CONSTITUTION NOTES

Powers of the Government

W,W,W,W, & H• Delegates met in

Philadelphia in 1787 to amend the Articles of Confederation

• They soon made a critical decision: to ignore the Articles and write a new Constitution

• These delegates (now called “framers”) had 5 main purposes they wished to achieve. Rhode Island was only state not represented

1787

PURPOSES OF THE CONSTITUTION

• 1) Establish Legitimacy• Framers wanted to

establish the new governments right to rule

• Was the government legitimate? Yes!

• Thus. . .”We the people do ordain and establish this Constitution.”

PURPOSES OF THE CONSTITUTION• 2) Create appropriate

structures• The framers were

committed to representative democracy

• They created the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary

• The framers also believed an important role for the states was crucial

PURPOSES OF CONSTITUTION

• 3) Describe and Distribute Power

• The framers described the

Legislature’s power in Article 1 (8)

President’s power in Article 2 (2,3)

Judicial power in Article 3

State’s power in Article 4

PURPOSES OF THE CONSTITUTION

• 4) Limit Government Powers

• The framers next sought to limit the powers of the very structures they had created

• They also listed functions unique to the National government

PURPOSES OF CONSTITUTION

• 5) Allow for Change• The framers wanted

to make sure the Constitution could change with the times

• But they did not want change to the most basic structures and rules of government

• Thus, Article 5 allows for “Amending”

THE BASIC STRUCTURE

• The Constitution has 3 basic parts

• 1) Preamble: Explains the reason for the Constitution

• 2) Articles 1-7: Provides the outline for the 3 branches of government and state & federal powers

• 3) Amendments: Includes the Bill of Rights and 17 other “changes”

The Actual Constitution

The Constitutional Convention

• James Madison authored the Virginia Plan, the basic plan of the Const. and he is known as the “Father of the Constitution.”

• Under the Va. Plan, the large states would have the most power since representation in the new congress would be based upon population.

Const. Convention Cont.• The small states rejected the Va. Plan

and proposed the New Jersey Plan.• The New Jersey Plan favored the small

states by proposing equal representation (each state= 2 reps).

How do you break the gridlock and settle how the states should be represented in Congress?

• Connecticut/Great Compromise was proposed.

• Created Bi-Cameral Congress (2 houses) Senate-based on equal representation (ea. State 2 Senators) and House of Representatives- # Reps based on population.

• “Great Compromise” b/c it settled most serious disagreement on Congressional representation.

3/5’s Compromise• Framers settled representation issue, but who

gets counted as part of population?• Southern states wanted slaves included to

increase # reps; Northern states said no.• Compromise settled that 3/5’s of slaves would

be counted + all free persons.• However, this same formula would also be used

for taxation. • Indians were never part of population and this

compromise was eliminated by 13th Amend which abolished slavery.

What about Slavery?• Slavery was very divisive-threatened to

end talks at Const. Convention• The Southern states needed slave labor

to maintain their economic status• The Northern states needed the

Southern states’ votes to ratify the constitution

• Therefore, slavery was ignored until 1808 to move on and get the Constitution ratified.

Commerce & Slave Trade Compromise

• Congress could regulate interstate and foreign trade

• No taxes on exports• One port could not be favored over

another port• Congress could not regulate the

slave trade until 1808

Ratifying the Constitution• 9 of 13 states had to approve for it to become

our new gov’t• Many rejected this new, more powerful gov’t;

they were known as Anti-Federalists. Their major objection was that Const. did not have a Bill of Rights.

• Those that wanted the new Constitutional gov’t were called Federalists.

• The Federalist was a series of essays written to persuade the ratification of Constitution.

Constitutional Powers

EXPRESSED POWERS

• Delegated powers of the national government that are given to it, written in so many words; many are found in Art. I Sec. 8.

• Examples (coin money, declare war)

IMPLIED POWERS

• Delegated powers of the national government that are Implied from its expressed powers; those “necessary and proper” to carry out the expressed powers. Justified by the elastic clause in Art. I Sec. 8 Cl. 18

• Examples (print money, form an Air Force)

DENIED POWERS

• Powers that cannot be exercised by the national government. Listed in Art. I sec. 9

• Examples (no ex post facto laws, no bills of attainder)

CONCURRENT POWERS

• Powers can be exercised by both the national and state governments.

• Examples (make laws, collect taxes, define and punish crimes)

RESERVED POWERS

• Powers that belong to the States (reaffirmed by the 10th Amendment

• Examples (marriage, education, licenses)

Amending the Const.• There are 2 types of Amendments:

Formal and Informal• Formal- a written change that is added

to the constitution. Must go through the Formal Amendment process (there are 27 Formal Amendments)

• Informal- unwritten change that concerns the day to day practices of the govt. Keeps the constitution up to date.

Formal Amendment Process

• 2 ways to propose- Congress can propose with 2/3 approval vote in each house

OR• 2/3’s of the state legislatures can request

a National Convention to write an amendment

2 ways to ratify an Amendment

• ¾ of the state legislatures vote and approve the amend OR

• ¾ of the states approve the amendment in a special convention

Formal Amendments• All of the 27 Formal Amendments have

been proposed by Congress• All but one amendment have been

approved by the vote of the state legislatures

• Only once has an amendment been approved by State special conventions