1 st United States Constitution. A. loose alliance of states. B. Congress lawmaking body. C. 9 states had to vote to pass laws

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1 1 st United States Constitution A. loose alliance of states B. Congress lawmaking body C. 9 states had to vote to pass laws D. each state had 1 vote in Congress Northwest Ordinance / Land Ordinance division of land in new territory Congress couldn t tax states had to ask states for money Congress could not force states to follow laws Hard to get states to agree to anything Congress is too weak The Articles of Confederation formed a very weak United States government. The country didn t want a government that looked anything like what they experienced under Great Britain. It was very unsuccessful. 1

2 Constitutional Convention Date of the convention: 1787 Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The meeting was held in secret because they didn t want to be influenced by public opinion. Important Members: President: George Washington Oldest member: Ben Franklin (81) Alexander Hamilton of New York (Are you happy Giulia and Katrina?) James Madison of Virginia became known as the Father of the Constitution because he kept detailed notes which allows us to know what happened at the convention Absent Members: John Adams of Massachusetts foreign minister to Great Britain Thomas Jefferson of Virginia foreign minister to France The original purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation they decided to start over because there was so many things wrong with the Articles of Confederation. 2

3 Virginia Plan Proposed by Edmund Randolph and James Madison 3 branches of government 1. Legislative branch makes the laws 2. Executive Branch carries out the laws 3. Judicial Branch determines if laws are fair 2 house legislature (law-making body) determined by population. This is called a bicameral legislature This plan favored large states New Jersey Plan Proposed by William Paterson 3 branches of government 1. Legislative branch makes the laws 2. Executive Branch carries out the laws 3. Judicial Branch determines if laws are fair 1 house legislature where all the state had 1 vote. This is called a unicameral legislature. This plan favored smaller states COMPROMISE Great Compromise Bicameral (2 house) legislature called Congress Congress consisted of the House of Representatives based upon population (favored large states) and the Senate where each state had 2 votes (favored small states) 3 branches of government : 3

4 3/5ths Compromise The Question: Would slaves count as part of a state s population? North View The North wanted slaves to count as part of a state s population when it came to taxation. If this happened then the South would pay more of the country s taxes. The South didn t like this because they would have to pay more taxes. South View The South wanted slaves to count as part of a state s population so that they would get more members in the House of Representatives. The North didn t like this because the South would have more votes in Congress. 3/5ths Compromise Slaves would count as 3/5ths of a person for purposes of both taxation and representation.. Slave Trade Compromise Nothing would be done about the slave trade for 20 years (until 1807). 4

5 Preamble The Preamble is the introduction to the Constitution. It is written below: 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 posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. The Constitution gets its power from the people We the people The idea that the power of the government is given to it by the people is one of the principles of the Constitution. The principle that says that the power of the government comes from the people is called popular sovereignty. 5

6 Legislative Branch Job: Make the laws The Legislative Branch s main part is called Congress, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It has two parts which means we could call it a bicameral legislature. Senate Each state sends 2 Senators to the Senate. The total number of Senators today is 100. Senators serve for 6 years before they have to be reelected: Requirements: years old 2. 9 years a citizen of the United States 3. Resident of the state they are elected from The title of the leader of the Senate is: President (actually the Vice-President of the United States) This type of state has more than its share of power in the Senate: small states The Senate is known as the Upper House. 6

7 House of Representatives Each state sends a number of representatives based upon the population of the state. The total number of House of Representative members today is 435. House of Representative members 2 years before they have to be re-elected. Requirements: years old 2. resident of the state they are elected from 3. citizen of the United States for 7 years The title of the leader of the House of Representatives is: Speaker of the House This type of state has more power in the House of Representatives: large population states What are 4 powers delegated (given) to Congress by (Article 1, Section 8 pp )? 1. to make and collect taxes 2. to regulate trade with foreign countries 3. to establish post offices 4. to coin money What does the elastic clause let Congress due? (Art. 1, Sec. 8, Cl. 18 p. 936) It lets Congress increase its power in times of emergency. Congress is in charge of impeachment of government officials. Impeachment means bringing an elected official to trial. 7

8 Executive Branch Job of the Executive Branch: Carry out the laws President is the main person of the Executive Branch. 3 Requirements: years old 2. natural born citizen 3. resident of the United States for 14 years President is elected in November. The President is inaugurated or sworn into office in January. Length of a Presidential term: 4 years The total length of years a President can serve in a row: 10 years Current President: Donald Trump Current Vice-President: Mike Pence What is the job of the Electoral College: Elect the President List 5 jobs of the President: 1. Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces 2. grant pardons to people who have committed a crime 3. Make treaties with other nations 4. Appoint ambassadors to foreign nations 5. Head of the Executive Branch 8

9 Judicial Branch The Judicial Branch determines if laws are fair. The highest court in the United States is the Supreme Court. The head of the Supreme Court is the Chief Justice. There are 9 justices in the Supreme Court? What types of cases does the Supreme Court hear? It is the court of last appeals (it takes cases that have already been decided at lower courts) There are no requirements to become a member of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court members serve for life (or until you retire. How else can you word what the job of the Judicial Branch is? Checks if laws are constitutional Determines if a law goes against the Constitution 9

