us constitution information

8/2/2019 US Constitution Information

1/25

U.S.

Government:The

Constitution

4/5/2012 Katrina Kapes, INDT 501 Section 1 1


2/25

What will I Learn.Some of the historical developments that led to the

colonists break with Great Britain and the emergence

of the new American nation

The key components of the Articles of Confederation

and the reasons why it failed

Issues and compromises that were central to the

writing of the US Constitution

Underlying principles of the US Constitution

Conflicts that characterized the drive for ratification

Methods for proposing and ratifying amendments



3/25


Roots of the New

American

NationStarting in the early seventeenth

century, colonists came to the new

World for a variety of reasons: to escapereligious persecution, seeking a new

start on a continent where land was

plentiful, seeking wealth, and some

came as prisoners of the crown. By the

early 1760s, physical separation,development of colonial industry and

the relative self-governance let to

weakening ties with the crown.


4/25

Trade and Taxation Mercantilism: an economic theory designed to

increase a nations wealth through the development ofcommercial industry and a favorable balance of trade

From 1650 until well into 1700s, Britain regulatedcolonial imports/exports

Policies were difficult to enforce and were widelyignored by colonists

Crown and Parliament had the authority to regulatetrade and conduct international affairs

Unwritten agreement allowed colonists the right tolevy their own taxes

Fragile arrangement was put to the test with theFrench and Indian War.



5/25

First Steps toward

Independence Stamp Act Congress: Meeting of

representatives of 9 of the 13 colonies held inNew York City in 1765, during whichrepresentatives drafted a document to send tothe king listing how their rights had beenviolated

Townshend Acts cause Sons and Daughters ofLiberty to announce boycott, and almost allcolonists gave up their favorite drink, tea, in aunited show of resistance

Boston Massacre: British troops opened fire onan unruly mob that included disgruntled dockworkers, whose jobs had been taken by Britishsoldiers, and members of the Sons of Liberty

Tea Act grants a monopoly to the financiallystrapped East India Company, colonists rebelwith the Boston Tea Party (similar tea partieswere held in other colonies)

King George III retaliated with the CoerciveActs of 1774, which were called theIntolerable Acts in the colonies



6/25

The Continental Congress Cumulative impact of all British taxes, acts, and actions unite the colonists

Committees of Correspondence: organizations in each of the American

colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British;

served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British

First Continental Congress: Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5

to October 26, 1774, in which 56 delegates (from every colony exceptGeorgia) adopted a resolution in opposition to the Coercive Acts

Fighting breaks out at Lexington and Concord on the morning of April 19,

1775, with what Ralph Waldo Emerson called the shot heard round the

world; eight colonial soldiers, called Minutemen, were killed and 16,000

British troops besieged Boston

Second Continental Congress: Meeting that convened in Philadelphia on

May 10, 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and

George Washington of Virginia was named Commander in Chief



7/25

The Declaration of Independence

In January of 1776 Thomas Paine,with the support and encouragementof Benjamin Franklin, issuedCommonSense, a pamphletforcefully arguing for independencefrom Great Britain.

On July 2, 1776 12 of 13 coloniesvoted for independence

Declaration of Independence:Document drafted by ThomasJefferson in 1776 that proclaimedthe right of the American colonies to

separate from Great Britain. On July 9, 1776 the Declaration,

now with the approval of New York,was read aloud in Philadelphia



8/254/5/2012 Katrina Kapes, INDT 501 Section 1 8

1763:Treaty

of Paris

1765:Stamp

Act Congress

1767:Townshend

Acts

1774:FirstContinental

Congress

1773:Boston

Tea Party

1770:Boston

Massacre

1775:SecondContinentalCongress

1776:Declaration of

Independence

1777:Articlesof

Confederation

Timeline: Key Events to Independence


9/25

The First Attempt atGovernment: TheArticles of Confederation

The British had no written constitution.

The delegates to the Second Continental

Congress were attempting to codify

arrangements that had never before beenput into legal terminology.

Complicating the situation further, the

delegates had to arrive at these

decisions in a wartime atmosphere



10/25

The Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation: The compactamong the thirteen original colonies thatcreated a loose league of friendship, with thenational government drawing its powers

from the states. Articles were ratified by all 13 states in

March of 1781

Deliberately designed a weak National

Government in response to Great Britainsunitary system of government

National government is weaker than the sumof its parts



11/25

Problems Under the Articles of

Confederation In 1784, just one year after the Revolutionary Army was disbanded,governing the new nation under the Articles of Confederation proved

unworkable.

Needed to raise money to pay off war debt, but Congress had no power totax

Although the national government could coin money, it had no resources toback up the value of its currency; trade between states became chaotic assome states began to coin their own money.

