Hartman Saylor’s Study Guide for Civics

Roots of our Laws
English Origins of the American Political System

• The system of feudalism began being used in the English government in the 11th century because of the failing system of monarchy. England was too large for one person to rule because quick and efficient means of communication and travel did not exist.
• Feudalism was a form of political organization in which a lord gave land to other men in return for their personal allegiance for military and other service. The men who received land from the lord were known as his vassals. They served their lord and were entitled to be protected by him.
• Feudalism is important to the development of constitutional government because of its ideas about contracts. The system depended on a series of agreements or contracts between lords and vassals. Each contract included mutual rights and responsibilities.
• Another important component of early English government was the rights of Englishmen. The rights of Englishmen were certain basic rights that all subjects of the English monarch were believed to have. They were fundamental in the sense that they could not be changed or violated.

Natural Rights Philosophy

• Based on imagining what life would be like if there were no government. John Locke and other philosophers called this a state of nature.
• According to Locke, a legitimate government could not exist until the people have given their consent to be ruled by it.
• Locke identified the three natural rights to be:

-Life: people want to survive and they want their lives to be as free as possible from threats or to their security.
-Liberty: people want to be as free as possible from the domination of others, to be able to make their own decisions, and to live as they please.
-Property: people want the freedom to work and gain economic goods such as land, houses, tools, and money, which are necessary to survival.

• Social Contract- Locke believed that each individual should agree with other individuals to create and live under a government and give it the power to make and enforce laws. In social contract, everyone promises to give up the absolute right to do anything he or she has the right to do in a state of nature. In return, everyone receives the security that can be provided by a government.

Classical Republican Philosophy

• Classical Republicanism is a theory that the best kind of society is one that promotes the common good instead of the interests of only one class of citizens.
• Believed that the government promoted the common good only when the society and its citizen shared the following characteristics:

-Civic virtue- a person with civic virtue is one who sets aside personal interests to promote the common good.
-Moral education- classical republican philosophers believed that civic virtue came from moral education based on a civic religion consisting of gods, goddesses, and their rituals.
-Small, uniform communities- benefits of having small, uniform communites were that everyone would know and care for each other and the people would be very much alike. If there was a great degree of diversity, people would divide into factions, or interest groups, rather than working together for the common good.

Constitutionalism

• In a constitutional government, the powers of the person or group controlling the government are limited by a set of laws and customs called a constitition.
• Every constitutional government is a limited government, but not every limited government is a constitutional government.

Development of the Idea of Individual Rights Through:

• Judeo-Christian Tradition- based on the belief that every human being is created in God’s image and each possesses an immortal soul. Many of the Founders were raised in this tradition. A major importance of this belief was obeying the moral code given by God. But this type of morality was called private morality, not to be confused with public morality of the classical republicans.
• Middle Ages- medieval society was based on the ideas of unity, social harmony, and other-worldliness. Most Europeans of the Middle Ages saw themselves united in a single society called Christendom.  These people taught themselves to live of two allegiances: to their own local community and to the great unity of Christendom with one catholic (meaning universal) church presiding over it. Medieval ideas of society also reflected the harmony that was thought to exist between each individual and the whole of society.
• Renaissance- people in this period directed their energy toward the possibilities of human achievement in this life rather than the life to come. Their art and architecture glorified the beauty of the human body, and their literature and philosophy explored all aspects of human nature and human creativity. People began to believe that they could work to improve their positions in society. The new emphasis on individual opportunity led to an increased interest in the rights of individuals.
• Reformation- the Reformation was a religious reform movement in the early 16th century of the Protestants in Western Europe. It encouraged individuals to read the Bible in their native language to determine for themselves what it meant. Being able to read the Bible for oneself encouraged greater freedom of conscience. Protestant doctrine taught that there was a direct relationship between each individual believer and God. The result was the decrease of the importance of the church and and increase in the importance of the individual. The spirit of free inquiry and individual conscience inspired by the reformation contributed to the development of individual rights.
• Enlightenment- the Enlightenment was an intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries that celebrated human reason and sought to realize its potential in all areas of human endeavor. The worldly interests inspired by the Renaissance stimulated natural science—the study of the natural world and the laws that govern it. Many scientific discoveries during this period were believed by English philosopher Francis Bacon to “enlarge the bounds of the human empire, to the effecting of all things possible.” This spirit of scientific discovery was applied to human nature and society as well.
• Capitalism- Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of producing and distributing goods are privately owned and operated for profit in competitive markets, and production and distribution are not controlled by the government. Under capitalism, people have the freedom to choose their occupations, start their own businesses, and own property. As a result, political and economic power shifted to a newly developed middle class of successful citizens.