10 Principles of the Constitution Guide #1 When we talk about the Principles of the Constitution we are talking about the main ideas or goals of the Constitution. Everything the founders of the Constitution did was done with these ideas in mind. Principles of the Constitution: Popular Sovereignty Limited Power of Government Federalism Judicial Review Separation of Powers Checks and Balances Popular Sovereignty The definition of Popular Sovereignty: The power of the government comes from the people Where is the idea of Popular Sovereignty most evident on the Constitution? Preamble Limited Power of Government The definition of Limited Power of Government: The government can only do what the people give it the power to do. Why did the writers of the Constitution include this in the Constitution? They didn t want anything powerful like the king. 10

11 Judicial Review Judicial Review is when the Supreme Court determines if a law passed by Congress is Constitutional. It was established with the case of Marbury vs. Madison (1803). Federalism The definition of Federalism: Power is shared between the states and the national government. The Federal System The Federal System Powers delegated (given) to the National Government Powers reserved (kept) by the states 1. Create and maintain armed forces 1. Establish and maintain schools 2. Establish post offices 2. Establish local governments 3. Coin money 3. Make laws about marriage and divorce 4. Declare war Powers shared by both governments 1. raise taxes 2. borrow money 11

12 Separation of Powers Separation of Powers is defined as: System in which the power of the government is divided among separate branches. The power of the government is separated (divided) as shown below. Name of Branch Executive Legislative Judicial Groups called President Congress Supreme Court Job Carry out the laws Make the laws Determines if laws are fair 12

13 Even though the founders knew that the power should be divided equally, they understood that it was possible for one branch to get greedy so they put the principle of Checks and Balances into the Constitution. Checks and Balances Checks and Balances is defined as: System where each branch of the government could control the power of the other branches. The Executive Branch checks the Judicial Branch by: Appointing federal judges. The Executive Branch checks the Legislative Branch by: Vetoing laws. The Judicial Branch checks the Legislative Branch by: Declaring acts of Congress unconstitutional. The Judicial Branch checks the Executive Branch by: Declaring executive actions unconstitutional. The Legislative Branch checks the Judicial Branch by: Approves appointments of federal judges. The Legislative Branch checks the Executive Branch by: Overriding a President s veto. 13

14 Amendments Amendments are ways to add to the Constitution as times change. They are important because they can adjust the rules the country follows without having to write a completely new constitution. 27 of them 1 st ten called the Bill of Rights they were added to the Constitution in order to protect individual rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The Bill of Rights were a reaction to how the writers felt people s rights were taken under the British and other governments. The Antifederalists were big supporters of the Bill of Rights. allows the Constitution to change over time th Amendments ended slavery and gave the right to vote to former male slaves. 19 th amendment gave women the right to vote. 14

15 Why has the Constitution survived? Our Constitution has survived since It is the oldest written Constitution in the world. How has it survived while other countries have had 2 or 5 or even 20 constitutions in the same time period? Below is a list of reasons for its success: Colonial Past The framers learned from their experiences as a colony. A single ruler was unfair and would often result in tyranny. To combat this threat, they designed the Constitution so this could never happen again. Constitutional Design The Constitution contains several principles that have enabled it to survive. Often constitutions have been destroyed because an individual or small group of people has taken over the government. This cannot happen in the United States because of the principle of Separation of Powers. This divided our government into three branches with equal power. The three branches are the Executive, Judicial and Legislative. The principle of Checks and Balances was included just in case one branch of government tried to take over the government. Each branch can control the other branches. Power of the People The people have the power to control what the government in doing. If the government is not meeting the needs of the people, the people can vote for other representatives who hopefully will do what the people want. This goes back to the principle of Popular Sovereignty. Amendments Amendments or changes can be made to the Constitution. This allows for changes to be made as situations in the country changes. This allows for the Constitution to change as times change without having to be rewritten. Vagueness of the Constitution The Constitution set out the principles of the government. It did not make many specific laws. It did set up the system to create laws that are necessary for that time period. The three branches if government can create laws to deal with current situations. If specific laws were created in 1787, many would be obsolete by now and we would need a new Constitution. 15

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17 Key terms: A bill is a proposed law. A veto is when the President rejects a bill. Override means to overrule. 17

18 Background: Ratify means to approve. There was a big discussion in 1787 whether the Constitution should be ratified. The issue of ratification caused the United States to split into two groups. Federalists were for the approval of the Constitution and Anti-federalists were totally against ratification of the Constitution. 9 out of 13 states had to ratify the Constitution for it to take effect. The Two Groups Federalists For ratification of the Constitution Leaders James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay Wanted a strong central government Federalist Papers were a series of essays by the Federalist leaders explaining why the new Constitution was such a good thing. Anti-Federalists Against ratification of the Constitution Leaders Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson States should have more power Disliked the Constitution because they thought it created too strong of a central government which could become like a king They felt a bill of rights needed to be added to the constitution to guarantee individual liberties What happened: Nine states ratified the Constitution by New York and Virginia, two of the more powerful states, had not yet approved it. They were crucial states because the Constitution would not work without their support. Virginia was the 10 th state to approve the Constitution and New York followed soon after. 18