APUSH ReviewMain Concepts, Arcs and Themes

The Enlightenment

Enlightenment = “Age of Reason”

1700s / 18th Century in Europe

After the Middle Ages (“Dark Ages”)

Scientific advances

New political ideas

An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump. Joseph Wright, England, 1768.

Portrait of John Locke. Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1704.

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John Locke(1632 - 1704)

Challenged the traditional form of government:

Monarchy & Divine Right

Instead, he proposed:

Social Contract

Social ContractAll governments get their power from the people (“popular sovereignty”)

Government exist to protect people’s rights

People can overturn their government if it doesn’t protect their rights

This is what the American colonists argued in the Declaration of Independence.

The First Great Awakening

Religious revival in colonial British America

1730s - 1740s

Powerful preaching

Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (1741)

George Whitefield Preaching. John Collet, 18th Century

The Great Awakening’s

ConsequencesPeople started reading the Bible at home

Individualism in religion

Idea that all men can be saved and that the value of a person is in their morals challenged social hierarchy

Articles of Confederation

1776Declaration of Independence

1775 - 1783

1781 - 1789

1787Constitutional

Convention

1789 -->

TheConstitution

Timeline

American Revolution

The First Amendment

Prohibits any law that limits freedoms of religion, speech (including the press), and assembly.

The Establishment Clause:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

Federalists

Strong central government

Small # of Representatives

Alexander Hamilton George Washington John Adamns

Anti-Federalists

Individual freedoms and states’ powers

Large # of representatives

Melancton Smith Patrick Henry (James Madison)

Preamble of the US Constitution

INCLUDED:

Establishment of a court system

Individual rights

Military

NOT INCLUDED:

Separation of Powers

Federal Bank

“We the People”

The government’s power comes from its people.

academic term:popular

sovereignty

Locke’s term:Social Contract

The Branches of Government

Legislative - Congress

Executive - President

Judicial - Supreme Court

Each state also has its own executive, legislature, and judiciary.

The Supreme Court Today

• The Supreme Court has the power to review any local, state, or federal law and declare it unconstitutional

• This is the power of judicial review

• HOWEVER, this was NOT defined in the Constitution. So where does the power of judicial review come from?

Marbury v. Madison

Landmark Supreme Court case - 1803

Created judicial review: the power to decide if other laws are unconstitutional

Checks and balances: check to Congress’ power

John Marshall, Chief Justice 1803