British Origins of American Government

• For almost 180 years, the entire eastern seaboard of the United States belonged to Great Britain.
• Magna Carta- King John (13th cent.) violated the natural rights of many nobles and bishops by causing the loss of much property. He never compensated them for there losses, and when someone would speak out against him, he would have them imprisoned without trial. These nobles and bishops forced him to sign the Magna Carta, a combination of documents that stated that he must follow all English laws and customs, limiting his power.
• Parliament- grew out of the Great Council, which originally consisted of the country’s leading nobles and bishops. The leader of the nobles, Simon de Montfort, decided that the Great Council should branch out to the growing middle class as well as the nobles and bishops, so knights and burgesses were allowed to attend meetings. This parliament has been called the “model parliament”, as most later parliaments were modeled after this one. In time, the Great Council became known as Parliament. This body later divided into two houses, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Nobles made up the House of Lords. Elected knights and burgesses made up the House of Commons. The House of Commons was a representative body, that is, each member spoke for many people and voted in their interests. Parliament began using its power to ask for the serving monarchs to correct a number of problems in government before they would be given money. They presented the ruler with statements of their demands called bills. The bills would become law after they were signed by the ruler. At this point, Parliament began to have some lawmaking power. This system was carried over to the English colonies in America.
• English Bill of Rights- the name says it all. This Bill of Rights was passed as a result of the Glorious Revolution in England.
• Don’t these three components look familiar? Magna Carta=U.S. Constitution. Parliament=Legislative Branch. English Bill of Rights=Our Bill of Rights.

Formation of the American Democratic System

Early American History

• Thousands of immigrants in the 17th and early 18th century came to America for various reasons. The most common were economic and religious. The English colonists brought with them English customs, laws, and ideas about good government. The colonists discovered that they would have to improvise, adapt old ideas, and develop new ones if they wanted to survive.
• Remember, Britain was still in the colonies’ control, even though they were in a new place.

Colonial Government

• In some respects, the settlement of America meant a return to a state of nature as later described by the natural rights philosophers. This new experience required new political solutions.
• The Mayflower Compact- the Mayflower Compact was a covenant, or social contract, to which the Pilgrims agreed prior to landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The Compact established a civil body authorized to make laws and appoint officers.
• The colonists tried to create their government as a limited government, as their parent country across the Atlantic had. Except they planned on using written constitutions rather than the unwritten one of England.
• Many of the early colonial governments used established religion, and would persecute those who did not conform to it. Anne Hutchinson immigrated to Massachusetts, and began preaching a theory of salvation that was contrary to the established Puritan beliefs. She was cast out of the colony and fled to Rhode Island, where all religions were tolerated.
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut- this was the first colonial constitution. It established a central legislative body for making laws. After this, the other colonies began adopting constitutional arrangements of their own.
• All of the colonies’ constitutions were different, yet they still shared the same basic principles:

-Fundamental Rights- the colonists believed that they had brought their fundamental rights from England and that the first and foremost concern should be protecting those rights. These rights were later defined by natural rights philosophers to be the rights to life, liberty, and property.
-Rule of Law- in order to protect their fundamental rights, the colonists insisted on the creation of a government of laws, in which those responsible for making and enforcing the laws could not exercise arbitrary power as had been the case in some of the first colonial governments. The colonial constitutions also included the idea that the English law was the higher law and was superior to any laws the colonial governments might make.
-Separation of Powers- in colonial governments, the power of the three branches of government was separated to a greater extent than that of England. The three branches of government are broken up into:
a. Executive Branch- governors were responsible for carrying out and enforcing law. Most governors were chosen by the monarch of England.
b. Legislative Branch- all of the colonies had legislatures that were responsible for making law. They were very similar to Britain’s Parliament.
c. Judicial Branch- this branch was made up of judges called magistrates. Their responsibility was to handle conflicts over the laws and to preside at trials of those accused of breaking the law. They were also responsible for making sure the colonies were being governed in a way that was consistent with English law and tradition.
-Checks and Balances- power was separated and in some cases shared among these branches so that the use of power by one branch could be checked by that of another. The power of one branch could then be opposed and therefore limited by the power of another branch. The powers of the executive branch were checked because they could not collect taxes without the consent of the legislature, imprison people without a trial by a magistrate, or sell their own salaries. The power of the legislative branch was checked by reliance on the governor to enforce the laws that they passed, the power of the judges to make sure that they did not make laws that violated those of England, and the veto powers held in some colonies by the governor. The power of the judicial branch was checked by their being appointed by the governor, the governor or legislature having the power to remove them if their decisions seemed inappropriate, their reliance on the governor to enforce their decisions, and the basic right of every Englishman to a trial by jury of his peers from the community.
-Representative Government and the Right to Vote- representative government began soon after the first colonies were established. The rights of the colonists to elect representatives was seen as a way to:
a. reduce the possibility that the members of government would violate the peoples’ rights.
b. make sure that at least a part of the government could be counted on to respond to the needs and interests of the people, or at least of those people who had the right to vote. It also established firmly the principle that those governed could not be taxed without their consent or that of their representatives.

• The colonies believed that in order to protect property (a natural right), there had to be a property requirement to be able to enjoy political rights such as voting. Fifty acres was usually the requirement for voting in the colonies. Since land was easily acquired in America, the body of eligible voters was proportionally larger than in England the colonial legislatures were accordingly more representative.
• Unlike their British counterparts in Parliament, colonial legislators usually came from the districts they represented and were considered to be the agents of their constituents’ interests.

War for Independence

• After 1763, several factors caused the British to exert more control over the American colonies than in the previous 150 years. Britain had incurred large debts in its great victory over the French in the Seven Years War (or French and Indian War) of 1756-1763. Between then and the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1776), Britain began increasing control of the colonies in a few ways. To reduce tensions with the Native Americans, the British government passed a law forbidding colonists from settling in the western territories. To raise revenue, the government increased control of trade and customs duties. The Stamp Act of 1765 introduced a new kind of tax on the colonists by imposing duties on stamps needed for official documents. To the British these measures seemed reasonable and moderate, yet they lacked a fundamental principle of natural rights philosophy—the consent of the governed.
• The colonists believed that tax laws should only be passed in their own colonial legislatures, in which they were represented. “No taxation without representation” had become a common established belief of settlers in the American colonies.
• This was the beginning of resistance of British control. Colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty began their conquest of resistance by rioting against the Stamp Act. Representatives from the colonies met in the Stamp Act Congress to organize resistance—the first such gathering in American history. The British government’s response created new grievances. For example, the Quartering Act of 1765 forced the colonists to shelter British soldiers in their homes. Writs of assistance gave government officials new powers to search and seize colonial property. Colonists charged with various crimes were transported to England for trials that were frequently delayed.
• The Boston Massacre of 1770 helped convince many Americans that the British government was prepared to use military and arbitrary rule to force the colonists into obedience. The Tea Act of 1773 reasserted the right of Parliament to tax the colonists and led to the Boston Tea Party. The British government responded angrily with the Intolerable Acts, closing Boston harbor to all trade. These measures attacked representative government in Massachusetts by giving more power to the royal governor, limiting town meetings, weakening the court system, and authorizing a massive occupation of the colony by British troops.
• The resistance efforts of the colonists became very strong. Committees of Correspondence were formed to publicize colonial opposition and coordinate resistance efforts. In the fall of 1774, twelve of the thirteen colonies sent representatives to a meeting in Philadelphia to decide on the best response to the actions of the British government. The meeting was the First Continental Congress. The members agreed to impose their own ban on trade with Great Britain in an attempt to force the British government to change its policies. British officials decided that this act of irresponsible defiance was grounds for the arrest of many leading colonists in Massachusetts.
• War was now on the rise. Radical colonists, especially in New England, began to prepare for war. Colonists formed the Minutemen, a civilian militia that could supposedly be ready for battle on a minute’s notice.
• In April of 1775, British troops tried to march to Concord, Massachusetts, where they had heard the Minutemen had hidden arms and ammunition. The colonists in Concord were warned by Paul Revere and William Dawes that the British were going to attack. On that day, war broke out in the towns of Lexington and Concord, and the “shot heard round the world” was fired.
• War waged on until 1776, when the Declaration of Independence, the final step of the colonies’ resistance to the British government, was drafted and signed.

