Bell Ringer

BELL RINGER

• If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.• Do you agree with James Madison’s theory? Do

you think our government is living up to the responsibility of controlling itself?

C H A P T E R 2

THE CONSTITUTION

THE PROBLEM WITH LIBERTY

• Many Americans believed in the years leading up to the war that they could remain British and have their liberties protected• They felt that they should be able to trades without

burdensome regulations and pay no taxes unless they had a representative there to speak on their behalf

• By 1775, many felt that independence was the only way to gain those liberties• They believed the English Constitution to be inadequate

in protecting their liberties from an abusive King/Parliament

THE COLONIAL MIND

• “an old, wrinkled, withered, worn-out hag” was Alexander Hamilton’s description for England• While this was largely inflammatory writing to try to drum

up support for the conflict, it was also showing how colonists felt about the politicians who did not protect their liberties

• The Founders believed that God bestowed “natural rights” upon them• John Dickinson—”[rights] are born with us; exist with us;

and cannot be taken away from us by any human power”• Those rights were life, liberty, and property (Jefferson

later changed to pursuit of happiness)

THE COLONIAL MIND

• The war was not about protecting property or trying to get rich by breaking from England• In fact, it hurt most

Americans economically• This war was about

ideology, not economics

THE COLONIAL MIND

• While most Americans can talk about the intro to the Declaration of Independence they do not seem to know what the other 27 paragraphs are about• “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

• Thomas Jefferson had a lot more to say to the King than that—but what?

THE COLONIAL MIND

• The real revolution came not in booting out the British but in the change in government that followed• No kings for these folks—government could only exist

with the consent of the governed• Power could only be exercised based on what was in a

written constitution• Legislative branch (as chosen by the people) was to have

power over the executive branch

• Their first crack at this idea was the Articles of Confederation

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• The Articles was nothing more than a “league of friendship” between the states• It couldn’t raise taxes or regulate commerce• It couldn’t make peace between states

• The Articles could• Deal with treaties• Coin money (with little gold to do so)• Appoint officers

• They also had a president• John Hancock was America’s first president—he never showed up to

take the job o_O

• Worst of all—you had to have 13 out of 13 agree to any amendments• There were zero amendments passed in 11 years!

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• Many of the Founders believed that the Articles were too weak and that changes needed to be made• A group of men gathered at Mt. Vernon

(Washington’s home) and decided to meet in Annapolis and call for the other states to revise the Articles• None of the New England delegates arrived

• They rescheduled for Philadelphia after Shays’ Rebellion brought to light the need for a stronger central government

SHAYS’ REBELLION

• The Founders had different opinions on Shays’ Rebellion• Washington—”For God’s sake, if they have real

grievances, redress them; if they have not, employ the force of government against them at once.”

• Jefferson—”A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” (NOTE: He was in Europe while making this claim)

• Regardless, it was enough to bring the Founders together to take a second look at the Articles

THE FRAMERS

• 55 delegates came together in Philadelphia to discuss revising the Articles• The meetings were kept secret—why?• The party-going, story-loving Benjamin Franklin had to be

accompanied everywhere to prevent him from telling everything

• They were diverse• Many were young—Hamilton was 30, Madison, 36• 8 signed the Declaration• 7 were governors, 34 were lawyers, few were wealthy• They were not “intellectuals” (excluding Madison)

• Missing were John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Sam Adams

THE FRAMERS

• Washington was tall, athletic• Madison was frail, bookish• Franklin was old, a scientist, with shrewd judgment when

sober• Hamilton was an illegitimate childe of a French woman and

Scottish merchant who had a lot to prove• He was Washington’s aid during the war, and became the first Sec.

of the Treasury• Would you like to watch a video clip about Hamilton?—I knew you

would

• In the end you should know that the Founders were not schemers or angels, they were practical people looking for a government that would not be too weak or too oppressive

BELL RINGER

• Why is it necessary to compromise? • Name an instance where you have had to compromise.• Explain how that process went for you.• Even though you had to give up something for the

compromise, were you better off?

