round the world.”

8. D. The Declaration of Independence The idea of consent is derived from social contract theory which states that the people agree to establish rulers for certain purposes but they have the right to resist or remove rulers who violate the purposes Thomas Jefferson: the pen John Adams: The voice

9. D. The Declaration of Independence We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

10. The fate of the revolutionaries who signed the Declaration would have been hanging, drawing and quartering…

11. The War of Independence • The British lost the war because America was… • Too big • Too far away • Successful at courting British rivals • Fighting for its own freedom

12. II. From Revolution to Confederation In a confederation, the states retain their sovereignty which means that each have supreme power Under the Articles of Confederation, each state had one vote in the Congress and the national government was largely powerless

13. A. The Articles of Confederation (failed because…) They did not give the national government the power to tax The Articles made no plan for a president-like position because they feared creating a monarchy The Articles did not allow the national government to regulate interstate and foreign commerce The Articles could not be amended without the unanimous agreement of the Congress– each state had the power to veto any changes to the confederation

14. B. Disorder Under the Confederation • After the Revolution, the national government had neither the economic nor the military power to function effectively • Debt mounted, bankruptcy followed… • Daniel Shays marched to a Massachusetts courthouse with 1500 supporters protesting high taxes. They later attacked an arsenal. After the congress failed to gain approval for a national army, the governor of Massachusetts called the militia to restore order.

15. III. From Confederation to Constitution Order, the original purpose of government, broke down under the Articles of Confederation Twelve of the thirteen states (all but Rhode Island) named 74 delegates to convene in Philadelphia, the most important city in America, in May 1787

16. Virginia Plan New Jersey Plan Benefitted small states by making membership in the legislature equal for all states Multi-person executive with no right to veto Single chamber/ house legislature • Benefitted big states by making membership in legislature dependent on population through taxes • Unspecified size of executive • Three branches: legislative, executive and judicial • Two chamber/ house legislature

17. D. The Great Compromise Committee was created to resolve the deadlock between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. 1 delegate was chosen from each state by secret ballot. Great Compromise– submitted by the Connecticut delegation to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Called for bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population and the states would be represented equally in the Senate

18. E. Compromise on the Presidency The delegate’s distrusted the people’s judgment; some feared that popular election of the president would arouse public passions. So they formed the electoral college– a body of electors chosen by voters to cast ballots for president and vice president. Each elector voted for 2 people. The person with the most votes became president, second most votes, vice president (changed by the 12th Amendment)

19. Daily Dilemma #7 Is the United States a democracy? Base your response on EITHER the majoritarian or pluralist views.

20. IV. The Final Product We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Creates a people Explains the reason for a Constitution Articulates goals Fashions a government

21. A. The Basic Principles Republicanism– People’s powers to choose their own representatives Federalism– division of power between central, national and local governments Separation of Powers– Creates the judicial, legislative and executive branches Checks and Balances– Different branches can limit other branches

23. B. The Articles of the Constitution Article I: The Legislative Article Article II: The Executive Article Article III: The Judicial Article Article IV: allows the addition of new states and gives a plan for protecting states from foreign and domestic threats Article V: explains how to change the Constitution Article VI: Supremacy clause to assert that the Constitution, national laws and treaties takes precedence over state and local laws

24. C. The Framer’s Motives & D. The Slavery Issue • Were the Framer’s just a bunch of rich, white men? • The Framer’s wanted to create order and economic stability so badly that they allowed slavery to be written into the Constitution • 18% of the population in 1790 was enslaved • The Constitution allowed slavery to continue and made slaves count 3/5 of a free person because of the difference in their ability to produce wealth

25. VI. Selling the Constitution • The Federalist papers remain the single best commentary on the meaning the Constitution and the political theory it embodies • Federalist 10: The Constitution was designed “to break and control the violence of faction” (political parties and interest groups) • Federalist 51 Argued the importance of checks and balances and separation of powers • The Antifederalists published under the pseudonyms of Brutus and Federal Farmer • Attacked the centralization of power in a strong national government & worried the situation would destroy liberty

26. A. A Concession: The Bill of Rights Many important citizens, including Thomas Jefferson, were unhappy that the Constitution did not list basic civil liberties– the individual freedoms guaranteed citizens Hamilton worried that if you listed SOME powers people had that powers that people deserved might be limited because they were not expressly listed

27. B. Ratification The Constitution officially took effect upon its ratification by the 9th state, New Hampshire, on June 21, 1788

28. VII. Constitutional Change

29. A. The Formal Amendment Process • The amendment process includes two stages, proposal and ratification. • An amendment has never been proposed by national convention • Most of the nations 27 Amendments reflect changes in political thinking and they… • Make public policy • Correct deficiencies in the government structure • Promote equality

30. Amendments not approved by Congress… • 21st Century • School Prayer Amendment– Allow prayer in schools • Every Vote Counts Amendment– Abolish the electoral college • Equal Opportunity to Govern– would allow naturalized citizens who have lived in the U.S. for 20 years to be able to become president • Marriage Amendment– Defining marriage between one man and one woman only • 20th Century • Anti-Miscegenation– forbid interracial marriage • Death Penalty Abolition Amendment • Human Life Amendment– overturn Roe v. Wade and make abortion illegal

31. B. Interpretation by the Courts Marbury v. Madison (1803) declared that the couts have the power to nullify government acts that conflct with the Constitution. JUDICIAL REVIEW Unelected judges can now change policies enacted by the framers of the Constitution

32. C. Political Practice • The Constitution is silent on many issues. • It says nothing about political parties or the president’s cabinet. • The electoral college has changed in scope and purpose and has become a rubber stamp for what states already think • The framers intended Congress to be the strongest branch of government but the Presidency has risen in power • Lincoln, FDR, George W. Bush

33. VIII. An Evaluation of the Constitution The Articles of Confederation created a weak national government that leaned too much toward freedom at the expense of order.