State Governments

• Soon after the Revolutionary War, the 13 states began to develop their own written constitutions. The following basic ideas were included in these state constitutions:

- Higher Law and Natural Rights- every state constitution was considered a higher law and was based on the idea that the purpose of government was to preserve and protect citizens’ natural rights.
- Social Contract- each state constitution made it clear that its government was formed as a result of a social contract—an agreement among its people to create a government to protect their natural rights.
- Popular Sovereignty- the authority to govern was delegated to the government by the sovereign people.
- Representation and the Right to Vote- representation was very important to every state, as this was also a major importance in the war for independence. All of the state constitutions created legislatures that were composed of elected representatives of the people. There were strict criteria for having the right to vote in most constitutions, but some allowed most all people to vote.
- Legislative Supremacy- a government in which most of the power is given to the legislature. Based on the belief that the legislative branch is the closest and most representative to the people, while the executive branch was the most risky, potentially tyrannical branch. The judicial branch also could not be trusted with the most power, as many of the colonies’ magistrates had tried them for breaking British law.
- Checks and Balances- this system had to be modified in a government in which the legislative branch has the most power. In most states, a way to keep the legislative branch in check was for it to check itself. This was carried out by splitting the branch into two houses, just like in Parliament.

• It is important to note that the Massachusetts constitution was different in that the legislature was not supreme. The executive branch was stronger, because in Massachusetts, the governor was elected by the people, therefore could be more trusted with more power and the power to check the legislature.
• Since none of the state constitutions relied entirely on their governments to protect individual rights, most of them used a declaration of rights. They used them to signify that these new constitutions possessed certain basic rights that existed prior to government and that no constitution or government could take that away.
• The first state to do this was Virginia. The Virginia Declaration of Rights stated that:

- all power is derived from and kept by the people.
- all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
- the government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people. If a government does not serve these purposes, the people have an unalienable right to alter or abolish it.

• Other states’ declarations varied in the rights they chose to include or leave out. Most included political guarantees such as:

- the right to vote
- free and frequent elections
- freedom of speech and the press
- the right to petition the government
- no taxation without representation

• They all included important procedural guarantees of due process such as:

- the right to trial by jury
- protection from illegal search and seizure
- protection from forced self-incrimination, excessive bail and fines, and cruel and unusual punishment

Articles of Confederation

• In addition to the creation of previously mentioned state governments, Americans also considered creating a national government to manage relationships among the states and to unite the states in their relations with the rest of the world.
• Richard Henry Lee introduced two resolutions to the meeting of the Second Continental Congress in the summer of 1776. One was for independence and the other was to form a national government. Out of these proposed resolutions, the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation were born.
• After fighting a problematic, tyrannical, and strong national government (Britain), obviously no one wanted to get anywhere near a strong national government in the newly independent America. The Articles of Confederation addressed this problem, and proposed a solution: the creation of a weak national government. It also addressed the problem that some states could end up dominating others in the national government. The proposed solution was to give each state one vote in congress.
• The Articles were officially ratified in 1781. They were not successful. Some weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation government were:

