THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

Unit One Presentation #1

WE THE PEOPLE

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.

- _______ to the US ConstitutionPreamble

OUR FIRST TRY

_____________________ was the precursor to our current Constitution.

Due to the experience with Great Britain early US citizens wanted most of the power to remain with the ______.

The Confederation failed to adequately maintain order in the new burgeoning country. Why?

Articles of Confederation

The current U.S. Constitution

favors the Federal Government

and is the basic instrument of

government and supreme law of

the United States.

states

ARTICLES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

Almost everyone agreed on the 3 branches of

checks and balances in a federal government

Article One: _______________________

Article Two: _______________________

Article Three: ______________________

Establishes the Legislative Branch

Establishes the Executive Branch

Establishes the Judicial Branch

– Article Four:

–Relationship between the states and the Federal government.

– Article Five:

–Describes the process necessary to amend the Constitution.

– Article Six:

–Establishes the U.S. Constitution as the Supreme law of the land.

–Article Seven:

–Requirements for ratification of the Constitution.

COMPROMISE IS KING

Large State v. Small

State -

Should the smaller states

have the same power as

larger ones?

Slave vs. Free -

How should slaves be

counted in the census?

Direct or indirect

elections –

Are the masses capable

of making informed

decisions?

Congress vs. the

Executive –

Should the Legislative or

the Executive branch

have more power?

Federalists vs. Anti-

Federalists –

Should the Federal or

State Governments be in

charge?

THE GREAT COMPROMISE!

Senate

has _____ representatives

from each state and

represents each state at the

national level.

House of Representatives

each state is determined by

the ___________and

represents the citizens at the

national level.

The President represents

all the states in the Union.

two

population

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

Filibuster, Veto, Checks and Balances,

Committees, Branches of Government

RATIFICATION ISSUES

Many delegates at the Convention opposed the final draft of the Constitution. Issues that defined the “factions”, no political parties where yet formed.

Few limits on the Central Government.

Federal Courts overruled State Courts.

Senators were elected by state legislators.

No specific rights for individuals …

In short, to much power to

the Federal government

FEDERALISTS

Federalists They did not want to have

individuals responsible for maintaining our rights and freedoms. They may have lacked confidence in the masses to understand the important duties of a democracy.

They also believed that the classical republic/______________ style of government would be too hard to maintain in such a ___________ country. Why?

representative

large & diverse

Alexander Hamilton

ANTI-FEDERALISTS

Anti- Federalism

They believed that success and

security resided in a nation of

_____________ all of whom

owned property and a stake in

society.

They wanted to maintain the

ideals of a classical republic

state where civic virtue would be

maintained because everyone

would have a stake in the

outcome.

They also needed assurance

against _________________.

small farmers

corruption of power Thomas Jefferson

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES

The Federalists knew that the Constitution would be a hard sell,

so to help the ratification process Alexander

Hamilton,______________, and John Jay wrote a series of

essays called___________________.

The Federalist Papers tried to persuade the new citizens of

America that the Constitution was fine as it was written.

They clamed the _____________________ and checks and

balances would protect individual freedoms or their Natural

Rights and protect from corruption of power.

Although political parties are never mentioned in the

Constitution. Their political power is undeniable. In this case

Hamilton and his fellow Federalists manipulated the

information in a fashion that supported their positions. Today

this is called _____________

James Madison

Separation of Powers

Political Spin

The Federalist Papers

BILL OF RIGHTS

The process was long and

hard and the Federalists

finally had to concede to the

Anti-Federalists demands

for the____________ in

order to get the Constitution

ratified.

However, The Supremacy

Clause in Article VI of the

U.S. Constitution holds that

the_________________ and

all laws and treaties based on

it, are “the supreme law of the

land.”

Bill of Rights

federal governmentNinth and TenthHowever, The ________________

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

specifies that powers not granted to

the national government are

reserved, or held, only by the states

or the people.

FEDERALISM & STATES RIGHTS!

–The Constitution was drafted by the Constitutional Convention and became fully effective in _______. The issue of states rights vs. federal supremacy has been raging ever since. The media often refers to this debate as _________ or States Rights.

In the 2004 presidential elections one of the hottest political debates concerned gay marriage. Did the Massachusetts Supreme Court have the right to declare restrictions on gay marriage unconstitutional?

Unfunded Mandates - In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that parts of the Brady Bill were unconstitutional. Congress could not compel _______ law enforcement officers to conduct background checks on gun buyers.

1789

Federalism

Local

TODAY’S POLITICAL PARTIES

Many of the same political debates that where argued

during the founding of our country are still debated

today within our two political parties.

Both the ____________ and the _____________today agree

that the Bill of Rights was the right way to go. They also agree

on the principal that our government’s primary duty is to secure

our civil rights. However, they disagree on how those civil rights

should be maintained.

• When should power remain with the Federal Government

or when should it be delegated to the states?

• When there is a disagreement over the law how should

the Constitution be interrupted?

Depending on how you feel about these subjects often

determines which political party you associate with.

Democrats Republicans

INTERPRETING THE CONSTITUTION

The ______________ has the responsibility to translate the Constitution’s meanings or “interrupt it”.

Americans disagree about how the language in the constitution should be interpreted.

Supreme Court

Some people believe that the Constitution should be interpreted strictly.They follow the literal meanings of the framers.

Others believe that the court should merely apply the ideas of the Constitution. They interpret it broadly. Meaning it should be adjusted or evolve to current situations.

Judge Thomas & Judge Scalia

ISSUES

Strict Constructionism

They interpret the Constitution Strictly.

These people believe that the principles of the Constitution should be followed precisely. If change is needed it can be amended.

Broad Constructionism/Activist They interpret the

Constitution broadly.

Assume the Founders wrote in vague terms so it would evolve with the country.

How does this issue manifest itself in today’s politics?

Gay Marriage Abortion Rights Gore v. Bush

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Freedom of Religion?

“Congress shall make no

law respecting an

establishment of religion

or prohibiting the exercise

thereof”. Courts have

ruled that this means there

should be a separation of

Church and State. But

where does the

Establishment Clause end

and the Free Exercise

Clause begin?

LIBERAL VS. CONSERVATIVE

Separationists:

believe that there

should be a clear

line between religion

and government.

Why?

Accommodationists:

believe that the

government should not try

to deny that Americans are

a religious people and that

at least the government

should acknowledge that

there is a God. Why?–They believe that it is impossible to give equal representation to all religions, therefore the government should not acknowledge any or stay neutral.

–They argue that by eliminating

any reference to religion our

government is not being honest

with it’s citizens and is missing

an opportunity to promote

morals and values in public

schools.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Special Interest Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Christian Coalition are _____________________________________ _______________________________________

These “watchdog” groups will often pay for lawyers,

advertisements, rally’s etc. and work to persuade the

courts or public opinion to see things their way.

Religion in this case. They often pressure politicians to pass laws that either promote or diminish the role religion plays in our society. How?

organized to lobby and educate politicians,

courts, and citizens on particular political agendas.

THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS

Locally

“Freedom

to Act”

Centrally

“Freedom

from

Want”

Civil Rights

Human

Individual

Unalienable

Inalienable

Natural

People work better in

groups

Natural Rights Phil.

- John Locke etc.

Alexander Hamilton

Anti- Federalist

Liberal

“Right of Center”

Democrats

People work better

as Individuals

Thomas

Jefferson

Ancient Greeks

– Aristotle etc.

Conservative

Federalists

“Left of Center”

Republicans