| A | B |
|---|
| Constitutional Convention of 1787 | 55 delegates went to the Constitutional Convention in1787 at the State House of Philidelphia because they met originally to revise the Articles but decided that a new Constitution was needed |
| Major Themes of the Constitutional Conventioon | States' rights; Branches of government; legislative branch, executive branch, judicial branch; wanted to decide what would be the make-up of each branch. should have a president? how many houses would there be in the legislature? |
| Legislative branch | Encourage and makes the laws; creates and passes legislation; ratifys treaties; has right to impeachment of federal officials; confirms the appointments of presidential appointments; override presidential vetoes; controls appropriations of money |
| Judicial branch | Declare laws unconstitutional; judges are appointed for life; interprets the laws |
| Executive branch | Enforces laws; makes sure everything runs well; vetos bills; appoints federal judges; |
| Issue: representation | small states vs.large states; small states: wanted all states to have the same number of representatives in congress (New Jersey Plan=made by William Patterson; wanted three branches of government; two house legislature; ; large states wanted representation to be determined by the population of the state (Virginia Plan=Written by James Maddison, 3 branches of government, 1 house legislature; 1 state=1 vote so that small states were equal to large states; large states wanted representation to be determined by the pop of the state (Virginia Plan=written by James Madison; 3 branches of government; 2 house legislature; both houses based on population so that large states had more power |
| Solution to representation issue | The Great Connecticut Compromise=the Constitution creates a Bicameral Legislature; in the House of Representatives-representation is based on pop and a census is taken every 10 years to determine the population of each state; in the senate all states would have the same number of senators=2; there are now 435 representatives |
| Issue: Should Slaves Count as part of the Pop? | Southern states: wanted slaves to count as part of the population for determining representation, BUT not when apportioning taxes; Northern states wanted slaves to count for taxation BUT, not count toward the state's pop |
| Solution to slaves counting as part of pop | The 3/5ths Compromise; delegates agreeed to count slaves as 3/5ths of a person when apportioning representation and taxation |
| Issue: the slave trade | Wanted the constitution to ban the slave trade (Norther Abolitionists); Southern Slave Traders argued that slavery was vital to the Southern economics |
| Solution to slave trade | Slave Trade Compromise; Congress was given the power to ban the slave trade after 1808 |
| Issue: Presidential Elections | Election of the president? Some delegates believed the president should be elected directly by the people while other delegates believed that not all citizens were educated to make such an important decision |
| Solution to pres elections: | Electoral college; president is elected indirectly by a group of people called the Electoral College to a four year term of office |
| Problem: Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists; federalists | Ex: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay National government should provide for common defense; control trade between states and other nations, and deal with “foreign countries” Powers of national gov. should be separated Separate powers should be able to check and balance each other; none should have too much power America needs to be a republic A Bill of Rights was unnecessary; Federalists: supported the constitution; favored a strong national government; FEDERALIST PAPERS; series of essays Written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison that supported ratification of the Constitution |
| Problem: Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists; anti-federalists | Feared that the new constitution created too powerful a central government. Felt that government would have too much power over states;thought there would be a monarchy; opposed the Constitution; thought the Constitution would create a strong national government that would ignore the will of the people and favor the wealthy; wanted a bill of rights to protect individual freedoms |
| Solution to federalists vs. anti-federalists | Bill of Rights Compromise: Federalists agreed with the Anti-Federalists tat if the Constitution was ratified the first thing the gov would do is to add a bill of rights |
| What does the Constitution do? | It provides a framework for government; it is the HIGHEST AUTHORITY in the nation; it is considered the basic law of the United States; composed of three main parts; preamble:introduction that states the purpose of the government; the articles: describes the structure of governmnet; 27 amendments: changes or additions to the Constitution-the 1st 10 Amendments are known as the Bill of Rights |
| Preamble goals | To form a more perfect Union, to establish justice, to insure domestic tranquility, to provide for the common defense, to promote general welfare, to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourself and our Prosperity |
| Article 1 | The legislature; requirements for house of r: based on the number of members in each state; have to be at least 25, have lived in state senator for 7 years, citizen for 7 years; 2 requirements of the Senate: 2 senators from each state for 6 years-have one vote; role of house in impeachment trials: senate has sole power on Oath of Affirmation, when Pres is tried Chief Justice Presides; 6 different powers of congress: 1. taxation.2.credit.3money.4.commerce.5.bankruptcy.6.conterfeiting; what is the necessary and proper clause? to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper |
| Article 2 | Executive; qualifications of pres: natural born citizen, 35 years old, 14 years residence in us; pres elected indirectly by people's vote; if pres dies, the v.p. becomes president; three main powers of pres: military; treaties and appointments; vacancies; other duties: gives congress info on state of union |
| Article 3 | The Judiciary; 3 types of cases supreme court has original jurisdiction: general authority; supreme authority; trial by jury; two witnesses over same act or confession in court needed to convict someone of treason |
| Article 4 | Relations among states; extradition: one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state |
| Article 5 | Amending the Constitution |
| Article 6 | Supremicy of nat gov. |
| Article 7 | Ratification |
| What was the process for ratifying the Constitution? | 9 out of 13 states needed to ratify |
| How can we change the constitution? | Formal: amendments, informal: custom and tradition: both houses must be approved by 2/3 vote: 67 out of 100 senators; 290 out of 435 representatives; to ratify the ammendment must have votes of 3/4 of states or 38 out of 50 states |
| How is power distributed in the US government | All check and balance (restrain) each other/the goal was to prevent from becoming too powerful |
| Enlightenment with Constitution | John Adams gave idea for independence and justice for all and led fights for independence (from MA and was 2nd pres); Hobbes born in England thought that without gov.humans are dark and it would be bitter and reccomended America be built with a monarchy to keep people in order (didn't hold); John Locke (from England) believed in life liberty, property, natural rights, freedom of press, and content of the government; montesquieu (french) thought liberty was important and that the gov should be separated into three branches; Rousseau (switz); gov should involve ethics and equality is best; voltaire: anti-religious, supported freedom of religious persecution, freedom of speech, monarchy was bad; Mary Wollstonecraft; feminism was good, game women more rights; Adam Smith-(scottish)-liked free markets; deist; capatilism |
| What are key examples of checks each branch has on each other? | legislative checks executive by creating and passing legislation, ratifies treaties, gives advice and consent; it can overide presidents veto; confirms presidential appointments to senate; confirms money appropriations: executive to legislative- vetos bills; can propose bills; call special sessions: judicial to executive by justices which are appointed for life and can declare executive orders unconstitutional: executive to judicial by granting pardoms and reprieves; appointing federal judges and can lessen commute punishment: legislative to judicial-establish courts, confirms pres appointments, impeach and remove federal judges: judicial to legislative-can declare laws unconstitutional |