- No Money and No Power to Get It- congress had no power to tax as a result of giving state governments the majority of the power. This meant that war debts could not be paid.
- No Power Over the State Governments and Their Citizens- congress did not have the power to make laws regulating the behavior of citizens or the states or to force state governments or their citizens to do anything. In many situations, the national government had no way of protecting citizens’ natural rights. Specifically, the state governments could treat loyalists (those loyal to Britain) however they wanted.
- Unenforceable Trade Agreements- congress could make agreements with foreign nations, yet it could not make state governments live up to these agreements. This led to much reluctance from foreign countries to trade with America. Many citizens imported goods from other nations and then refused to pay for them.
- Unfair Competition Among the States- congress had no power to regulate trade among the states. As a result, many states levied taxes on goods passing through them to other states. This lead to a downturn of the economy, which was already struggling as a result of the war.
- Threats to Citizens’ Right to Property- factions, or interest groups, began to dominate many state legislatures, which had the most power in government. This led to the passing of laws that violated the property rights of loyalists and others.

• Shays’ Rebellion- many farmers were burdened with serious economic problems under the Articles of Confederation government. In 1786, a group of several hundred angry farmers from Massachusetts gathered under the leadership of Daniel Shays, with the intent to attack the state government. The rebellion placed fear in the hearts of many, and the problems of the Articles of Confederation were beginning to become evident to many. The numbers of people desiring a stronger national government were growing.
• Note that there were a few accomplishments under the Articles of Confederation government:

- The Revolutionary War was fought under this government, and the recognition of American independence by European governments was secured.
- The Northwest Ordinance of 1787- this creation of the Articles of Confederation government defined the Northwest Territory and created a plan for its government. It gave five territories north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River statehood. The ordinance saw to it that the states provided for education by setting aside land for that purpose, and also stated that slavery would be forever prohibited from those lands.

The Constitutional Convention

• Many political leaders such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton suggested holding a meeting of representatives of all the states to discuss constitutional changes in favor of strengthening the national government.
• 55 delegates attended this meeting that later became known as the Constitutional Convention. This group of men is known as the Framers. Some Framers worth noting are George Washington, James Madison, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, Edmund Randolph, Roger Sherman, and Elbridge Gerry.
• The starting point for the convention’s discussions was the Virginia Plan, a plan for new national government proposed by James Madison. The Virginia Plan’s focus was on the reform of the national government to make it stronger. Under the Virginia Plan, the national government would have the power to make and enforce its own laws, and to collect its own taxes. Each citizen would be governed by the national government and a state government. This system is called a federal system. In addition, the Virginia Plan recommended the following:

- The national government would be composed of three branches—legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch would be the most powerful because it would be selected by the people and have the power to select people to serve in the executive and judicial branches.
- The national legislature was to have two houses. A House of Representatives would be elected directly by the people of each state. A Senate would be elected by the members of the House of Representatives.
- The number of representatives from each state in both the House and Senate would be based on the size of its population or the amount of its contribution to the federal treasury. This meant that states with larger populations would have more representation than states with smaller populations.

• The main source of disagreement in the debates over the Virginia Plan was from the issue of representation. Larger states wanted proportional representation in the legislature because a government that acted on and represented the people should give equal voting power to equal numbers of people. The smaller states wanted equal representation, or equal voting power for each state. They believed that the larger states would dominate them if they did not have an equal voice.
• William Paterson of New Jersey (a small state) brought in an alternative to the Virginia Plan: The New Jersey Plan. The following are some of the main parts of the plan:

- Congress would have only one house, as in the Confederation, and it would be given the power to tax, regulate trade, and have supremacy over state laws.
- The executive branch’s members would be appointed by Congress. They would have the power to administer national laws, appoint other executive officials, and direct all military operations.
- The judicial branch would have a supreme court that would be appointed by the officials of the executive branch. It would have the power to decide cases involving treaties, trade among the states or with other nations, and the collection of taxes.

• In the end, the Virginia Plan was adopted. It was believed by the majority that the New Jersey plan was too much like the failed Articles of Confederation government.
• Yet there were still issues to be resolved: representation and the powers of the national government.
• On representation, the arguments of small states and large states continued to keep a wide gap between equal and proportional representation. The situation was saved by The Great Compromise. The Great Compromise stated that the House of Representatives would be elected by the people on the basis of proportional representation, and the Senate would represent each state equally.
• The Framers intended for the new national government to be enumerated a list of powers. These enumerated powers are:

- to lay and collect taxes
- to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States
- to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states
- to declare war
- to raise an army and navy
- to coin money.

