Transcript The Constitution of the United States

The Constitution of the
United States
2011-2012 USVA SOL Part IV
American political leaders, fearful of
a powerful central government like
Britain’s, created this set of laws
that established a two tier
government at the end of the
Revolutionary War
Articles of
Confederation
What were the problems that
the Continental Congress still
faced after the Articles of
Confederation went into effect
in 1781.
1. Only one vote per state
2. All states had to amend
articles
3. Congress did not have power to
tax
This established a plan by
which the federal government
surveyed the land and sold it to
settlers at affordable prices.
Land Ordinance of 1785
• 1787 ordinance dividing the
American northwest into three to
five territories
• Banned slavery in those territories
• Provided that money raised by the
sale of land in the territories be
used to fund public education; set
out requirements for territories to
become states
Northwest Ordinance
• 1786 law written by Thomas Jefferson and
passed by the Virginia legislature
• First law in the United States that required
the separation of church and state
• Passed after a bill that would have assessed
a general tax to support churches—a bill
written by Patrick Henry and George
Washington—was defeated
• Followed by similar laws in New Jersey and
New York and, a few years later, by the
First Amendment to the Constitution (as
part of the Bill of Rights authored by James
Madison)
Virginia Statute on Religious
Freedom
In his Virginia Declaration of
Rights, he reiterated the notion
that basic human rights should
not be violated by governments
George Mason
• Grew out of economic distress following the
American Revolution
• Consisted of a group of debt ridden farmers
in western Massachusetts protesting against
high taxes
• During the winter of 1786-1787, cold
weather and a lack of supplies led to the
uprising’s disintegration
• Highlighted problems with the Articles of
Confederation and increased momentum for
the Constitutional Convention
Shay’s Rebellion
Meeting convened in Philadelphia
in 1787 Delegates from 12 states
met to discuss the problems
inherent in the articles of
confederation
Constitutional Convention
He presided as the President of
the Constitutional Convention
and, although seldom
participating in the debates, lent
his enormous prestige to the
proceedings.
George Washington
Known as the Father of the
Constitution, he was a Virginian and a
brilliant political
philosopher, often led the debate and
kept copious notes of the
proceedings—the best record
historians have of what transpired at
the Constitutional Convention.
James Madison
Made federal law the supreme law of
the land when constitutional, but
otherwise gave the states
considerable leeway to govern
themselves
• Introduced the Constitutional Convention by
James Madison
• Called for a government much like the one
outlined by the Constitution
• Competed with the New Jersey Plan, which
was seen more favorably by small states
• Adapted to accommodate the feelings of the
New Jersey Plan’s supporters in the Great
Compromise.
Virginia Plan
• Name for the agreement on state
representation in Congress reached by
the Constitutional Convention
• To strike a balance between large
states (who sought equal representation
based on population), and small states
(who sought equal representation for all
states), the Great Compromise agreed
upon a bicameral legislature, with a
House of Representatives dividing
representation by population and a
Senate giving equal representation to
every state
Great compromise
Southern States wanted their
slaves to count as part of their
population so that they could
have greater representation in
the House of Representatives,
the Northern states did not
agree with this because they did
not have very many slaves. How
was this matter resolved?
3/5ths Compromise
The Constitution
Term for the constitutional
system wherein different powers
are delegated to the three
branches of government:
executive (the president),
legislative (Congress), and judicial
(the Supreme Court)
Balance of Powers
• The underlying theory behind the
Constitution
• Uses three branches of the federal
government – the executive, legislative, and
judicial branches - to balance one another
and prevent any one branch from gaining too
much power
• Designed by James Madison
System of Checks and Balances
• One of the three branches on the government
created by the Constitution as part of the
system of checks and balances.
• Consists of the entire federal court system,
of which the highest court is the Surpreme
Court.
• Keeps the other branches of government in
check by applying the principle of judicial
review.
