Review 2 By JG. US Constitution Where was the Constitution Convention held?
Introduction to the U.S. Constitution Written in Philadelphia Original intent was to revise the...
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Transcript of Introduction to the U.S. Constitution Written in Philadelphia Original intent was to revise the...
Introduction to the U.S. Constitution
• Written in Philadelphia• Original intent was to
revise the Articles • James Madison was
the “Father” of the Constitution
• 39 men signed it in 1787
Federalism
Delegated powers: powers granted to the federal government
Reserved powers: powers retained by the state government
Concurrent powers: powers shared by the state and federal government
Article I---Legislative Branch
• Section One—What is a Congress?
1. Bicameral Legislature---There are two houses, a Senate and House of Representatives.
APPORTIONMENT
• How representatives will be apportioned for the House of Representatives is determined by a census taken every 10 years
• The votes follow the population
2. Clause Two---What are the Qualifications for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives?
•25 years old
•7 year citizen of the United States
•Resident of the state one is elected in
The leader of the Speaker of the House is usually from theMajority party since the House elects the Speaker. The Political party with the most members is considered the Majority party and the least the minority party.
5. Clause Five---Where does the impeachment process start?
The House of Reps. will start the impeachment process
Andrew Johnson---First U.S. President to be impeached, but fell one vote shy of the Senate’s conviction
Richard Nixon---Resigned before official impeachment could take place
Bill Clinton---Impeachment articles were passed by the U.S. House of Reps, but the Senate found him NOT guilty of those articles
6. Trial of Impeachments - Does the Senate actually serve as the Jury in impeachment proceedings? (Yes)
Senate tries impeachments (acts as a jury)
House of Reps. introduces the Articles of Impeachment
House needs a majority (218) vote to bring up charges
Senate needs 2/3s majority (67) to convict
Section Three---The Senate
1. Clause One - How is a Senator different from a member of the House of Representatives?
Senators term is 6 years 1 voter per Senator 2 Senators per state (all states get the same
amount) Originally Senators were chosen by state
legislatures Today chosen by direct election (17th Amendment)
3. Clause Three - What are the qualifications for a Senator?
30 years old
9 year citizen of the United States
Be a resident of the state you are elected from
4. Clause Four—
The Vice-President (Joe Biden) of the U.S. is the President of the Senate (very little power and seldom is seen on the Senate Floor )
President of the Senate (Biden) only votes if there is a tie
The president pro tempore leads the Senate in his absence
Section Six—Privileges and Restrictions
1. Clause One - What is the salary and benefits for a member of Congress?
Compensation—members of Congress will be paid ($150,000 per year)
Congressional immunity-can’t be arrested for minor crimes when traveling to or from Congress (breach of peace, treason, felony, are not exempt from this immunity)
Slander—saying something that is not true, they can do this in the House and Senate (done so that speech is not limited or censored)
Franking—free mail service
2. Clause Two - How does a bill become a law?
Procedures vary slightly in each house and all bills must go through committee work before they get to the floor. Here is a simple overview:
First method—passes one house by majority vote, passes second house by majority vote, goes to president, president signs it into law
Second method—passes one house by majority vote, passes second house by majority vote, goes to president, president vetoes, goes back to house it originated in and must pass by 2/3 vote, then goes to next house and must pass by 2/3 vote to become a law
Third method-- passes one house by majority vote, passes second house by majority vote, goes to president, president delays action for ten days excluding Sundays, becomes law
Section EightPowers Delegated to
Congress1. Clause One - Why can Congress collect taxes?
Congress can collect taxes for three purposes: Pay off debts Provide defense Provide for the common welfare
Current US deficit• http://www.deficitsdomatter.org/?gclid
=CMCz9aarhpYCFQE0xgodRHEVFQ
2. Clause Two - Can Congress Borrow Money?
They can borrow money on the credit of the United States (selling bonds is one example)
Debt—Total amount of money that the government owes ( currently over $9 trillion)
Deficit—Yearly amount of money that the government owes
3. Clause Three - Can Congress regulate trade?
Interstate—Trade between two or more states
Intrastate—Trade within a state
Congress can only regulate interstate trade
11. Clause Eleven
Only Congress can declare war—power to many people as opposed to one
Marque and Reprisal—allowing pirates (Treaty of Paris outlaws this)
War Powers Resolution (1973) - Attempted to limit presidential power of war
17. Clause Seventeen—Who controls the District of Columbia?
Washington, in the District of Columbia, is a federal city under the control of Congress
Since 1973, people of the city elect their own officials
18. Clause Eighteen—Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause) Congress has the power to establish any rules
they deem necessary and proper
Elastic Clause—expands the powers of Congress
Section TenPowers Denied to the States
1. Clause One - Can Minnesota create an alliance with Canada? (No)
States cannot form treaties or alliances with any other states or countries
States cannot coin money
Article II—Executive Branch
Section One—President &
Vice President
1. Clause one—How long is the President in office?
Four year terms
1951—22 Amendment changed it to a maximum of 2 terms or ten years
FDR served the most years in office (12)
Grover Cleveland served 2 nonconsecutive terms (22nd & 24th President of the United States)