• Most importantly, the Framers gave Congress the power to make all laws that are “necessary and proper” for carrying out the enumerated powers.
• The Framers believed in heavily limiting the executive branch’s power. History shows that much corruption and tyranny occurs in a strong executive branch. The Framers gave the following powers to the president:

- carrying out and enforcing laws made by Congress
- nominating people for federal offices
- negotiating treaties with other nations
- conducting wars
- to pardon people convicted of crimes
- to send and receive ambassadors to and from other countries

• There was much debate on whether the people should directly vote for the president or vote through congress, state legislatures, state governors, or temporary groups. A committee was given responsibility for developing a plan to resolve this issue. The committee proposed what we now call the electoral college, which would have the responsibility of electing the president. The main parts of the plan are:

- The electoral college would be organized once every four years to select a president. After the election, the college would be dissolved.
- Each state would select members of the electoral college, called electors.
- Each state would have the same number of electors as it had senators and representatives in Congress. The method for choosing electors would be decided on by the state legislature.
- Each elector would vote for two people, one of whom had to be a resident of another state. This forced the elector to vote for at least one person who might not represent his particular state’s interests.
- The person who received the highest number of votes, if it was a majority of the electors, would become president. The person who received the next largest number of votes would be come vice president.
- If two people received a majority vote, or if no one received a majority vote, then the House of Representatives would select the president by a majority vote, with each state having only one vote. In case of a vice-presidential tie, the Senate would select the vice president.

• The Framers gave the judicial branch the following powers:

- to decide conflicts between state governments
- to decide conflicts that involve the national government
- to handle cases in which the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction. These are cases which the Constitution says are not to be tried first in a lower court, but which are to go directly to the Supreme Court. Such cases involve a state government, a dispute between state governments, and cases involving ambassadors.
- to handle cases which have first been heard in lower courts and which are appealed to the Supreme Court. These are cases over which the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction (the power to review and decide appeals).
Ratification of the Constitution

• Essentially a battle between the Federalists (for ratification) and the Anti-Federalists (against ratification).

• Supported the Constitution.
• Used social contract system and John Locke philosophy.
• Civic virtue of the people alone cannot protect rights.
• The way the government is organized will protect basic rights.
• Representation of interests in the government will protect basic rights.

• The Constitution would help out the small states by way of the Senate.
• There should be no bill of rights because:

-Cannot list every American freedom.
-Constitution isn’t taking them away in the first place.
-Would be obsolete with this constitution because the people have the important power of being able to remove elected officials from office.

• States won’t get along or voluntarily listen to Congress when given too much power.
• There is a difference between representing the interests of the people and having the people run the government.
• No constitution would lead to mob rule—and therefore the people would not be free. Then we’re back where we started.
• Believed that the way the national government would be organized—separation of powers and checks and balances—was the best way to promote republicanism.
• The representation of different interests, through power separation, would be the best way to protect the natural rights of people.

Anti-Federalists

• Did not support the Constitution.
• Feared a strong national government.
• Believed that the constitution should have been developed in a more public fashion.
• Believed that the constitution would undermine a republican government.
• Believed that with the constitution, too much would power would rest in the hands of the national government at the expense of state governments.
• Believed that too much power would be held by the executive branch.
• Believed that the constitution gave Congress too much power.
• Believed that the constitution did not separate the powers of the executive and legislative branches.
• Believed that the constitution allowed the national government to keep an army during peacetime, which was bad.
• No bill of rights was bad.
• Believed that President=Monarch
• Believed that the interests of the people cannot be represented with a strong national government.
• Believed that rich and powerful people will be the only ones in office with the constitution.
• Believed that the constitution was developed by greedy elitists in order to put their selfish interests first.
• Invoking many aspects of classical republicanism (a form of government that worked in the past), such as civic virtue small, uniform communities (agrarian) would be much better.
• Believed that a lack of a bill of rights showed that the new constitutional government would not successfully protect the rights of American citizens.
• Believed that the constitution stated the government’s limitations so vaguely that unlimited power could occur.
• Believed that the new government would contradict the purpose of the Revolutionary War—no strong national government.
• Believed that the new government would be free to violate the rights that are not mentioned in the constitution.

