Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes

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Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes

1st United States Constitution

A. loose alliance of states

B. Congress – lawmaking body

C. 9 states had to vote to pass laws

D. each state had 1 vote in Congress

Northwest Ordinance / Land Ordinance

– division of land in new territory

Congress couldn’t tax states – had to

ask states for money

Congress could not force states to

follow laws

Hard to get states to agree to anything

Congress is too weak

The Articles of Confederation formed a very weak United States government. The country didn’t want a government that looked anything like what they experienced under Great Britain. It was

very unsuccessful.

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Constitutional Convention


Date of the convention: 1787

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The meeting was held in secret because

they didn’t want to be influenced by

public opinion.

Important Members:

President: George Washington

Oldest member: Ben Franklin (81)

Alexander Hamilton of New York (Are you happy Giulia and Katrina?)

James Madison of Virginia became

known as the “Father of the

Constitution” because he kept

detailed notes which allows us to

know what happened at the

convention

Absent Members:

John Adams of Massachusetts –

foreign minister to Great Britain

Thomas Jefferson of Virginia –

foreign minister to France

The original purpose of the Constitutional

Convention was to revise the Articles of

Confederation – they decided to start over

because there was so many things wrong

with the Articles of Confederation.

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COMPROMISE

Your Notes:

Virginia Plan Proposed by Edmund Randolph and

James Madison

3 branches of government

1. Legislative branch makes the laws

2. Executive Branch carries out the

laws

3. Judicial Branch determines if laws

are fair

2 house legislature (law-making body)

determined by population. This is

called a bicameral legislature

This plan favored large states

New Jersey Plan Proposed by William Paterson


1. Legislative branch makes the

laws

2. Executive Branch carries out the

laws

3. Judicial Branch determines if

laws are fair

1 house legislature where all the state

had 1 vote. This is called a

unicameral legislature.

This plan favored smaller states

Great Compromise Bicameral (2 house) legislature called Congress

Congress consisted of the House of Representatives based upon

population (favored large states) and the Senate where each state

had 2 votes (favored small states)


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3/5ths Compromise The Question: Would slaves count as part of a state’s

population?


North View

The North wanted slaves to count as part of a

state’s population when it came to taxation. If this

happened then the South would pay more of the

country’s taxes.

The South didn’t like this because they would

have to pay more taxes.

South View

The South wanted slaves to count as part of a

state’s population so that they would get more

members in the House of Representatives.

The North didn’t like this because the South

would have more votes in Congress.

3/5ths Compromise

Slaves would count as 3/5ths of a person for

purposes of both taxation and representation.

…………………………………………….

Slave Trade Compromise

Nothing would be done about the slave trade for

20 years (until 1807).

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Preamble

The Preamble is the introduction to the Constitution. It is written below:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.


The Constitution gets its power from

the people – “We the people”

The idea that the power of the

government is given to it by the

people is one of the principles of the

Constitution. The principle that

says that the power of the

government comes from the

people is called popular

sovereignty.

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Legislative Branch

Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes Job: Make the laws

The Legislative Branch’s main part is called Congress,

which is made up of the Senate and the House of

Representatives. It has two parts which means we could

call it a bicameral legislature.

Senate

Each state sends 2 Senators to the Senate.

The total number of Senators today is 100.

Senators serve for 6 years before they have to be

reelected:

Requirements:

1. 30 years old

2. 9 years a citizen of the United States

3. Resident of the state they are elected from

The title of the leader of the Senate is: President

(actually the Vice-President of the United States)

This type of state has more than its share of power in

the Senate: small states

The Senate is known as the Upper House.

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House of Representatives

Each state sends a number of representatives based

upon the population of the state.

The total number of House of Representative members

today is 435.

House of Representative members 2 years before they

have to be re-elected.

Requirements:

1. 25 years old

2. resident of the state they are elected from

3. citizen of the United States for 7 years

The title of the leader of the House of Representatives

is: Speaker of the House

This type of state has more power in the House of

Representatives: large population states

What are 4 powers delegated (given) to Congress by

(Article 1, Section 8 pp.934-936)?

1. to make and collect taxes

2. to regulate trade with foreign countries

3. to establish post offices

4. to coin money

What does the elastic clause let Congress due? (Art. 1,

Sec. 8, Cl. 18 –p. 936)

It lets Congress increase its power in times of

emergency.

Congress is in charge of impeachment of government

officials. Impeachment means bringing an elected

official to trial.

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Executive Branch

Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes Job of the Executive Branch: Carry out the laws

President is the main person of the Executive Branch.

3 Requirements:

1. 35 years old

2. natural born citizen

3. resident of the United States for 14 years

President is elected in November.

The President is inaugurated or sworn into office in

January.

Length of a Presidential term: 4 years

The total length of years a President can serve in a row:

10 years

Current President: Donald Trump

Current Vice-President: Mike Pence

What is the job of the Electoral College: Elect the

President

List 5 jobs of the President:

1. Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces

2. grant pardons to people who have committed a

crime

3. Make treaties with other nations

4. Appoint ambassadors to foreign nations

5. Head of the Executive Branch

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Judicial Branch

Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes The Judicial Branch determines if laws are

fair.

The highest court in the United States is the

Supreme Court.

The head of the Supreme Court is the Chief

Justice.

There are 9 justices in the Supreme Court?

What types of cases does the Supreme Court

hear?

It is the court of last appeals (it takes cases

that have already been decided at lower

courts)

There are no requirements to become a member

of the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court members serve for life (or until

you retire.

How else can you word what the job of the

Judicial Branch is?

