U.S. Constitution: The Heart of America

After the Revolution, What Do We Do Now?

With war, we had a common enemy. Now, do we still stay

unified?

Articles of Confederation

• Alliance of 13 states• States, not central gov,

have all the power (each state has 1 vote)

• Weak• Problems:

– 1) Can’t amend w/out all states’ consent.

– 2) No recognition between larger & smaller state.

– 3) Economic – can’t pay back loans, each state has its own currency

Under Articles of Confederation, State Rights Would Have Been 80%

American Imports & Exports, To & From Britain: 1783-1789

What Type of Government Do We Set Up?

Government where citizens rule through their elected representatives (Republic)

How Do We Set Up A Republic?

• 1) New Jersey Plan (William Patterson) – 1 House / 1 Vote

• 2) Virginia Plan (James Madison) – 2 House legislature with membership based on state population

• SOLUTION / GREAT COMPROMISE: 2 House legislature (Senate & House of Representatives)

How Do We Count Slaves For Population?

3/5 CompromiseSlaves are 3/5 of a human being

Create A New Government

• Separation of Powers– Checks & Balances (3

branches of gov)– Congress– Presidency– Supreme Court

• Federalism– National v State Govs

Those Powers Not Specified In The Constitution Are Left To The States

The Constitution• States take Constitution

back to vote on it individually: Do you want in to becoming part of the USA?

• Federalist v Anti-federalist

• James Madison “Federalist Papers” defends Constitution

• Bill of Rights – citizens need protection from government

FLEXIBILITY OF CONSTITUTION HAS HADE IT MODEL GOV FOR WORLD

James Monroe & The Federalist Papers

Directions• In the following activity, Mr. Friendt

is going to list & discuss some current & controversial topics of today, from a liberal & conservative perspective. As he describes them, get up & move to the appropriate side of the class that represents your feelings & opinion for that issue (Liberals to the Left; Conservatives to the Right). You can have different opinions on different issues, so you might be moving from side to side a lot or maybe not that much.

• In a short debate per issue, everyone will earn 3pts participation. If you raise your hand & defend your side, you can earn 5/5 pts. If you raise your hand & defend your side multiple times, you can earn 7pts.

1st Amendment:Protects Freedom Of Religion, Speech, Press,

Assembly, Petition

Prayer In Public SchoolsEngle v Vitale, 1962

Prayer In Public SchoolsLiberal

•School prayer violates the “separation of Church & State.”

•Public schools are intended for education.

•Students are already allowed to pray on a voluntary basis, in a non-disruptive way, so formal school prayer is unnecessary.

•The public school system is created for all students & supported by all taxpayers. Since no formal school prayer could simultaneously honor & uphold the tenets of the many religions practiced in the U.S, as well as various denominational differences, prayer is better left in the home & religious institution of the individual student’s choice.

Conservative

•Prayer in school acknowledges our religious heritage.

– Our country was founded by people who believed in the freedom to practice one’s religion openly & who used their religious beliefs to create the backbone of this nation.

– Our system of education has a rich spiritual heritage. Of the 1st 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian.

•Prayer in school offers many societal benefits.

– School prayer would instill moral values.– School prayer may cause students to

acknowledge a power greater than themselves on which they can rely for comfort & help in times of trouble. This will lead to decreased reliance on drugs, alcohol, sex, & dangerous amusements as well as decreased suicides.

2nd Amendment:Protects The Right To Bear Arms

Gun ControlLiberal

• The Second Amendment does not give citizens the right to keep and bear arms, but only allows for the state to keep a militia (National Guard).  Individuals do not need guns for protection; it is the role of local and federal government to protect the people through law enforcement agencies and the military.

• Additional gun control laws are necessary to stop gun violence and limit the ability of criminals to obtain guns.

• More guns mean more violence.

Conservative• The Second Amendment gives

citizens the right to keep and bear arms.  Individuals have the right to defend themselves.

• There are too many gun control laws--additional laws will not lower gun crime rates.  What is needed is enforcement of current laws. 

• Gun control laws do not prevent criminals from obtaining guns.

• More guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens mean less crime.

3rd Amendment:Provides Restrictions On Quartering

Soldiers In Citizens’ Homes

4th Amendment:Bans Unreasonable Searches & Seizures

4th Amendment:Board Of Education v Earls 536 U.S. 822

(2002)

• The Tecumseh, Oklahoma School District has a drug testing policy that requires all middle & high school students who wish to participate in extracurricular activities to undergo a urinalysis that tests for the presence of illegal drugs. At the time of the case, this policy had only been applied to activities sanctioned by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association. The school district was sued by some students & parents in an attempt to have this policy vacated on 4th Amendment grounds.

5th Amendment:Protects Citizens Against Self-Incrimination & Being Tried Twice For The Same Crime; Prohibits Government From Depriving Citizens Of Life, Liberty, Or Property Without

Due Process Of Law

5th Amendment:Rasul v Bush (2004)

• On June 28, 2004, the Supreme Court held that the nearly 600 men imprisoned by the U.S. government in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba had a right of access to federal courts, via habeas corpus, and otherwise to challenge their detention & conditions of confinement.