Judiciary Branch
• One of three branches of the
government created by the Constitution
as part of the system of checks and
balances
• Headed by the president and vice
president
• Includes all members of the Cabinet
Executive branch
• One of three branches of the government created
by the Constitution as part of the system of
checks and balances
• Also known as the Congress
• Comprised of the House of Representatives and the
Senate; bicameral, meaning it is made up of two
houses
• Bears responsibility for passing laws, declaring war,
ratifying treaties, and providing a national budget
Legislative Branch
• The lower house of the bicameral Legislative
branch established by the Constitution
• As a result of the Great Compromise,
membership in the house of Representatives
is proportional based upon the population of
each state
• The house of Representatives currently has
435 members
House of Representatives
• The upper house of the bicameral legislative
branch established by the Constitution
• As a result of the Great Compromise,
membership in the Senate is divided equally
among all states
• The Senate currently has 100 members
Senate
James Madison consulted the Virginia
Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statute
for Religious Freedom when drafting these
amendments. It is the collective name for the
first ten amendments to the Constitution.
These amendments guarantee individual rights
and liberties are protected from the federal
government. Many states would not ratify the
Constitution until this was promised
• A body mandated by the Constitution
• Electors, representing each state, choose
the president based upon the popular vote
within their state
• When the electoral college cannot reach a
decision, a final decision is made by the
House of Representatives
• Until the passage of the 12th Amendment in
1804, the electoral college named the
candidate with the second most electoral
votes as the vice president
• This caused trouble when Federalist John
Adams was elected president and
Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson
was elected vice president (1796)
Electoral College
Bill of
Rights
• 1792 uprising by Western Pennsylvania
farmers displeased with the excise tax on
whiskey that was one of Alexander Hamilton’s
economic policies
• Raising cries echoing the French Revolution,
the farmers attacked tax collectors.
• George Washington sent 15,000 federal
troops to quash the rebellion, proving that the
federal government would not be threatened,
but also raising complaints from the AntiFederalists, who were vigilant for signs of
tyranny under the new Constitution
Whiskey Rebellion
• Name for a large collection of essays written
pseudonymously by James Madison, John
Jay, and Alexander Hamilton
• These essays, published in a New York
newspaper and widely circulated thereafter
laid out a strong case for ratification of the
Constitution and against many of the
arguments put forward by the AntiFederalists
The Federalist Papers
• Initially those who supported ratification of the
Constitution and the creation of a stronger central
(federal) government than the Articles of Confederation
allowed
• Under the influence of Alexander Hamilton, they decided
to form a political party during the years of George
Washington’s presidency
• This party was largely centered in the New England and
controlled by aristocrats
• The party split (those who left the party formed the
Democratic Republican party) because of disagreement
over federal power and the First National Bank
• The party lost power to Thomas Jefferson and the
Democratic-Republican party in the election of 1800 (also
known as the Revolution of 1800), and they never regained
power
• The party dissolved during the president of James
Madison, in the wake of the Hartford Convention
Federalists
• A philosophy of interpreting the Constitution
broadly and thereby enlarging the scope of
the federal government’s power beyond the
specific enumerated powers
• Opposed by the Democratic-Republicans, who
preferred a philosophy of strict construction
Loose Construction
• A philosophy of interpreting the Constitution
narrowly and thereby limiting the scope of
the Federal government’s power to those
powers specifically enumerated
• Popular with the Democratic-Republican
Party
• Unpopular with the Federalist Party, who
preferred loose construction
Strict Construction
• New York financier who served as treasury
secretary during George Washington’s
presidency
• He designed the economic development of the
united states, beginning the first National
Bank
• Primary leader of the Federalist party
• He also served as one of the pseudonymous
authors of The Federalist Papers
• Was killed in duel by Vice President Aaron
Burr
Alexander Hamilton
• Name for those opposed to ratification of
the Constitution.
• Were opposed to the creation of a strong
federal government.
• Supported vesting more power in the states
and argued that a strong federal government
would lead back to tyranny.
• Led by George Mason
Anti-Federalists
This law established a national
court system
Judiciary Act of 1789
• Chartered by Congress in response to a
request from Treasury Secretary Alexander
Hamilton during George Washington’s
presidency
• Vociferously opposed as unconstitutional by
James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who
resigned his post as secretary of state
because of the bank disagreement
• Disagreement over the bank led to the split
between
the
Federalists
and
the
Democratic-Republican Party
• Helped the national economy develop
First National Bank (First Bank of
the United States)
• Political party that developed in opposition to
the Federalists after the chartering of the
First National Bank
• Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
• Advocated a central government empowered
to carry out only those functions explicitly
enumerated in the Constitution
• Fractured after the “corrupt bargain” in the
election of 1824
Democratic-Republican Party
Second President of the United
States?
John Adams
• Laws passed during John Adam’s
presidency.
• Restricted naturalization of
immigrants and made publishing
material critical of the
government a crime.
• When Thomas Jefferson became
president, he pardoned everyone
imprisoned under the acts and
chose not to renew the
legislation.
Alien and Sedition Acts
• Written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson,
respectively
• Passed by the state legislatures of these two
states
• Resolutions argues that the Alien and Sedition
Acts were unconstitutional and therefore
“unauthoritative, void, and of no force”
• Further argued that the Constitution gave the
federal government only as much power as was
derived from a compact among sovereign states
• Served as basis for states’ rights arguments in the
Nullification Crisis and leading up to the Civil War.
Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions
• President John Adams sent diplomats to France to
negotiate a settlement to trade disagreements
between France and the United States
• Following the triumph of the democratic French
Revolution, public sympathy for France was very high
in the United States
• Adams changed the tide of public opinion by alleging
that three French diplomats- whom he identified only
as X,Y, and Z– had demanded a bribe from American
diplomats before even sitting down to negotiate
• The resulting furor over the XYZ Affair led America
to the brink of war with France
XYZ Affair
• A large number of judicial appointments
made by John Adams the night before
Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration in the
so called Revolution of 1800
• James Madison refused to certify a
large number of the appointments,
leading to the Marbury v. Madison
court decision, which established the
principle of Judicial Review
“Midnight Judges”
• Nickname for the transfer of power from the
Federalists to the Democratic Republicans
following the election of Thomas Jefferson
over John Adams in 1800
• Also known as the bloodless revolution
because the government managed to change
hands without violence or serious strife
• Biggest controversy in the transfer of power
was the “midnight appointments” made by
John Adams
“Revolution of 1800”
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from
1801 (when he was appointed by John Adams
after the election of Thomas Jefferson, but
before Jefferson’s inauguration) to 1835
• Established the principle of judicial review
(in the famous case Marbury v. Madison),
thereby creating an important role for the
judiciary branch in the system of checks
and balances
• Followed as chief justice by Roger Taney
John Marshall
• Lawsuit brought against James Madison in his
capacity as secretary of state during Thomas
Jefferson’s presidency
• Marbury was a “midnight appointment” made by
John Adams just before Jefferson’s inauguration
in the so-called Revolution of 1800
• When Madison refused to certify Marbury’s
appointment, Marbury sued
• Chief Justice John Marshall, an ardent Federalist,
used the case to establish judicial review
• Marshall ruled that Marbury deserved his
appointment but also that the Supreme Court
lacked the authority to force Madison to certify
the appointment
• According to Marshall, the Supreme Court lacked
the authority because the Judiciary Act of 1789,
which ascribed this power to the Supreme Court,
was unconstitutional
Marbury V. Madison
• The role of the Supreme Court in
determining whether of not laws passes
by Congress are constitutional
(permitted by the Constitution)
• First exercised by Chief Justice John
Marshall in Marbury v. Madison
Judicial review