Checks if laws are constitutional

Determines if a law goes against the

Constitution

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Principles of the Constitution Guide #1

Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes When we talk about the Principles of the

Constitution we are talking about the main ideas

or goals of the Constitution. Everything the

founders of the Constitution did was done with

these ideas in mind.

Principles of the Constitution:

Popular Sovereignty

Limited Power of Government

Federalism

Judicial Review

Separation of Powers

Checks and Balances

Popular Sovereignty

The definition of Popular Sovereignty: The power

of the government comes from the people

Where is the idea of Popular Sovereignty most

evident on the Constitution? Preamble

Limited Power of

Government

The definition of Limited Power of Government: The government can only do what the people give it the

power to do.

Why did the writers of the Constitution include

this in the Constitution? They didn’t want anything powerful like the king.

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Judicial Review

Judicial Review is when the Supreme Court

determines if a law passed by Congress is

Constitutional. It was established with the case

of Marbury vs. Madison (1803).

Federalism

The definition of Federalism: Power is shared

between the states and the national government.

The Federal System

The Federal System

Powers delegated (given) to the Powers reserved (kept) by the

National Government states

1. Create and maintain armed forces

1. Establish and maintain schools

2. Establish post offices 2. Establish local governments

3. Coin money 3. Make laws about marriage and divorce

4. Declare war

Powers shared by both governments

1. raise taxes

2. borrow money

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Separation of Powers

Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes Separation of Powers is defined as: System in

which the power of the government is divided among separate

branches.

The power of the government is separated (divided) as shown below.

Name of Branch Executive Legislative Judicial

Groups called President

Congress Supreme Court

Job Carry out the laws Make the laws Determines if laws are fair

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Even though the founders knew that the power should be divided equally, they

understood that it was possible for one branch to get greedy so they put the

principle of Checks and Balances into the Constitution.

Checks and Balances Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes

Checks and Balances is defined

as: System where each branch of the

government could control the power of the other

branches.

The Executive Branch checks the Judicial

Branch by:

Appointing federal judges.

The Executive Branch checks the

Legislative Branch by:

Vetoing laws.

The Judicial Branch checks the Legislative

Branch by:

Declaring acts of Congress

unconstitutional.

The Judicial Branch checks the Executive

Branch by:

Declaring executive actions

unconstitutional.

The Legislative Branch checks the Judicial

Branch by:

Approves appointments of federal judges.

The Legislative Branch checks the

Executive Branch by:

Overriding a President’s veto.

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Amendments Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes

Amendments are ways to add to the

Constitution as times change. They are

important because they can adjust the rules

the country follows without having to write a

completely new constitution.

27 of them

1st ten called the Bill of Rights – they were

added to the Constitution in order to

protect individual rights such as freedom

of speech and freedom of religion. The

Bill of Rights were a reaction to how the

writers felt people’s rights were taken

under the British and other governments.

The Antifederalists were big supporters

of the Bill of Rights.

allows the Constitution to change over

time.

13-15th Amendments ended slavery and

gave the right to vote to former male

slaves.

19th amendment gave women the right to

vote.

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Why has the Constitution survived? Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes

Our Constitution has survived since 1787. It is the oldest written

Constitution in the world. How has it survived while other

countries have had 2 or 5 or even 20 constitutions in the same

time period? Below is a list of reasons for its success:

Colonial Past The framers learned from their experiences as a colony. A single

ruler was unfair and would often result in tyranny. To combat

this threat, they designed the Constitution so this could never

happen again.

Constitutional Design The Constitution contains several principles that have enabled it

to survive. Often constitutions have been destroyed because an

individual or small group of people has taken over the

government. This cannot happen in the United States because of

the principle of Separation of Powers. This divided our

government into three branches with equal power. The three

branches are the Executive, Judicial and Legislative. The

principle of Checks and Balances was included just in case one

branch of government tried to take over the government. Each

branch can control the other branches.

Power of the People The people have the power to control what the government in

doing. If the government is not meeting the needs of the people,

the people can vote for other representatives who hopefully will

do what the people want. This goes back to the principle of

Popular Sovereignty.

Amendments Amendments or changes can be made to the Constitution. This

allows for changes to be made as situations in the country

changes. This allows for the Constitution to change as times

change without having to be rewritten.

Vagueness of the Constitution The Constitution set out the principles of the government. It did

not make many specific laws. It did set up the system to create

laws that are necessary for that time period. The three branches if

government can create laws to deal with current situations. If

specific laws were created in 1787, many would be obsolete by

now and we would need a new Constitution.

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Key terms:

A bill is a proposed law.

A veto is when the President rejects a bill.

Override means to overrule.

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/lawmaking/example.html

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Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes Background: Ratify means to approve. There was a big

discussion in 1787 whether the Constitution should be

ratified. The issue of ratification caused the United States

to split into two groups. Federalists were for the approval

of the Constitution and Anti-federalists were totally

against ratification of the Constitution. 9 out of 13 states

had to ratify the Constitution for it to take effect.

The Two Groups

Federalists

For ratification of the Constitution

Leaders – James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,

John Jay

Wanted a strong central government

Federalist Papers were a series of essays by the

Federalist leaders explaining why the new

Constitution was such a good thing.

Anti-Federalists

Against ratification of the Constitution

Leaders – Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson

States should have more power

Disliked the Constitution because they thought it

created too strong of a central government which

could become like a king

They felt a bill of rights needed to be added to the

constitution to guarantee individual liberties

What happened: Nine states ratified the Constitution by

1788. New York and Virginia, two of the more powerful

states, had not yet approved it. They were crucial states

because the Constitution would not work without their

support. Virginia was the 10th

state to approve the

Constitution and New York followed soon after.

Documents

Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes