THE US CONSTITUTION

It’s History and Importance

Founding Principles

Liberty

Equality

Self Government

Cultural Ideals

Individualism

Diversity

Unity

Where did these ideas come from?

Major Influences

Mayflower Compact (Written before the Pilgrims even landed)

John Locke (Social Contract and Natural Rights)

English Law (Magna Carta and Common Law)

Colonial Government (Strong Bicameral Legislatures)

The limits of American Democracy

Everyone is equal EXCEPT: American Indians Blacks Women Indentured Servants Atheists, Jews, etc.

The Conservative Revolution

The Conservative Revolution

While there were some major events that made many Americans want to revolt, most Americans were against war for a long time, even some of the early revolutionaries

The war was a slow escalation over time and the revolutionaries’ goals were not all that radical or well defined at first

The Declaration of Independence

The first real declaration of war (Though fighting had

already broken out)

Intended to gain support abroad (Ended up being more

important at home)

After the RevolutionBefore the Constitution

Articles of Confederation Could not tax No enforcement power State law ruled

Shays’ Rebellion Wake up call

Problems Facing the US Govt.

No money No power to regulate commerce No currency Disagreement over western lands Tiny federal army and huge state militias Civil unrest everywhere concerning debts

The Philadelphia Convention

                                  

                                    

The Philadelphia Convention

States sent representatives (everybody who was anybody in the US) to make recommendations on how to fix the Articles

The convention immediately decided to start from scratch and changed all the rules

Probably never would have worked if not for the delegates personal prestige

Writing the Document

What they agreed on…

Natural rights to liberty and property (At least in principle, not always practice)

A social contract as the source of legitimacy Representative (not direct) democracy Limited governmental power A need for a strong national government

What they disagreed on…

Representation Small states vs. large states (New Jersey, Virginia) The Great Compromise (Connecticut) The Three-fifths Compromise

Slavery North vs. south Can’t ban slavery until 1808, no export tariffs

Who should get to vote Left it up to the states (like so many other issues)

Federalism

Federalism

Needed a stronger central government, but also needed to maintain state governments

Result: Supremacy Clause (Original) Tenth Amendment (Later) Express and Implied Powers (Still debating)

(Elastic Clause)

The Structure of Government

The Structure of Government

Three Branches Legislative (House and Senate) Executive (President and Bureaucracy) Judicial (Federal Courts)

Why do it this way? Separation of Powers Checks and Balances (i.e. Judicial Review)

The Debate Over Ratification

Not everyone supported the Constitution immediately

In fact, it never would have passed if not for the fact that the convention attendees just made up completely new rules about what it would take to pass it

Federalists

Anti-Federalists

Another Big Compromise

The last states to ratify insisted that a Bill of Rights be added to the constitution They didn’t buy arguments by federalists

concerning enumerated (express) powers.

How many rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights can you list?

Changing the Constitution

Amendments

Lots of proposed amendments (thousands) never go anywhere

Generally those that have passed have been proposed by two-thirds of congress and ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures Prohibition is an exception

BUT amendments aren’t the only changes

Judicial Review

It is the job of courts to interpret the constitution (Marbury vs. Madison)

Sometimes courts strike down unconstitutional laws

More often they simply reinterpret existing laws (desegregation of schools, for example)

Strict Constitutionalism vs. Activism More on this later

Congress and the President

The President generally interprets the constitution in a way that gives him more power (e.g. disclosure of documents)

The Congress has tried to argue that only it can start a war, not a president (war powers act), but every single president has ignored that bit of legislation (many repeatedly)

Custom and Practice

Arguably, the Constitution has been changed in some ways just because people are now doing things differently

The “intentions” of the founders have certainly been violated with regards to political parties and the degree to which DIRECT democracy operates in America

The Constitution: Right or Wrong?

Established a highly democratic government (at least for its time)

Created a powerful and effective national government

Still works (mostly) Has improved over time

Perpetuated Slavery until the Civil War

Did not allow the people to directly elect most politicians

Was written by rich white men for rich white men