Congress had no power to regulate commerce among the states or withforeign nations

Had no provision for an executive branch or a judicial system to handle thegrowing number of economic conflicts and boundary disputes amongindividual states (Pennsylvania and Virginia even went to war with each

other) Lack of Strong Central Government! Each state had sovereign status and

was unwilling to give up rights, such as the power to tax, to an untestednational government. Consequently, the government was unable to forcethe states to abide by the provisions of the second Treaty of Paris, signed in1783.



12/25

Writing the USConstitution

On February 21, 1787, in the throes of

economic turmoil and with domestic

tranquility gone haywire, the Congress

passed an official resolution. It calledfor a Constitutional Convention in

Philadelphia for the sole and express

purpose of revising the Articles of

Confederation.



13/25

The Characteristics and

Motives of the Framers 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were property-owning, whitemen; they are often referred to as the Founding Fathers or Framers

Framers brought with them a vast amount of political, educational, legal,and business experience

Constitution: a document establishing the structure, functions, andlimitations of a government

In 1913 Charles BeardsEconomic Interpretation of the Constitution of theUnited States argued that the merchants at the convention wanted a strongnational government to promote industry and trade, to protect privateproperty, and ensure payment of public debt

1961 The Anti-Federalists by Jackson Turner Main posited that while theConstitutions supporters may not have been the united group of merchants,suggested by Beard, they were wealthier, came from higher social strata

and had greater concern for maintaining the prevailing social order Gordon S. Woods 1969 workThe Creation of the American Republic

concluded that the Framers were representative of a class that favored orderand stability over some of the more radical ideas that had inspired theRevolutionary War



14/25

The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

The Virginia Plan: First general plan

for the Constitution offered in

Philadelphia. Proposed by Edmund

Randolph and written by James Madison

The New Jersey Plan: A framework for

the Constitution proposed by a group of

small states (including New Jersey and

Connecticut)

Creation of a powerful central

government with three branches- the

legislative, executive, and judicial

A two-house legislature with one

house elected directly by the people,the other chosen from among persons

nominated by the state legislatures

A legislature with the power to select

the executive and the judiciary

Strengthening the Articles, not replacing

them

Creating a one-house legislature with one

vote for each state and with

representatives chosen by state

legislatures

Giving Congress the power to raise

revenue from duties on imports and from

postal service fees

Creating a Supreme Court with members

appointed for life by the executive

officers



15/25

Constitutional Compromises

Final draft of Constitution was shaped by a series ofcompromises

Great Compromise: taking ideas from both the Virginia andNew Jersey Plans it offered:

A two-house, or bicameral, legislature

In the lower house (later called the House of Representatives),there would be 56 representatives- 1 rep/30,000 inhabitants.Representatives would be elected directly by the people.

Upper House (later called Senate), each state would have anequal vote, and representatives would be selected by the statelegislatures

Made national law Supreme

Three Fifths Compromise: stipulates that each slave was to becounted as 3/5s of a person for purposes of determining thepopulation for representation in US House of Representatives



16/25

The USConstitution

We the People, ended, at least for a

time, the question of from where the

government derived its power: it came

directly from the people. The line inOrder to form a more Perfect Union

indirectly acknowledged the

weaknesses of the Articles of

Confederation.



17/25

Basic Principles of the

Constitution Federal System: system of government where the

national government and state governments sharepower and derive all authority from the people

Separation of powers: a way of dividing thepower of government among the legislative,executive, and judicial branches, each staffedseparately, with equality and independence ofeach branch ensured by the Constitution

Checks and balances: a constitutionally mandated

structure that gives each of the three branches ofgovernment some degree of oversight and controlover the actions of the others- idea derived fromMontesquieu



18/25

The Articles of the

Constitution Article I: Vests all legislative powers

in the Congress and establishes abicameral legislature, consisting ofthe Senate and the House ofRepresentatives.

Enumerated Powers: Seventeenspecific powers granted to Congressunder Article I, section 8, of the

Constitution Necessary and Proper clause: the final

paragraph of Article I, section 8 givesCongress the authority to pass all lawsnecessary and proper to carry out theenumerated powers

Implied powers: powers derived fromthe enumerated powers and thenecessary and proper clause. Thesepowers are not stated but reasonablyimplied through exercise of delegatedpowers

Article III: Establishes a SupremeCourt and defines its jurisdiction.

Article II: Vests the executive power,that is, the authority to execute the lawsof the nation, in a president of theUnited States. Section 1 establishesterm of office at 4 years and explainsthe Electoral College. Limits thepresidency to natural-born citizens.

Articles IV-VII: remainder of thearticles attempted to anticipateproblems that might occur in theoperation of the new nationalgovernment.

