Post on 03-Jan-2016
Direct Democracy –
The people make the laws
Representative Democracy –
The people choose leaders to make their laws
Each person is worth something, but at times
each person might beasked to sacrifice.
All people are created equal,hopefully in both
opportunity and in law
The majority may rule, butthe minority always is going to have rights.
Compromise is absolutelynecessary to make a
democracy work.
Individual freedoms do exist,but there is no such thing
as absolute freedom.
The first government after winningindependence from Britain was the Articles ofConfederation…created a very weak nationalgovernment, but strong state governments
Popular Sovereignty
Power in the handsof the people
Limited Government
Careful about givinggovernment power
Civil Rights & Liberties
People had certainrights
Separation of Powers& Checks and Balances
No branch of gov’tcould get too much
say-so
Each state only had
one vote in changing things –
regardless of the size of the state
The national
Congress has very
little power to collect taxes or control foreign affairs.
There was no
executive branch to carry out the laws that were passed.
There was no national
court system to interpret the laws that were passed.
It was too hard to
pass laws – had to have 9 of
the 13 states
agree to pass laws.
It was only really an
agreement between
the states
State governments had too much power!National government did not have enough power!
The Virginia Plan
--Benefited the larger states
--A bicameral legislature that would be based on
population
--Three branches to the government: an executive,
legislative, & judicial branch
--Would create a new national government with more power to make and
enforce laws
The New Jersey Plan
--Benefited smaller states
--A unicameral legislature based on equal representation
--Three branches to the government: an executive,
legislative, & judicial branch
--Would keep much of the old system, just give
Congress much more power than before
The Connecticut Compromise
--A bicameral legislature…one part (the Senate) would be based on equality; one part (the House of Representatives) would be based on a state’s
population
---Three branches: an executive w/ one President, a legislative with a stronger Congress,
& a judicial branch
--In the end it was a compromise between the two plans to satisfy both the large states and the
small states
LARGE STATES
SMALLSTATES
--Wanted slaves to be counted as part of a state’s
population
--Would give southern states (slave states) more
influence
--Did not want to have to pay taxes on slaves
--Did not want slaves to be counted as part of a state’s
population
--Would give northern states (free states) more
influence
--Did want southerners to have to pay taxes on slaves
SOUTHERNSTATES
NORTHERNSTATES
Three-Fifths Compromise
All slaves would be counted as 3/5 towards population…and
for taxation purposes too