Korematsu v U.S. (1944)

6th Amendment:Protects Citizens’ Rights To A Swift & Fair Trial

6th Amendment:Smith v Illinois (1968)

• This case addressed the issue of whether or not the state could introduce as evidence, statements obtained from an undercover police informant, against a defendant charged with selling drugs. The state would not produce the witness in person because it said that revealing his identity would undermine the secretive nature & strategies used by the police.

• The defendant claimed that his 6th Amendment Confrontation Clause right to confront the witness had been violated in his trial & that the conviction should be thrown out. The Court agreed with the defendant. The right to cross-examine a witness is absolute.

7th Amendment:Guarantees Right To A Trial By Jury

Bobbitt Case, 1994

8th Amendment:Protects Citizens Against Cruel & Unusual

Punishment

Death Penalty

Liberal• The death penalty should

be abolished.  It is inhumane and is ‘cruel and unusual‘ punishment.  Imprisonment is the appropriate punishment for murder.  Every execution risks killing an innocent person.

Conservative• The death penalty is a

punishment that fits the crime of murder; it is neither ‘cruel' nor ‘unusual.'  Executing a murderer is the appropriate punishment for taking an innocent life.

9th Amendment:Citizens Have Rights Beyond Those Specifically

Written In The Constitution• In Griswold v Connecticut, the Supreme

Court found a new right in the Constitution that had never been found there before: “a right to privacy.” The case centered around a Connecticut law that banned the use & sale of any kind of contraceptives. The law was created in 1879.

• In the case, a woman named Estelle Griswold, who was then the director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, & Dr. C. Lee Buxton, a doctor & professor at Yale School of Medicine, opened an abortion facility in New Haven, CT, specifically to test this law, which they viewed as unconstitutionally a woman’s right to have an abortion.

Griswold v Connecticut, 1965

Abortion

AbortionLiberal

•A woman has the right to decide what happens with her body.  A fetus is not a human life, so it does not have separate individual rights. •The government should provide taxpayer funded abortions for women who cannot afford them. •The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice of a woman regarding her own body and the government must protect this right.  Women have the right to affordable, safe and legal abortions, including partial birth abortion.

Conservative•Human life begins at conception.  Abortion is the murder of a human being.  An unborn baby, as a living human being, has separate rights from those of the mother. •Oppose taxpayer-funded abortion.  Taxpayer dollars should not be used for the government to provide abortions. •Support legislation to prohibit partial birth abortions, called the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban"

– (Partial Birth Abortion:  the killing of an unborn baby of at least 20 weeks by pulling it out of the birth canal with forceps, but leaving the head inside.  An incision is made in the back of the baby's neck and the brain tissue is suctioned out.  The head is then removed from the uterus.)

10th Amendment:All Powers Not Given To The Government Are

Reserved To The States Or The People

Same-Sex Marriage

Same-Sex MarriageLiberal

•Marriage is the union of people who love each other.  It should be legal for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, to ensure equal rights for all.  Support same-sex marriage. •Opposed to the creation of a constitutional amendment establishing marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  All individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation, have the right to marry. •Prohibiting same-sex citizens from marrying denies them their civil rights.  [Opinions vary on whether this issue is equal to civil rights for African Americans.]

Conservative•Marriage is the union of one man and one woman.  Oppose same-sex marriage.•Support Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed in 1996, which affirms the right of states not to recognize same-sex marriages licensed in other states. •Requiring citizens to sanction same-sex relationships violates moral and religious beliefs of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others, who believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman.

The Federal Court System

Washington Taking The Oath• George Washington was the most

admired man in eighteenth-century America. Even before the Constitution was ratified, his name was widely proposed for the presidency. "Of all Men you are best fitted to fill that Office," wrote one friend, and indeed, Washington was unanimously elected to serve as the first president of the United States. Along the route from his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, to his inauguration at New York City, Washington was greeted by cheering crowds, bands, and parades. Barges, decorated in patriotic themes, accompanied him as he crossed the Hudson River. In this painting, the artist captures the enthusiasm and patriotism of the crowd that has gathered to see the general take the oath of office.

Tax Collector Scene From Whiskey Rebellion

• In 1794, the new federal government passed an excise tax on whiskey made from surplus American grains. Farmers in western Pennsylvania rose up in protest against what they considered an unfair assault on their livelihood. Using tactics straight out of the pre-Revolutionary War era, including tarring and feathering the "revenooer" assigned to collect the taxes, the "Whiskey Rebels" challenged the federal government's authority. President Washington met this challenge by assembling an army of almost 13,000 men to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. Critics declared the president's response excessive.

Treaty Of Greenville• In the Treaty of

Greenville, the United States formally accepted the principle of Indian sovereignty, by virtue of residence, over all lands the native peoples had not ceded.

To Summarize …

To Summarize Again …