What was the conflict over the legislative power of the national government?

Transcription

1 Lesson 14 What was the conflict over the legislative power of the national government? I?rameiWas I tn ijr ati(maij: o ei i gu] u imrii ; m p pniitiieiijjq]i\ers:i;otiij tiyel pmncfiy i)r u s oiuaj;?e le oe ate af ecteaitne i ]( a5; ltte i i iel tne ael gatipni-o Q tg li l j j-neces$ar):ana How much power should be given to Congress? The main purpose of the Framers was to create a national government stronger than the one established by the Articles of Confederation. The Framers thought the Articles did not give Congress enough power to deal with trade and economic problems. More importantly, they thought Congress was not strong enough to control the state governments. The Framers were convinced that the state legislatures were passing laws violating the property rights of many citizens. The basic problem was that under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to act directly on the people. If it passed laws, it had to depend on the states to enforce them. Congress could not raise taxes to support itself; it could only ask the states for money. Many states ignored congressional requests for funds. Most of the Framers agreed on the need for a stronger national government. But there were still some disagreements. The Framers* experience with the government of Great Britain had left many of them very suspicious of national power. The compromises over representation and slavery greatly reduced resistance to in creasing the power of the national govern ment. However, the delegates still disagreed over how" much power to give to each of the three branches of the national government. The problem was to create a national government that was strong enough to protect the rights of the people (especially property rights), and yet not so strong that it would endanger those rights. How should the Constitution be written to give power to Congress? The Framers could have written the Constitution in general language. James 57

2 Madison argued that the new Congress should have all the powers that it had under the Articles x)f Confederation. In addition, he wanted Congress to make all laws which the state legislatures were unable to make. He also said Congress should be given the power to veto laws made by state legisla tures. These recommendations would have given the national government a large amount of power over the states and the people. Some delegates agreed with Madison. Many of the Fraraers disagreed with him. They saw a problem with general lan guage in the Constitution. General lan guage could be interpreted to give the government the power to do almost any thing it wanted to do. It does not provide a good way to limit the powers of govern ment. They also opposed giving Congress the power to veto laws made by state legis latures. Under British rule, royal governors and Parliament had vetoed acts of the colonial legislatures. The Framers did not want to give this power to Congress. One alternative was to use very specific language in the Constitution. This would be to write down exactly what the Congress could and could not do. The problem with such specific language was that it might leave out important powers needed by Con gress to deal with unforeseen situations. The Framers solution was to use both general and specific language. The Con stitution would give specific powers to Con gress and place limitations on these powers. It would also include two general clauses which would give Congress the power to deal with unexpected situations. Specific powers of Congress Article I deals with the powers of Con gress. It takes up more than half the Con stitution which shows how important it was to the Framers. Article I, section 8 in cludes seventeen specific, or enumerated powers. Some of these powers are the right of Congress: to impose and collect taxes and duties to borrow money to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states to coin money (create a national currency) to establish post offices to declare war and to raise an army and navy General powers of Congress Article I, section 8 also includes two im portant general statements of power given to Congress. These give Congress the power to "... provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States...", and make all laws which shall be "neces sary and proper" for carrying out the other powers that have been given to Congress. For example, the Constitution gives Congress the power to maintain an army and navy. The necessary and proper clause gives it the power to pass those laws that are necessary to do this. These might include the power to pass laws requiring citizens to serve in the armed forces. 58

3 "We WaKeTKe Laws" CVv\V\ m iml-m #* What are the responsibilities of the legislative branch of government? A source of conflict The general welfare and necessary and proper clauses have allowed the Congress to greatly increase its powers. As a result, today the national government has far more power than most of the Framers could have imagined. These clauses did not cause any dis agreements at the convention. However, they caused strong disagreements during the debates over the ratification of the Con stitution. They also resulted in conflicts in the early years of the new government. You will learn more about these conflicts in later lessons. i ii jijbui!lsi: igfi! <j;qngrs cr0ai;e ;pili iaeri pr;hi:?f pf jgrcvi ji ;i il}i ii; t ec iliresiqen :yej(& l ibm ialiaijmi vj;t jiras; o it i iii iij jfsur;ci li j re0n IljcBmi i ier ea c»n5 iand;rp y9i i; ms 59