2. Clause Two - How is the U.S. President elected?
Electors—Presidential voters
Electoral college—system used to elect the President, founders didn’t want a pure form of democracy, wanted a representative democracy
538=total number of Presidential electors, must have 270 to become president
Purpose of the electoral college---give each state somewhat equal representation
3. Clause Three—former method of electoral college (changed by 12th Amendment)
Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each had the same number of electoral votes (73)
Tie would go to the House of Representatives and each state gets one vote, still have to get a majority
Election of 1860 Popular Votes Electoral
Lincoln 1, 866,352 180
Douglas 1,375,157 12
Breckenridge 847,953 72
Bell 589,581 39
Close Elections in History
Popular Votes Electoral Votes
Hayes (1876) 4,033,950 185
Tilden (1876) 4, 284,855 184
Bush (2000) 50,456, 169 271
Gore (2000) 50, 996, 116 266
4. Clause 4 - When does the Electoral College vote?
Official ballot for President is cast by the Electoral College
Electoral College—cast votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December
5. Clause Five—What are the qualifications for U.S. President?
35 years old, 14 year resident, natural born citizen
1st seven presidents were not natural born
1st natural born was Martin Van Buren
Youngest—Teddy Roosevelt=42
Youngest elected—John Kennedy=43
Oldest—Ronald Reagan=69
6. Clause Six - Changed by the 25th Amendment
The amendment provides for involuntary removal of the President from his power.
Section TwoPowers of the President
1. Clause One—What are the Military Powers?
President is the head of the military - Commander in Chief
President can grant pardons to criminals who have committed federal crimes2. Clause Two—Treaties and Appointments
President needs approval by the U.S. Senate to create certain and specific treaties and appointments
3. Clause Three - What if an ambassador dies when the Senate is in recess?
The President can fill position by temporarily
Section Four--Impeachment
President, Vice President, and all civil officers can be impeached Can only be impeached for three things: treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Judges are civil officers that are the most often convicted of impeachment Members of the Congress are expelled by their own house, they do not go through the formal impeachment process
Article III—Judicial BranchSection One—Federal Courts
1. Clause One - Who interprets the law? Judicial branch interprets the law (Courts) Legislative makes the law (Congress) Executive enforces the law (President) Judicial powers—the power to hear cases
Federal Judges are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate
Supreme Court
• Chief Justice John Roberts (2005)
• Thurgood Marshall – first African American justice (Clarence Thomas is today)
• Sandra Day O’Connor- first woman to sit (Ruth Ginsburg is today)
2. Clause Two - How does a case reach the Supreme Court?
SC has two kinds of jurisdiction:
a. Original—a case is first heard by the SC
b. Appellate—cases that are appealed by a lower court (Most cases come to the SC through appellate jurisdiction)
About 75 are heard each year
Article V Methods of Amendments
1st Method - need 2/3 of Congress to PROPOSE an Amendment
2nd Method - need 2/3 of the state legislatures to ask Congress for a national convention to propose an Amendment (this method has never been used) Need 3/4 of all states to actually ratify or APPROVE an Amendment. This is done by state legislatures or a special ratifying convention. Over 4000 proposed Amendments since the early 1800s Only 27 have been ratified 1st Ten Amendments were a package deal, 18 and 21 cancel each other out, leaves 15 separate Amendments that went through the process
Article VI—General Provisions
Section One - Could the new government evade debts owed as a result of the Revolutionary War? New government can’t evade old debts
Section Two - Is the federal law the supreme law of the land?
Yes - State law cannot override a federal law
Section Three—all officers, state and federal, must take an oath to support the U.S. Constitution
Can’t have a religious requirement has part of the Oath
Article Seven--Ratification
Section One— Convention—calling of delegates from each state to ratify the Constitution Must have nine states to approve the Constitution
CLOSURE
Constitution was finished September 17, 1787
55 total delegates during the convention
42 were present on the final day but only
39 people signed the Constitution
The following two years provided debate for ratification
The United States Constitution took effect April 30 , 1789 when George Washington was sworn in as President
Federal Government
• Federal government deals with matters that affect the whole country– Defense– Transportation– Postal Delivery– Federal Taxes
Federal GovernmentExecutive Branch
• Executive Branch carries out national laws• The President is head of the Executive Branch • Commander in Chief of nation’s army • Elected to a four year term• Approves the laws that
congress makes• Proposed national budget• Can veto a bill
Federal GovernmentLegislative Branch
• Legislative branch makes laws for the nation
• Two parts of the Legislative Branch– U.S. Senate – U.S. House of
Representatives
Federal Government Judicial Branch
• Judicial Branch interprets and applies national laws
• Make up of the court system• Highest is the Supreme Court
- appointed for life terms• Lowest levels are
Justice of Peace • Gets its powers from
Article III of the Constitution
State Government
• State Government deals with matters within their own state– Schools– State Roads– State Taxes– State Police
What is a Citizen?• Two kinds of citizens• Native-born citizens
– Born here– Children of American citizens born while visiting
other countries
• Naturalized citizens– Have to be at least 18– From other countries– Lived here 5 years to qualify– 3 years if they’re married to an American citizen
Citizen’s Rights• Countries protect their citizens and
give them rights • Naturalized and Native-born
citizens have the same rights, except one
• Naturalized citizens can’t run for president
• Citizens can vote• Freedom of Religion• Freedom of Speech• Freedom of the Press
Citizen’s Responsibilities
• Duty to obey the law• Vote in elections• To pay taxes• If the country is at
war, citizens may be called to serve in the armed forces
• Serve on a jury if called