Essential Documents of the American Government

Government – Libertyville HS

Declaration of Independence Review the

Declaration . . . How is it

organized? Introduction Preamble (“We

hold…”) List of Grievances Break with British

people Conclusion

Declaration of Independence What are the principles

of the new government? All men are created EQUAL Endowed by CREATOR with

natural rights Right to life free from

arbitrary gov’t action Right to liberty (freedom)

from arbitrary gov’t action Right to acquire and use

property for personal profit and to keep it free from gov’t acquisition

People are source of power, for gov’t (give, or delegate, power to gov’t)

Right / duty of people to form gov’t to secure natural rights

Gov’t made legit by consent of people

Right of people to defend those rights, including from (against) own government

PRUDENCE (wise judgment) of people critical to assessing change in gov’t system

Thoughtful deliberation Narrowly tailored for specific

purpose Constitutional process

Declaration of Independence Brainstorm: What was the purpose

of the Declaration of Independence?

Mr. Duffy’s three purposes Lay out principles of government of new

state Voice independence of 13 colonies from

England Explain WHY colonies were breaking

away from England

US Constitution After Revolutionary

War, people agreed that Articles of Confederation didn’t work well

In 1787, after months of debate & compromise, the Constitution was approved

Document of Compromises Legislature: how

composed? Executive: direct or

indirect election? Judicial: power + life

appointments?! Slavery: how to avoid

disunion with South?

At the Constitutional Congress, 1787

Compromise: The Legislature Virginia Plan

Base representation on population

Favored big states New Jersey Plan

Base representation equally, by state

Favored small states Connecticut

Compromise Bicameral (two

chamber) legislature

Compromise: Direct Election or Indirect Selection of President?

Why didn’t the Founders want direct election? (Brainstorm) Difficulty for

nationwide vote (distance, travel problems, corruption)

“Favorite Son” (vote for local candidate, not best)

Fear of direct democracy

Executive (s)election Benefits of Electoral College

Requires President to have support across the country, not just one region

Contributes to political stability of country by favoring two party system

We ARE a federal system …! (50 state elections, plus one election by Electoral College = President)

Compromise: The Judiciary United States

Supreme Court (USSC) the supreme law in country

BUT Congress creates all other courts and establishes which courts get jurisdiction

And the Executive appoints all justices / judges

Compromise: Slavery New England states

wanted to outlaw slavery completely

Southern states wanted to count every slave a person for representation in national legislature

3/5 Compromise Slaves would count

as 3/5 a person for purposes of counting population to determine how many House of Representatives a state received

Congress could not pass a law outlawing slavery until after 1808

Fugitive slaves escaping to a non slave state had to be returned to their home state, if captured

Constitutional Principles Popular

Sovereignty

Separation of Powers

Limited Government

Checks and BalancesFederalism

++

Judicial Review

Popular Sovereignty (PS) National government

gets its power from… the PEOPLE! “We the People” –

preamble to the Constitution

Declaration of Independence = failure of Brits to consider rights of colonists

People are the ONLY source of governmental power

Limited Government (LG) Government may

exercise ONLY those powers given to it by the people

Government must obey the law (b/c the law comes from the people)

“Rule of Law” Government officials are

subject to same laws / rules as ordinary citizens

“Government of laws” vs. “Government of man” (i.e. laws don’t apply to dictator)

PS + LG Why do these two principles go together?

If government gets its power from the people, and the people are its only source of power, then the government is one of LIMITED powers.

The government is not above the law because the PEOPLE are the source of laws. Thus, the government must follow the rules, just like everybody else.

Separation of Powers (SOP)

The Constitution separates powers of government (derived from who?) among three co-equal branches of government

Article I, section I = “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in Congress…”

Article II, Section I = “The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the USA”

Article III, Section I = “The judicial power of the US shall be vested in one supreme court . . .”

Checks and Balances (C&B) Further limits on

each branch’s powers are explicit restraints, held by other branches

Idea of framers was to balance the operations of government by dividing power up among branches, to check each other (no one branch had too much power)

Examples of C&B Congress makes

law ...

President declares war...

President enters into treaty…

President names a federal judge...

. . . But president can veto!

. . . But Congress must approve AND fund!

. . . But Senate ratifies!

. . . But Senate “advises and consents” to choice!

SOP + L&G

Why do these two go together?

Two sides of the same coin; idea of both is to limit the power that each branch has, so no one branch can

dominate the government and become dictators.

Federalism Distribution of power of government on a

territorial basis National government has some powers,

states have other powers Framers wanted to assure that local

control over local matters remained with the states

BUT they wanted a central government that was strong enough to act for the entire country

Federalism: National Government’s Powers

Express Powers = contained in Constitution Example: Congress’ power to tax (I, VIII)

Implied Powers = reasonably suggested within Constitution Example: Congress’ power to create the Internal

Revenue Service (I, VIII, xviii)

Inherent Powers = belong to national government because it is a sovereign nation Example: Central government’s power to enter into

treaties, control borders

What are Reserved Powers? Powers of the States – all power that doesn’t go to central government as express, implied, or inherent power

Federalism: Floor and Ceiling?!

Federalism as a floor Laws of the national legislature establish a floor

under which states cannot go Ex: with min. wage, drunk driving laws, states can

adopt MORE STRICT laws than the national standard

Federalism as a ceiling Laws of the national legislature can also EXCLUDE

states from regulating something Ex” private sector labor unions, health insurance

and pension regulations are areas of NATIONAL regulation

Principle of Judicial Review Origins

Not in Constitution Marbury v. Madison

summary Made judicial branch

equal to other branches by giving it the power to decide whether a law, regulation or decision of the other 2 branches is constitutional

Federalist Papers (1787-88) With Constitution complete,

persuasion began “Federalist Papers” were essays

published in NYC newspapers during debate to ratify Constitution

Authors Hamilton (wrote 52) Madison (wrote 28) John Jay (wrote 5 – pneumonia)

Why were FP important? One of the most imp. sources for

interpreting and understanding the original intent of the Constitution

Convinced a lot of people to support Const. despite legit concerns (big one = lack of protection of individual from government, in Constitution)

Civil Liberties contained in Constitution

Prohibited ex post facto laws Laws that punish actions

that, when committed, weren’t against the law

Prohibited bills of attainder A law that singles out an

individual or group for punishment without a trial

Guaranteed habeus corpus Protect against illegal

detention Person must be told why

they are being held

Bill of Rights Federalists did not

include a list of rights of citizens

This was best argument against ratification

Several states demanded a bill of rights as a condition of ratification (Mass., NH, VA, NY, NC)

Signing the Constitution, 1787

Bill of Rights First Congress met in

1789 James Madison, a

Federalist, wrote the Bill of Rights

Madison wrote 12 amendments; 11 were ratified (first 10 amendments ratified by 1791; 27th Amendment, limiting congressional pay raises, ratified in 1992) (not adopted dealt w/ 1780s apportionment)

James Madison

Copy of Bill of Rights

Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights was intended to PROTECT

THE PEOPLE FROM THEIR OWN

GOVERNMENT!!!