Article IV begins with thefull faith andcredit clause that ensures judicial decreesand contracts made in one state will bebinding and enforceable in any other state

Article VI contains thesupremacyclausewhich mandates that national lawis supreme to all other laws passed by thestates or by any other subdivision ofgovernment



19/25

Ratification

The Congress of the Confederation

immediately accepted the work of the

convention and forwarded the proposed

Constitution to the states for their vote. It

was by no means certain, however, that thenew Constitution would be adopted. From

the fall of 1787 to the summer of 1788, the

proposed Constitution was debated hotly

around the nation.



20/25

Federalists Versus Anti-Federalists

Federalists Anti-Federalists

Made up of property

owners, landed rich,merchants

Elitist; saw themselves andthose of their class as mostfit to govern (others were to

be governed) Favored the new strong

national government

Supported the proposed US

Constitution

Made up of Small farmers,shopkeepers, and laborers

Believed in the decency ofthe common man and inparticipatory democracy;viewed elites as corrupt;sought greater protection ofindividual rights

Favored strong stategovernments

Opposed the ratification of the

US Constitution



21/25

The Bill of Rights

Virginia and New York recommended the addition of a Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights is made up of the first ten amendments to the US

Constitution, which largely guarantee specific rights and liberties

The First Ten Amendments:

1. Freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly

2. Right to bear arms

3. Prohibition of quartering of troops in private homes4. Prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures

5. Rights guaranteed to the accused: requirement for grand jury indictment;protections against double jeopardy, self-incrimination; due process

6. Right to speedy and public trial before an impartial jury, to cross-examine witness,and to have counsel

7. Right to a trial by jury in civil suits

8. Prohibition against excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishment9. Rights listed in the Constitution are not exclusive

10. States or people reserve those powers not denied to them by the Constitution ordelegated to the national government



22/25

Methods of

Amending theConstitution

The Framers did not want to fashion a

government that could be too influenced

by the whims of the people. Therefore,

they made the formal amendment

process a slow one to ensure that the

Constitution was not impulsively

amended. The only amendment that

might be considered impulsive is the

18th Amendment which was repealed

only 14 years later.



23/25

Formal Methods of Amending


By two-thirds vote inboth houses ofCongress

By nationalConstitutionalconvention called byCongress at the

request of two-thirdsof the statelegislatures. (Thismethod has neverbeen used to proposean amendment).

Methods ofProposal

By legislatures inthree-fourths of the

states

By Conventions inthree-fourths of thestates

Methods ofRatification

Usual Method

Used Once (21st

Amendment)


24/25

Informal Methods of

Amending Judicial Interpretation- inMarbury v. Madison the SupremeCourt declared that the federal courts had the power to nullify

acts of the nations government when they were found to bein conflict with the Constitution

President Woodrow Wilson called the Supreme Court aconstitutional convention in continuous session.

Social and Cultural Change- even the most far-sighted inattendance at the Constitutional Convention could not haveanticipated the vast changes that have occurred in the US; forexample, even though many attendees hoped for the abolitionof slavery, none could have imagined that an AfricanAmerican would one day become president of the US

Social change has caused changes in the way institutions ofgovernment act; for example, the Great Depressionnecessitated Congress to take on more and more power at theexpense of the states



25/25

Resources

O'Connor, K., Sabato, L. J., & Yanus, A. B. (2011).Essentials ofAmerican government, roots and reform, 2011. (2011 ed.).New York: Longman.

Revere, P. (Artist). (1770). The bloody massacre. [Print Graphic].Retrieved from http://loyalistcommons.synthasite.com/boston-massacre.php

Treaty of Paris of 1763. (2012). Retrieved fromhttp://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/

Yonge , C. (2009). The boston tea party clipart. Retrieved fromhttp://etc.usf.edu/clipart/29900/29900/bostn_tea_29900.htm

Founders' Library. (2002). Founding.com. Retrieved fromhttp://www.founding.com/the_declaration_of_i/

Hott. (1999). Constitution of the united states of america. Retrievedfrom http://www.hourofthetime.com/constitu.htm

4/5/2012 Katrina Kapes INDT 501 Section 1 25
http://loyalistcommons.synthasite.com/boston-massacre.phphttp://loyalistcommons.synthasite.com/boston-massacre.phphttp://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/29900/29900/bostn_tea_29900.htmhttp://www.founding.com/the_declaration_of_i/http://www.founding.com/the_declaration_of_i/http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/29900/29900/bostn_tea_29900.htmhttp://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://www.realmagick.com/treaty-of-paris-of-1763/http://loyalistcommons.synthasite.com/boston-massacre.phphttp://loyalistcommons.synthasite.com/boston-massacre.phphttp://loyalistcommons.synthasite.com/boston-massacre.php

us constitution information

Documents