US Constitution PDF

PS 1113 US Government East Central University Module 1 US Constitution What is a Constitution? What is Constitutionalism? “We are a nation of laws, not of men.” --John Adams “No man is above the law and no man is below it.” --Theodore Roosevelt Vocabulary Constitution: The legal...

PS 1113 US Government East Central University Module 1 US Constitution What is a Constitution? What is Constitutionalism? “We are a nation of laws, not of men.” --John Adams “No man is above the law and no man is below it.” --Theodore Roosevelt Vocabulary Constitution: The legal structure of a political system, establishing governmental bodies, granting their power, determining how their members are selected, and describing the rules by which they make their decisions. Constitutionalism: The belief in limiting governmental power by a written charter. Political Contexts of the US Constitution Relationship with Great Britain and King George Declaration of Independence (1776) What are the 4 themes in the Dec of Independence? Articles of Confederation (1777- 1787) Source: Wiki Commons What are the 5 main provisions? Shays’ Rebellion (1786-7) Constitutional Convention 1787 Purpose: To Revise the Articles 55 delegates from 12 states attended http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2009/02/signing_constitution.jpg Agreements Delegates wanted to form a republic The national government should be supreme over the states Three branches of government will exercise shared power o Legislative, Executive, Judicial o Separation of Powers was an idea the Framers borrowed from Native American Tribes, specifically the Iroquois Confederacy in New York Map Source: loc.gov Conflicts Big States v. Small States Slavery (North v. South) The “Great Compromise” resolved how states would be represented in Congress o House of Representatives = Proportional o Senate = Equal 3/5 Compromise o Slaves counted as 3/5 of a person o Result: The South got about 35% more votes in the House Fragmentation of Power The Orange Ball is all the Power in the US. The This Framers divided it three ways. doesn’t sound good for me Source: Wiki Commons  Fragmentation of Power 1. State v. Federal 2. Three Branches: Executive, Judicial, Legislative 3. Checks and Balances J L E FEDERAL STATE J L E  “The Signing of the Constitution” Source: commons.Wikimedia.org Fight for Ratification Federalists v. Antifederalists 9 of 13 states had to ratify How to convince people? The Federalist Papers! https://guides.loc.gov/federalist- papers/full-text The Debate Federalists wanted a stronger central government Anti-Federalists liked the Articles of Confederation. They feared: o The federal government had too much power o There was no Bill of Rights to protect civil liberties Federalist Papers... As described in the song “Non Stop” in the musical Hamilton “Alexander joins forces with James Madison and John Jay to write a series of essays Defending the new United States Constitution entitled The Federalist Papers The plan was to write a total of twenty-five essays the work divided evenly among the three men In the end, they wrote eighty-five essays Source: Wikicommons in the span of six months John Jay got sick after writing five James Madison wrote twenty-nine Hamilton wrote the other fifty-one!”  Federalist #51 – written by Madison But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others.... Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is Source: Wiki Commons to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. Result The Anti-Federalists agreed to support ratification. o This happened in 1789 The Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights o This happened in 1791 The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Since 1791, only 17 more amendments have been made.  In what ways has the Constitution been Amended? SUBSTANCE (like lawmaking) EX: Banning sale of alcohol PROCESS (defining how the government works) EX: Expanding the right to vote Judicial Review Marbury v. Madison (1802) The Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional If a law contradicts the Constitution, it is void Source: commons.Wikimedia.org Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion in Marbury v. Madison Chief Justice John Marshall “invented” the US by bringing the ideas in the Constitution to life. Source: commons.Wikimedia.org  Conclusion Constitution Constitutionalism Contexts of the Constitution Constitutional Convention Federalist Papers Ratification and Amendment "A lady asked Dr. Franklin Fragmentation of Power Well Doctor what have we Judicial Review got a republic or a monarchy. A republic, replied the Doctor, if you can keep it." Source: istockphoto.com