Principles Of The American Constitution 1776-1787 PDF

Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787  BIG IDEA The Founders were children of the Enlightenment. W...

Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787  BIG IDEA The Founders were children of the Enlightenment. When crafting a new Constitution, they learned from history and from their own experiences. Principles of the Between the Declaration of Independence American Constitution: and the U.S. Constitution, the American 1776-1787 people were governed at the national level by the Articles of Confederation and at the state level by state constitutions. With the U.S. Constitution, the Founding generation established a new national government. This new government was THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION Principles of the “… league American Constitution: of 1776-1787 friendship …”  THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION About the Articles: The Articles created a national government centered on the legislative branch, which Principles of the was comprised of a single house. American There was no separate House and Senate. Constitution: 1776-1787 There was no separate executive branch or judicial branch. And the delegates voted by state—with each state receiving one vote, regardless of its size.  THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION The powers of the national government were limited: The national government didn’t have the Principles of the power to tax or to regulate commerce American Constitution: between the states. It couldn’t force states 1776-1787 to provide troops or send the government money. Any proposed amendment to the Articles required unanimous approval from all thirteen states. Congress couldn’t exercise the powers that  THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION These limits created several problems: Without the power to tax, Congress struggled to fund that government and to pay its Principles of the soldiers. It depended on voluntary American Constitution: contributions from state governments and 1776-1787 many states refused to pay their share. The national government struggled to defend the frontier. Many states raised trade barriers against one another—imposing taxes on one another’s goods, spurring unhealthy competition 13 STATE GOVERNMENTS In 1776 the American colonies set up state constitutions. This was a constitutional revolution in Principles of the itself—a decisive turn American towards written Constitution: constitutions. 1776-1787 In the years between the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the new Constitution in 1789, the United States was governed primarily by MASSACHUSETTS CONSTITUTION In the Massachusetts Constitution, we see important constitutional principles like separation of PRINCIPLES OF THE powers (dividing the powers AMERICAN REVOLUTION of government between three co-equal branches of government) and checks and balance (providing each branch of government with the powers to check the other branches).  Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 SHAYS’ REBELLION  LEADERS CALL FOR A CONVENTION Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 George James Alexander Washington Madison Hamilton  THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION “.. sole and express purpose of revising the Articles …” Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 KEY PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE U.S. CONSTITUTION Popular Sovereignty Federalism Principles of the Separation of Powers American Constitution: Checks and Balances 1776-1787 Republicanism POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787  POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY This is a just a fancy way of Principles of the saying that the U.S. American Constitution: Constitution establishes a 1776-1787 government that’s driven by us—not a monarch, not the elites, not an aristocracy—but by us, the American people. WHERE IS POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY IN THE CONSTITUTION Preamble—“We the People” Principles of the Article VII— American Constitution: Constitution’s 1776-1787 ratification (or approval)process Article V— amendment process Elections FEDERALISM Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787  FEDERALISM “Federalism” is the word Principles of the used to describe the American Constitution: Constitution’s system of 1776-1787 dividing political power between the national government and the states.  WHERE IS FEDERALISM IN THE CONSTITUTION Article I, Section 3: Article IV: Privilege The original Senate and Immunities Clause Article I, Section 8: and Fugitive Principles of the American The powers of Slave/Rendition Clause Constitution: Congress—especially Article VI: Supremacy 1776-1787 the Commerce Clause Clause and the 10th Amendment Necessary and Proper The Enforcement Clause Clauses of the Article I, Section Reconstruction 10: Limitations on Amendments SEPARATION OF POWERS AND CHECKS AND BALANCES Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 SEPARATION OF POWERS AND CHECKS AND BALANCES Through the separation of powers, the Constitution distributes political power between three branches of government. Principles of the American The legislative branch—Congress—makes the laws. Constitution: The executive branch—led by the President— 1776-1787 enforces the laws. And the judicial branch—headed by the Supreme Court—interprets the laws. At the same time, through its system of checks and balances, the Constitution grants each branch of government the power to check abuses by the other CHECKS AND BALANCES IN ACTION Congress has the power to make our nation’s laws, BUT… Principles of the American Constitution: The President was Federal judges 1776-1787 given the power to were given the veto any law power to declare passed by any law Congress. unconstitutional. REPUBLICANISM Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787  FEDERALISM For the Founding generation, the American Revolution created a new republican world. This shift wasn’t just about getting rid of a King and holding elections. Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 There was a moral dimension to the American Revolution—one that got at the character of American society. The new government had to commit to (what the Founders referred to as) civic republican virtue. Americans had to choose virtue over vice, THE FEDERALIST PAPERS By drafting and ratifying our Constitution, the Founding generation sought to create a national government more Principles of the powerful than one created by American the Articles of Confederation, Constitution: but also one of limited powers. 1776-1787 In The Federalist Papers, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay envisioned a constitutional system driven by reasoned debate and principled compromise.  THE FEDERALIST PAPERS Principles of the American Constitution: 1776-1787 Alexander James John Hamilton Madison Jay All three authors wrote under the same famous pen name—“Publius.” THE FEDERALIST PAPERS In part, they feared majority and minority factions as enemies of public reason, Principles of the American and, in part, they sought to Constitution: build a system that guarded 1776-1787 against majoritarian tyranny, making it hard for (as James Madison put it) “stronger factions [to] readily unite to oppress the weaker.”