4 What does Article I do? Your committeewants to introduce several bills in Cprigfess. The following J are the purposes of < some bills you are iconsidering. Review the.general,and Article I strengthened the powers of Con gress. If you review Article I you will see it lists the powers of Congress and limits on.specificpowers granted to Congress. For; those powers. In this way, the Framers tried to balance the need for a strong government with the need to limit its powers. Those limits were included to make sure that the govemment did not become a threat to the peoples rights. each bill, make an argumeiit that Article, I, section 8 does or doesiiotvgive Con* gress the power to pass it. Thendevelop; answers for the questions that follow., I " A bilmhat allows the United ;. States Treasury to.borrow money Article I, section 9 limits the power of Congress. It lists things Congress cannot do. For example. Congress is not allowed to create a class of nobles. Members of the government cannot accept titles of nobility from foreign governments. This shows how important the Framers thought it was for republican govern ment to treat all citizens equally. by selling sayings bonds.;..,. [ < ;,,. -, - - "-, A bill that allows the executive i branch to draft-citizens to serve in the armed forces/ "". % f.. \ * A bill that allows the executive = Article I, section 10 limits the powers of state governments. It lists things state govern -" branch to conduct, a space ex- i,ploration program.,/ \ ments cannot do. For example, states cannot tax the import or export of goods. They can not declare and carry out a war. This section increased the power of the national govern ment in relation to the state governments. - -, A bill that allows the executive branch to fine ihdustries thatpol-,, lute the air. - ) - --" - A bill that requures the executive branch to use tax money to pro- :,., ; Reviewing and using the lesion, 1. What experiencesof the Framers might- vide medical assistance to older,. have influencedtheir ideas about how; citizens who cannot pay for it ;,,themselves. ;" "-x - much power they should give the national;. government? Give examples of some of * - II, Consider the powers given Congress,, by Article I, section 8. "Createthree =. 2. Why doyou thinkthe Framers devoted so bills that you thmk Congress could not passunder that Article; Explain why much ofthe Constitution to the legislative \, branch? "- - - \.. \ youthinkso*,, " Read Article I, section 9 of the Constim-. 2. Explain what problems might arise be cause of the way Article 1, section 8 is written. these experiences..--,- " ". 60 tion. What do you tiiink was the purpose ofeach of the limitations listed?

5 Lesson 15 How mucti power should be given to the executive and judicial branches? IJMjai( ggejni) eci i li i(wj j i e i c l3 c! n j o v i; :o 3 i 9 i iroj3l ms H an t iq j g i iy j!e l J(: ra j j :9] Hw i e i] g id! a s}]t IJM ;JecK: n afe Q ji isia (in jjj iiyg Jjwiilji ]ie rn iaigu isfi cial Madison and Washington, thought that legislative supremacy was dangerous. They believed that majorities in a number of state legislatures had passed laws which violated the natural rights of minorities. At the same time, the Framers still remembered how much trouble they had had with the executive branch of the British government. They believed the king and royal governors had violated their rights. The problem at the Philadelphia Conven tion was to create an executive branch that had enough power to fulfill its responsibilities, and yet was not so strong that it could over whelm the other branches and en danger the rights of the people. The Framers solution How much power should be given to the executive branch? As you have learned, in most of the state governments the legislative branch was given more power than the executive branch. Many of the Framers, such as The Framers solution is in Article n of the Constitution, which creates the execu tive branch. Article 11 is written in general terms so it gives broad powers to the Presi dent. The executive branch was given powers the Framers thought could be most efficiently exercised by a single person the President. These include the power to enforce laws made by Congress, make treaties with foreign nations, appoint cer tain important officials, and conduct wars. One of the most important powers the President has under the Constitution is the power to veto laws passed by Congress. 61

6 The Framers wanted to balance the powers of the President and Congress. They limited the powers of the executive branch by making it share most of its powers with Congress. Here are some examples of how this works. Appointments. The President has the power to nominate people for important jobs in the executive branch. He also nominates people to serve in the judicial branch of the national government. However, the Senate has the power to accept or reject these nominations. Treaties. The President has the power to enter into a treaty with another nation. The treaty must be approved or rejected by the Senate. War. Although the President can conduct a war as Commander-in- Chief, only Congress can declare war. In addition, Congress has the power to provide money for the war. MR p Veto. The President may veto laws passed by Congress. Congress, however, may override the veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses. The Constitution provides another im portant way to control the President and prevent the abuse of power. It gives the House of Representatives the power to im peach the President. This means the House can accuse the President of serious crimes. The Senate can then put the President on trial. If he is found guilty, he is removed from office. Only one President, Andrew Johnson, has ever been charged and put on trial. He was found iimocent. Another President, Richard Nixon, was threatened with im peachment proceedings. He eventually resigned. While it has rarely been used, im peachment is an important congressional power for controlling the executive branch. How does this picture illustrate the responsibilities of the executive branch of government? How should the President be selected? Article II of the Constitution is short compared to Article I. The list of powers given to the President is brief, but these powers are very important. The Framers had given great powers to the President. It is not surprising that they were concerned about how people were to be selected to fill this position. They took it for granted that George Washington would be the first President, and he was their model. They thought he was patriotic, honest, devoted to the public good, and not interested in using power for his own ad vantage. 62