The Constitution

Outline
Preamble- purpose of the Constitution
Article I- Powers of the three branches of government (mainly legislative)
Article II- The executive branch
Article III- The judicial branch
Article IV- Relationships between the states
Article V- Amending the constitution
Article VI- The national debt/Supremacy Clause
Article VII-Ratification of the Constitution
Amendments to know-
1. freedom of speech, religion, press, peaceable assembly, petition for a redress of grievances
2. right to keep and bear arms, militia
3. no quartering of soldiers
4. protections against unreasonable searches and seizures; requirement of probable cause; warrant requirement
5. right against self-incrimination; takings; due process; grand jury indictments
6. criminal prosecutions (speedy trial, impartial jury, witnesses, and assistance of counsel)
7. Re-examination clause; right to a jury trial
8. no excessive bail; no cruel/unusual punishment
9. Constitution shall not be construed to deny rights retained by the people
10. powers not delegated to the federal gov’t by the Constitution à reserved to States or to the people
13. abolition of slavery
14. i. due process and equal protection of law
ii. counting whole numbers of persons (not just “free” persons) è slaves now considered legal citizens of the U.S.
15. citizen’s rights shall not be abridged based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude; African-Americans given the right to vote.
19. women’s right to vote
24. elimination of the poll tax; right to vote in primaries
26. voting age qualification (18 years old)

Slavery and the Constitution

• The Constitution almost entirely avoids the issue of slavery. The Framers decided that the issue of slavery was to be saved until 1808 for discussion.
• However, there was the 3/5 Compromise. The 3/5 Compromise stated that black slaves would count for 3/5 of one vote when determining how many representatives a state would get in the House of Representatives.

How the Constitution Was Implemented

The Executive Branch

• The executive branch was completely reformed with the ratification of the constitution. The First Congress first created three main departments to carry on the business of the executive branch. The people in charge of these departments were to be appointed by the president and be called “secretaries”. The departments became known as the “president’s cabinet”. The first departments were:

- State Department- this department was responsible for dealing with other nations, as well as for many domestic maters such as registering patents and copyrights.
- War Department- this department was responsible for handling the nation’s defense.
- Treasury Department- this department was responsible for taking care of the financial affairs of the federal government.

Since then, the executive branch has grown into a very complex web of departments with different responsibilities.

The Judicial Branch

• The First Congress’s first action of organizing the judicial branch was passing a law known as the Judiciary Act of 1789. This law established two kinds of federal courts below the supreme court. A federal district court was implemented in each state with the responsibility of hearing the first trial in many cases involving the Constitution, federal laws, and disputes between the citizens of different states. A system of circuit courts was established to handle serious crimes.
• Judicial Review- judicial review is the power of the judicial branch of a government to decide if acts of the legislative or executive branches violate their constitution. This power was established in the supreme court case Marbury v. Madison (see court cases).

Adding a Bill of Rights

• The Constitution itself provides a number of provisions to protect specific rights. But James Madison proposed that amendments be added in order to ensure protection of individual rights of citizens.
• The Bill of Rights became a part of the Constitution in 1791.

First Political Party System

• James Madison stated in The Federalist that factions were a huge danger to a republican government because they pursue their own interests at the expense of the common good. However he stated that people always want to join with others of similar interests and opinions to advocate policies favorable to themselves. This constant clash of interest would create diversity, and therefore keep one faction from gaining control of the government. Factions in the form of political parties began to develop and are now an accepted part of the American political system.
• During the time of George Washington’s presidency, his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, had many followers based on their common federalist interests. They became officially known as the Federalists. On the other side of the spectrum, Thomas Jefferson and his anti-federalist followers became known as the Republicans (NOT like today’s current republicans). These were the first political parties.

