CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK TO US GOVERNMENT

18th Century America had yet to become the United States

American War of Independence 1775 - 1783 Colonists increasingly unhappy with rule

of parliament and king A call for increase in taxes from GB led

to the rallying cry ‘no taxation without representation’

A long war with victories and defeats on both sides

Ultimately the colonists gained independence as they had the home advantage and the war became increasingly costly for GB

Declaration of Independence 4th July 1776 Heavily influenced by the ideas of Locke Identified the rights to which all people

were entitled Challenged traditional belief that

monarchs were chosen by God and should never be questioned

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness…’

Articles of Confederation - 1781 A Confederation of the 13 states had been

instituted to fight the British It was however, inadequate after the war

had been won: it had no executive, no judiciary and the legislature was weak

The articles of confederation ensured the government could not interfere in the affairs of the 13 states but also mean government was weak and could not deal with problems

It was thus decided to review the system of government in a Constitutional Convention

Philadelphia Convention – 25th May 18th Sept. 1787 Area of disagreement 1: Big states vs. small states Virginia wanted representation in the

legislature to be based on population, this would give big states more power

New Jersey wanted each state to have one vote in the legislature so small states could not be ignored

What was the Connecticut Compromise?

To show relative sizes of states

Philadelphia Convention Area of disagreement 2: At time of Convention almost one third of

people in the south were slaves. Northern states which had no slaves

wanted all slaves to be counted for taxation purposes but not for representation to the legislature

Southern states wanted opposite What was the three-fifths compromise?

Bill of Rights

Ratification of new constitution could not take place unless these guarantees were given

Which rights are protected? How are these rights protected in

the UK?