THE CHALLENGE

• Issues debated during the Constitutional Convention included slavery and how the states would be represented• Two plans were

devised to deal with the issue of representation: The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan

Virginia Plan• Bicameral legislature• Representation based on population

New Jersey Plan• Unicameral legislature• Representation equal among states

THE CHALLENGE

Virginia Plan

New Jersey Plan

Great Compromise

Bicameral Legislature

House based on Population

Senate based on equal

representation

THE CHALLENGE

• While many other compromises had to be made there was one other issue to deal with• How were slaves accounted for in the new legislative

branch?• Would the slave trade be allowed to continue?

• Issues addressed by the Constitution include:• Representation—the legislature must come from the

people (at least the house)—thus creating a REPUBLIC• To give states power—the Senate was elected by state

legislatures• To give all states some form of equality, the president

would not be DIRECTLY elected by the people, but instead elected by ELECTORATES in the electoral college• Why is the election not based on the popular vote?

THE CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY

• To prevent the government being at the mercy of popularity the framers included safeguards• The Supreme Court—they exist to ensure laws created

are in line with the Constitution (JUDICIAL REVIEW)• Amendments—framers made it easier to amend the

Constitution than it was to amend the Articles, but still hard enough that it cannot be changed regularly


• The key principles of democracy is separation of powers/checks and balances and federalism


Congress President Courts

Check on president:1. Refuse to pass a bill2. Override veto3. Impeachment4. Refuse presidential appointment

(Senate)5. Refuse approval of treaty (Senate)

Check on Courts:6. Change number of lower

courts/jurisdiction7. Impeachment8. Refuse judge appointment

(Senate)

Check on Congress:1. Veto

Check on Courts:2. Nominating

Judges

Check on Congress:1. Declare laws

unconstitutional

Check on President:1. Declare actions unconstitutional

• Should the government force politicians and people to be more virtuous?• Madison says in order to do so would create a

government so strong it would limit other freedoms

• By dividing power between the federal and state governments (FEDERALISM) it created double security for the people’s rights• Each faction would find their political place in either the

state or federal government and therefore everyone would have some (not full) power


• Immediately the country was divided into two groups—we’ll start with the Anti-federalists• Didn’t like the Constitution because the federal

government was too powerful• It could heavily tax, Supreme Court could overrule state

courts, and the President could control a large army (FYI-all of these have happened)

• They listed a series of demands before they would approve the Constitution• The only one that was granted was creating a Bill of Rights

THE CONSTITUTION AND LIBERTY

• The second group—the Federalists—responded to these claims• Madison, Hamilton, and Jay wrote a series of

articles collectively called The Federalist Papers• Madison’s No. 10 and 51 clearly point out that liberty is

better protected by the mass because if you dissent, you are likely to find an ally in a larger group, than in a smaller one

• This doesn’t answer for the lack of a Bill of Rights though


• First the framers did include some rights• Writ of Habeas Corpus-rights cannot be suspended

(except during war)• No Bill of attainder-cannot be convicted on a crime

without a trial• No ex post facto laws-cannot make laws retroactive• Citizens in each state are entitled to the privileges and

immunities of the other states• No religious tests• Cannot impair contracts from state to state


• Second, most states had a bill of rights in their state constitutions

• Most importantly, the reason the Constitution lacked a bill of rights, was because the framers believed that the government was limited only to what was stated in the Constitution (STRICT CONTRUCTIONISM) and therefore didn’t have legal ability to impede on rights such as freedom of speech, etc.• If they had listed what rights were guaranteed, any

freedoms that may arise in the future (technology use) would have been open to being taken away because it was strictly forbidden by the Constitution


• The “peculiar institution” was left out of the Constitution• No where are the words “slavery” or “slave” mentioned

yet three clauses dealt specifically with the issue1. “other persons” would be counted as 3/5ths of a person

for calculating population2. Congress could not forbid “importation of persons” before

18083. “person held to service or labour” who escaped must be

returned to their person of indebtedness

• This was the framers best attempt at compromise on the issue—should they have pushed the issue further?


• Read pages A21-A29• Complete the worksheet questions on the

readings

HOMEWORK

Bell Ringer

Documents

Transcript of Bell Ringer