Transcript Preamble to the United States Constitution

Checks and Balances
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The system of checks and
balances is a part of our
Constitution. It guarantees that
no part of the government
becomes too powerful.
For example, the legislative
branch is in charge of making
laws.
The executive branch can veto
the law, thus making it harder
for the legislative branch to pass
the law.
The judicial branch may also
say that the law is
unconstitutional and thus make
sure it is not a law.
The legislative branch can also
remove a president or judge
that is not doing his/her job
properly.
The Northwest Ordinance
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Considered to be one of the most significant achievements of the Congress
of the Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 put the world on
notice not only that the land north of the Ohio River and east of the
Mississippi.
It would be settled but that it would eventually become part of the United
States. Until then this area had been temporarily forbidden to development.
The Federalist Papers
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In total, the Federalist Papers
consist of 85 essays outlining
how this new government
would operate and why this
type of government was the
best choice for the United
States of America.
All of the essays were signed
"PUBLIUS" and the actual
authors of some are under
dispute.
The general consensus is that
Alexander Hamilton wrote 52
James Madison wrote 28, and
John Jay contributed the
remaining five.
Amending The Constitution
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The Anti-Federalists accepted
defeat when the Constitution was
adopted and set about to win
power under its rules.
Their action set a style for
American politics that has never
changed.
Americans sometimes feel
dissatisfied with the policies of
those who govern.
Few Americans have condemned
the constitutional system or
demanded a second constitutional
convention.
The Preamble
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The Preamble to the United
States Constitution is a brief
introductory statement of the
fundamental purposes and guiding
principles that the Constitution is
meant to serve.
In general terms it states, and
courts have referred to it as
reliable evidence of, the Founding
Fathers’ intentions regarding the
Constitution's meaning and what
they hoped it would achieve.
The Preamble serves solely as an
introduction and does not assign
powers to the federal government,
nor does it provide specific
limitations on government action.
The Legislative Branch
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Established by Article I of the
Constitution, the Legislative
Branch consists of the House
of Representatives and the
Senate, which together form
the United States Congress.
The Constitution grants
Congress the sole authority to
enact legislation and declare
war.
The right to confirm or reject
many Presidential
appointments, and substantial
investigative powers.
Shays Rebellion
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Shays' Rebellion, the post-Revolutionary clash between New England
farmers and merchants that tested the precarious institutions of the new
republic, threatened to plunge the disunited states into a civil war.
The rebellion arose in Massachusetts in 1786, spread to other states, and
culminated in the rebels' march upon a federal arsenal.
It wound down in 1787 with the election of a more popular governor, an
economic upswing, and the creation of the Constitution of the United States
in Philadelphia.
James Madison
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In 1776 he was a member of the Virginia constitutional committee, a body that
drafted Virginia's first constitution & a Bill of Rights which later became a
model for the Bill of Rights amended to the U.S. Constitution.
Madison very actively supported religious toleration and was a leading
advocate for the separation of church and state.
In this work he found a life-long partner and friend in Thomas Jefferson.
Like his close friend Thomas Jefferson, James Madison came from a
prosperous family of Virginia planters, received an excellent education, and
quickly found himself drawn into the debates over independence. In 1776, he
became a delegate to the revolutionary Virginia Convention, where he worked
closely with Thomas Jefferson to push through religious freedom statutes,
among other liberal measures.
Separation of Powers
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The Constitution contains no
provision expliciting declaring
that the powers of the three
branches of the federal
government shall be separated.
James Madison, in his original
draft of what would become the
Bill of Rights, included a
proposed amendment that would
make the separation of powers
explicit.
His proposal was rejected, largely
because his fellow members of
Congress thought the separation
of powers principle to be implicit
in the structure of government
under the Constitution.
Madison's proposed amendment,
they concluded, would be a
redundancy.