A More Perfect Union Part 3

A more perfect union

A New Plan of Government

The Constitution’s Sources

• Although the Constitution is an American

document, it has its roots in other civilizations.
– The delegates who wrote it studied the history of

political thought to avoid the mistakes of the past.

• Many of the ideas came form European political institutions

and writers.

– The Framers were familiar with the British

Parliamentary System, and even though they fought
against this in the Revolutionary War, they respected
the individual rights guaranteed under it.

• They also respected the traditions, or cultural beliefs, and

practices of it.

Multiple Select

Many of the Constitution's ideas came from political ___________ and ______________.

• Institutions

• Writers

• Thought

• Ideas

The Constitution’s Sources

• European Influences

– The English Magna Carta (1215) placed limits on the power

of the monarch.

• Parliament

• England’s lawmaking body that the king or queen had to depend

on to pay for wars and the royal government.

• Colonial Assembly

• Similar to Parliament, they controlled their colonies’ funds and

had some control over colonial governors.

– Another influence was the English Bill of Rights (1689).

• Many thought that the U.S. Constitution needed one of these.

– English Enlightenment

• A movement in the 1700s that promoted knowledge, reason, and

science as a means of improving society.

• James Madison and the other Framers were followers of John

Locke and Baron de Montesquieu, who were philosophers of the
Enlightenment Era.

Multiple Choice

What is the name of England's lawmaking body that the king and queen had to depend on?

• Congress

• Parliament

• Legislature

• Prime Minister

The Constitution’s Sources

• European Influences cont.

– John Locke

– He wrote that all people have natural rights, which include the right to life,

liberty, and property.

– In his book, Two Treatises of Civil Government, he wrote that government

is based upon an agreement between the people and the ruler, which the
Framers wanted the Constitution to do.

• It would secure the people’s natural rights by limiting the

governments power.

– Baron de Montesquieu

– In his book, The Spirit of Laws, he stated that the powers of the

government should be separated and balanced against each other.

» The separation would prevent one person or group from gaining too

much power.

• This was the government al set up the Framers sought to create.

The Constitution’s Sources

HOW DID FEDERALISM DIFFER FROM THE SET UP UNDER THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION?
• Federalism (key component of the U.S. government)

» Is the sharing of power between the federal and state governments.

– The Constitution created a federal system that divided the

national, or federal, government and the states.

• Under the Articles of Confederation, the states had the power,

which they had to give up under the Constitution.

– Under the Constitution the federal government gained wide-

ranging power to:

• Tax, Regulate Trade, Control the Currency, Raise an Army, and

Declare War.

• It can also pass laws deemed “necessary and proper” to carry out its

responsibilities and dealing with new situations.

The Constitution’s Sources

• Federalism cont.

– The Constitution did leave some important powers to the

states.

– States can: control trade within their borders, set up local governments

and schools, and establish marriage and divorce laws.

– The Constitution called for the sharing of some powers

between the federal and state governments.

– Both would have the power to tax and to establish criminal justice.

– Though states had powers and shared other powers, the

Constitution and the laws of Congress were to be “the
supreme law of the land”.

– No state could make laws or take actions that went again the Constitution.
– Federal courts would settle disputes between the federal government and

the states based on the Constitution.

Government Structure

HOW DOES THE CONSTITUTION LIMIT THE POWER OF THE GOVERNMENT?
Using the Montesquieu's idea, the Framers created a
division of powers in the Constitution.

– It created three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial

• The first three articles, or parts, of the Constitution described

each branch’s powers and responsibilities.

– They detailed the methods for electing or selecting key members of

each branch.

• Government Branches

– Article 1

• Here the Constitution declares Congress to be the legislative

branch, or lawmaking branch of the government.

– Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and Senate.

» Congress Powers: establishing taxes, coining money, and

regulating trade

Government Structure

• Government Branches cont.

– Article 2

• Here the Constitution set up the executive branch, which is

used to carry out the nation’s laws and policies.

– This is headed by the president and vice-president.

» A special group called the Electoral College elect the president and

vice-president.

• Voters in each state pick who makes up the Electoral College.

– Article 3

• Here the judicial branch, or court system, is outlined.

– The nation’s judicial power resides, or exists in, “One Supreme Court”

and any lower federal courts Congress creates.

» These courts hear cases involving the Constitution, federal laws,

and disputes between states.

Government Diagram

Government Structure

• Checks and Balances

– The Constitution, contains a system of checks and

balances, which is a system where each branch of
government limits the power of the other branches.

• With this system, no single branch can gain too much power in

the government.

WHY DOES THE CONSTITUTION DIVIDE POWER AMONG BRANCHES OF
GOVERNMENT?

Checks and Balances Diagram

Debate and Adoption

HOW WAS THE CONSTITUTION RATIFIED?
• Before the Constitution could go into effect, nine

states had to ratify, or approve, it.

• Federalists and Anti-Federalists

– Federalists

• These were people who supported the Constitution and

wanted to create a federalism system of government.

• Members Included: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin,

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

– John Jay wrote a series of essays that explained and supported the

Constitution called the Federalists Papers.

• These were later published in newspapers and sent to state

conventions.

Debate and Adoption

• Federalists and Anti-Federalists cont.

– Anti-Federalists

• These were people that opposed the Constitution and wrote their

beliefs in a series of essays that were later called the Anti-Federalists
Papers.

– They argued that a strong national government would take away liberties

Americans fought for in the American Revolution.

» They also warned that the government would ignore the will of the

states and favor the wealthy over the common people.

» They favored local government, controlled by the people.

• Bill of Rights

– The strongest criticism was that it lacked a bill of rights to

protect individual freedoms.

• Several state conventions stated that they would not ratify it unless a

bill of rights was included.

Debate and Adoption

• Ratifying the Constitution

– On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to

approve the Constitution.

• By June 21, 1788, the ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified it.

– This should have made it law, however, without support of

the largest state, New York and Virginia, the new
government could not succeed.

– Patrick Henry, of Virginia, claimed that it did not place

enough limits on the government.

• Virginia ratified it after there was a promise that there would be a

bill of rights amendment, which is something added to a document.

– This promise happened in 1791.

• In July 1788, New York ratified the Constitution.

» North Carolina did in November 1789
» Rhode Island in May 1790