7 The Framers tried to develop a way of selecting future Presidents who would be as qualified as Washington. They discussed this problem for some time. They also dis cussed how long a President should be able to stay in office. It was finally agreed that the President would serve for four years and could be reelected any number of times. (This was changed in 1951 when the Constitution was amended. The President can now be reelected only once.) There were only a few delegates who seriously suggested that the President be chosen directly by the people. Most agreed with Madisons opinion. He thought that the people did not have enough wisdom to be given the right to select a President. He also believed they would not be able to know enough about the candidates to make good choices. In most states the head of the executive branch was chosen by the state legislature. But the Framers thought that if the Presi dent were chosen by the Congress, Con gress would be able to control the President. This would result in a weak ex ecutive branch. They also thought that if the President were to be selected by the state governments, they would be able to control the President. This would also result in a weak executive branch. Either of these choices would not have helped them create a stronger national government. The method the Framers finally created for electing the President is a complicated one. An electoral college would be created once every four years to choose the Presi dent. Each state would have electors equal to the number of Senators and Representa tives it had in Congress. Each state was left the power to decide how it would select per sons to serve as "electors" in the college. The person who received a majority of votes in the electoral college would become President. While we still have the electoral college today, it works quite differently from the way it was orginally established. If they were living today, most of the Framers would be surprised at how we select a Presi dent. Political campaigns, with candidates asking the people to vote for them, were not a part of political life in the 18th century. How much power should be given to the judicial branch? To complete the system of separation of powers, the Framers planned for a judicial branch. They had fewer problems agreeing on this branch. Most of them agreed on certain ideas about a national court system. Judges should be independent of politics so they can use their best judgment to decide cases and not be influenced by political pressures. The best way to do this was to have judges appointed, not elected. Judges could keep their positions "during good behavior." They could not be removed unless they were impeached. They would have to be tried and convicted of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." This meant most judges could keep their jobs for life. A national judiciary was needed to decide disputes between state governments and between citizens of two or more states. It was also needed to decide disputes between the national government and a state or a citizen. 63

8 m There should be a single Supreme Court with two types of jurisdiction, or authority, to hear cases: 1. The Supreme Court would have original jurisdiction in cases involv ing a state government or an ambas sador. Original jurisdiction means that these types of cases would go directly to the Supreme Court and not be tried first in a lower court. 2. In all other cases the Supreme Court would have appellate jurisdiction. Appellate jurisdiction means that the Supreme Court can choose to hear any case that has already been heard in a lower court. The Framers clearly intended to give the Supreme Court the power to overrule state laws which violated the Constitution or federal laws. The power is based on the liivi If m lavrntnilv ts >l2 What does this picture tell you about what the judicial branch does? 64

9 supremacy clause in Article VI which states: This Constitution, and the laws of the United States...shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby.,.. The new national government The Constitution gave the national government the power to act directly upon the people. This was different from the government under the Articles of Con federation. It could only act upon the state governments. The Constitution also says that the na tional government is supreme in those areas where it has been given the right to act. For example, suppose a state passes a law allowing its factories to pollute the air. Then Congress passes a law controlling the amount of pollution a factory can produce. Since the national government is supreme, its laws would have to be obeyed over the state laws. Washington, Madison, and the others who agreed with them got the strong na tional government they wanted. But the battle was not yet woil There were many people in the United States who were still afraid of a strong national government. They believed that it would be a threat to their rights and to their state governments. loii Hicjilwfi itn i l exietrg iraiic i; j2i A<OTgitj Q S l i isjip n jii ;;p j!j j s imji ijiij E ij o i 3 fsj i e ni l itijl wakj;0ar ss j (nij Migis j j V o o5 m j j tcyi iroji jc jiicm j jpjjitica ; iffi en li ai aftes; f :iisaaw 65