Constitutional Underpinnings

Chapter 3Constitution

Chapter 3• Characteristics of the U.S. Constitution

– Just 4,300 words long– Divides the national government into three branches

– Describes the powers of those branches and their connections

– Outlines the interaction between the government and the governed

– Describes the relationship between the national government and the states

– It is the supreme law of the land.

A. Conflict that led to Constitution? Revolutionary War

1. Freedom in Colonial America– American colonists in the 18th century enjoyed a degree of freedom

denied most people around the world– But there was a high cost: colonists needed protection from the French

and their Native American allies during the Seven Years’ War– The English wanted the American colonists to pay for that protection

2. The Road to Revolution– The catalyst: taxation by a government in which the colonists had no

representation– The First Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia in

September 1774

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3. Revolutionary Action– By early 1775, the fighting had already begun– The Second Continental Congress remained in session to serve as

government to the colony-states

4. The Declaration of Independence– Thomas Jefferson took the first official step toward revolution and

independence by drafting the Declaration of Independence: the document that proclaimed the right of the colonies to separate from Great Britain

– The Declaration was based in social contract theory: the belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes

– The war lasted until October 1781 with the Lord Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown, Virginia

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B. The creation of a new government• A republic was created

– A government without a monarch– A government rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is

exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed

• The Articles of Confederation – Confederation: a loose association of independent states that agree

to cooperate on specified matters• Each state has supreme power within its borders

• The central government is weak

– Articles of Confederation: the compact among the 13 original states that established the first government of the United States

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How difficult is it to change our government?Lets look at the evolution of our government…

Inclass: Articles of Confederation activity Handout 2

HW: identifying the problems of Articles of Confederation and how they were fixed by Constitution

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• Why did the Founding Fathers come together to create the Constitution?

C.From Articles of Confederation to ConstitutionVideo: Creating a Constitution (20 minutes)- Handout: Conflict, Compromise and

Participants

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1. Major Plans of the Convention- Virginia Plan- New Jersey Plan

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Characteristics Virginia New Jersey

Legislature 2 chambers One chamber

Legislative power People chosen State chosen

Executive Unspecified size More than one

Decision rule Majority Extraordinary maj.

State laws Leg can override National supreme

Executive removal Congress Maj. Of states

Courts Nat. judiciary No provision

Ratification People States

- Great Compromise…look at the Constitution• A bicameral legislature

• The House of Representatives is apportioned according to population

• The states are represented equally in the Senate

- Compromise on Presidency• Delegates rejected the idea of popular election why??

• Created the electoral college: a body of electors chosen by voters to cast ballots for president and vice president

• Involved both the legislature and the judiciary in the presidential removal process, and demanded an extraordinary majority vote to remove the executive

• http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html

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2. The final product• The Basic Principles

– Republicanism: a form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives

– Federalism: the division of power between a central government and regional units

– Separation of Powers: assignment of the lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions of government to independent legislative, executive, and judicial branches

– Checks and Balances: a government structure that gives each branch of government some scrutiny of and control over the other branches

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• Why is it necessary to establish a system of checks and balances?

Inclass reading on the Founders belief on balancing power. 10 minutes

Connection to Direct Democracy and Separation of Powers Activity 10 minutes

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• Seven articles of the Constitution – 1-3: Establish the separate branches of

government and specify their internal operations and powers.

– 4-7: Define the relationships among the states, explain the process of amendment, declare the supremacy of national law, and explain the procedure for ratifying the Constitution.

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• Article I: The Legislative Article– Article I, Section 8 establishes the principle of

enumerated powers in which Congress may exercise only the powers that the Constitution assigns to it by the “necessary and proper clause”

– The last clause of Article I, Section 8 is the “necessary and proper clause,”• Establishes Congress’ implied powers

• Implied powers: those powers that Congress needs to execute its enumerated powers

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• Article II: The Executive Article

– Establishes the president’s term of office– Establishes the procedure for electing the

president through the electoral college

– Describes the qualifications for becoming president

– Defines the president’s duties and powers

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• Article III: The Judicial Article

– Left purposely vague due to disagreement over its provisions

– Congress established a system of federal courts, separate from state courts

– Article III does not explicitly give the courts the power of judicial review or authorize the court to invalidate congressional or presidential actions

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• The Remaining Articles

– Article IV• Requires that the judicial acts and criminal warrants of each state be honored

in all other states

• Forbids discrimination against citizens of one state by another state

• Allows the addition of new states

• Stipulates that the national government will protect the states against foreign invasion and domestic violence

– Article V: Method for Amending the Constitution

– Article VI: Contains the supremacy clause: national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict

– Article VII: Ratification

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• The Framers’ Motives– Charles Beard argued that the Constitution was written by

wealthy men to advance their own interests

– Research has shown that government was not created to protect the wealth of the founders• A good book into the insight of the founders is the 5000 year leap

• Letters of the Founding Fathers

– Single most important issue: inability of national or state governments to maintain order under the Articles of Confederation

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• The Slavery Issue

– Question could not have been resolved at the Constitutional Convention

– Came to the surface in the debate on representation in the House (resolved by the “3/5 clause”)

– Another central issue: the slave trade

• Compromise: it would not be ended before 20 years had elapsed

• Fugitive slaves would be returned to their masters

– The founders essentially condoned slavery without mentioning it by name

• Many of them agonized over it, but few did anything – they expected it to “wither away”

• They were unable to transcend the limitations of the age in which they lived

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C. Selling the Constitution!!

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Article VII of the Constitution provides that ratification by conventions in 9 states to establish the Constitution!

• Federalists: http://thisnation.com/library/books/federalist/index.html

“Publius”

• Anti-Federalists http://thisnation.com/library/antifederalist/index.html

Brutus, Federal Farmer, Cato, An Old Whig

Not really known as to who the authors are, but notable connections are

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• Federalists and Anti-federalists debated the merits of the new Constitution, as evidenced by the writings contained in the Federalist papers

• The Bill of Rights emerged as a concession to gain the required number of votes needed for passage– The first ten amendments to the federal constitution

– Prevent the national government from tampering with fundamental rights and civil liberties

– Emphasize the limited character of the national government’s power

• The Formal Amendment Process

– Requires a two-stage process, proposal and ratification

– Both are necessary for an amendment to become part of the Constitution

• Interpretation by the Courts

– Marbury v. Madison (1803) declared courts have power to nullify government acts that conflict with the Constitution

– Has influenced the meaning and application of provisions of the Constitution

• Political Practice

– Has altered distribution of power without changing the Constitution

– Example: President has come to overshadow Congress

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• An Evaluation of the Constitution• Constitution lays out simple STRUCTURAL framework for government

• Freedom, Order, & Equality in the Constitution

– Provides a judicious balance between order and freedom

– Pays virtually no attention to equality

– Social equality is implicitly addressed in the 16th Amendment, permitting national income tax

– Political equality is addressed in 14th, 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th Amendments

• The Constitution and Models of Democracy– Well-suited to pluralist model

– Often at odds with majoritarian model– Created a REPUBLIC, based on majority consent -- not a DEMOCRACY, based on

majority rule

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• HW: 28th amendment to the Constitution

Images taken from wikipedia and textbook

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