Expansion of Democracy

Civil War Amendments

• Shortly after the Civil War, three amendments were added to the Constitution (13, 14, 15). (see amendments)

Expansion of Voting Rights

• The 15th amendment prohibited national and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote because of their race, color, or status as former slaves.
• After this amendment was put into effect, it pretty much failed. Southern states began passing laws that destroyed the political power of blacks in the South (known as “Jim Crow” laws). Examples:

- poll taxes
- literacy tests
- grandfather clauses

• The right to vote was then extended to women as well through the 19th amendment.
• The right to vote was then extended to Native Americans
• The right to vote was then extended to eighteen-year olds through the 26th amendment.

Civil Rights Movement

• This movement started as a reaction of African-Americans to segregation. The supreme court case Plessy v. Ferguson established a legal basis for segregation, thus requiring many African-Americans in the south to use separate schools and other public facilities.
• Most of the protest efforts by civil rights activists were through peaceful protest, specifically civil disobedience. This tactic, encouraged by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, involved the open violation of what were believed to be unjust laws, together with a willingness to accept the consequences through passive nonviolent resistance.
• In 1963, President John F. Kennedy began encouraging the government’s increase in civil rights commitment. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, proposed by JFK, outlawed discrimination in public facilities, gave the government a bigger say in segregation issues, and prohibited job discrimination.

Incorporation of the Bill of Rights into the 14th Amendment

• At first, the 14th amendment was interpreted by judges in a way that relied on the states to be the principal protectors of individual rights. Most judges did not want to change the balance of powering the federal system, as it would result in the expansion of federal control over the criminal justice system. It was eventually ruled that the rights protected in the 1st amendment were protected as well in the 14th amendment by the due process clause.
• Essentially, the 1st amendment was originally only applied to federal governments, but incorporation said that it also applied to state and local governments.

Affirmative Action

• In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson came to the conclusion that the government couldn’t just sit back and wait for the aftermath of  past legal discrimination to disappear. He encouraged Congress to create programs that would open up opportunities in education and employment, provide remedial help, and in some cases, preferential treatment for members of groups discriminated against in the past. These programs were called affirmative action. Affirmative action includes the following types of programs:

- Aggressive Recruitment Programs- these are conducted by business, industry, and government to make sure that when opportunities in education and employment occur, women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply for them.
- Remedial Programs- these include educational programs in preschools and in elementary and secondary schools. These programs are designed to help students with particular educational and economic needs to gain the basic skills to succeed in school and in the job market.
- Preferential Treatment Programs- these are designed to compensate for the effects of past discrimination against women and minorities. These programs are designed to give members of these groups preferred treatment in gaining jobs and access to higher education.

Important Supreme Court Cases

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka- separate is not equal

Plessy v. Ferguson- separate but equal

McCullough v. Maryland-states can’t impede valid exercises of constitutional power by the national government

Dred Scott v. Sanford- black people can’t be citizens of the US, congress lacks the power to stop slavery in the territories, slaves can’t sue in court & they are private property so they can’t be taken away without due process of law

Barron v. Baltimore- amendments only apply to the federal government–mostly been reversed by incorporation

Gitlow v. New York- used the 14th amendment to extend the 1st amendment to state governments

Marbury v. Madison- the basis for the exercise of judicial review

Powell v. Alabama- in a capital trial, the defendant must be given access to counsel upon request

Raich v. Gonzalez- congress can ban marijuana use, even where states approve it for medical use by the “trade and commerce clause” in the Constitution

Griswold v. Connecticut- the constitution protects a right to privacy

Miscellaneous

• Study Plato/Sophist/Socrates stuff. There will probably be a few questions about that.
• You might want to study the court cases a little more in depth, but what I gave you is pretty much the significant decision made.
• You really don’t need to know all 18 pages of this. Just get the gist of it.
• This took about 10 hours to make, so put it to good use.

Sources Cited

http://www.yballe.net/Rae/briefs/USConstitution.html

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Atherton, Herbert M., Jackson J. Barlow, Charles N. Quigley, and Duane E. Smith. We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution. Ed. Michael J. Conroy and Theresa M. Richard. Washington, D.C.: Center for Civic Education, 1995. 1-145.

A special thanks to Jordan Mullis