ESSENTIAL QUESTION CAN TOO MUCH FREEDOM BE A BAD THING?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

•CAN TOO MUCH FREEDOM BE A BAD

THING?

Two levels of Government

• Each of the 13 colonies had their own state government

• Most of them did not want a powerful FEDERAL government telling them what to do

• The War convinced them that powerful FEDERAL govts lead to TYRANNY!

America’s first Central Government

• Called the “Articles of Confederation”

• Made weak on PURPOSE! Why?– States wanted to be left

alone– They just fought a war

against a powerful government, they did not want another one

4

FEDERAL Powers under the Articles of Confederation

• Declare war and make peace (had no army!!!)

• Make treaties with foreign countries

• Set up a post office

• WEAK! WEAK!WEAK!

5

WEAKNESSES OF THE AOC• No Federal army or navy• No power to tax

• No power to control trade among the states

• No power to force states to do anything

STRUCTURE OF THE ARTICLES

NO President or Executive Branch

White House

STRUCTURE of the Articles of Confederation

NO FEDERAL Courts (Judicial Branch)

Only states had courts

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION FAIL

•WHY?

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

I. Currency Issues: Nobody trusted the money!

• EVERY STATE ISSUED ITS OWN MONEY.

• People were afraid to accept money from different states

Why did the Articles fail?

II. Debt

• Congress could not tax the people

•Had to ask the states for money.

• Therefore, the U.S. was unable to pay its debts!

Examples:

- The U.S. owed a lot of money to FRANCE. No way to pay it.

- The U.S. had not paid many of their own soldiers!

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

III. International and Domestic Problems

• England kept forts in our territory

• Spain closed New Orleans

•FRANCE WANTED ITS LOANSREPAYED

III. International and Domestic problems

• SHAYS REBELLION: Mass.Poor debtors rose up against weak state

governments. – Shays rebellion was crushed but it scared the rich:

• There were poor farmers in every colony. What if they all revolted??????????????

The end of the A.o.C

• Shay’s Rebellion led to the a meeting in Philadelphia to “fix” the Articles of Confederation

55 Delegates meet PhiladelphiaIn 1787 instead of fixing the Articles they create a WHOLE NEWGOVERNMENT

The ConstitutionPreamble

• The introduction to the Constitution is called the Preamble.

• The Preamble begins with the phrase “We the people…”

• This means that the government is based on the needs of the people.

SELF TEST

• HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT DANIEL SHAYS CAUSED THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION?

• WHAT ARE THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT AND WHAT DO THEY DO?

Three Branches of Government 1. The legislative - makes the

laws 2. The executive - enforces the

laws 3. The judicial - which interprets

the laws (judges the laws)

Legislative Branch = Makes LAWS• Congress is made up of two Houses

The House of Representatives: lower house

• Representation based on POPULATION– California (53) – Wyoming (1)

.

• Two year term.

• 435 members in the House of Representatives.

The Senate: upper house• Two senators for each state = 100

Senators.

• Must be at least 30 years old.

• Six year term.

The Executive Branch: Enforces the Law

• Headed by the president.

• Commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

• He is elected by the ELECTORAL COLLEGE not the people directly

• George Bush (2000) had less popular votes than Al Gore, but more electoral votes

# OF ELECTORS PER STATE =

# OF SENATORS + # OF REPRESENTATIVES

The President• Elected to a four year term.

• Can only serve two terms (or ten years).

• Must be a citizen by birth

• Must be at least 35 years old.

The Judicial Branch: Interpret the Law• Headed by the Supreme Court.

• #1 Job: Interpret the Constitution.

• 9 Supreme Court justices,

• Appointed for life.

Checks and Balances• Built in system to prevent any one branch

government from getting too powerful.

• Example

President can veto laws

Congress can override vetoes

Supreme Court can declare constitutionality

Federalism• Two governments: STATE and the

FEDERAL government.

• Two governments existing at the same time is called Federalism.

• State law cannot contradict federal law.

• THE CONSTITUTION IS THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND

Amendments

• A change in the Constitution

• There have been 27 amendments added to the Constitution.

• The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights.