Transcript Slide 1

The US Constitution
Politics 19th Century Style!
Common Sense
• In 1776, Common Sense
challenged the authority of the
British government and the
royal monarchy. The plain
language that Paine used spoke
to the common people of
America and was the first work
to openly ask for independence
from Great Britain.
• “government of our own is our natural right: And when a
man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human
affairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiser
and safer, to form a constitution of our own in a cool
deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to
trust such an interesting event to time and chance.
• If we omit it now, some, Massanello may hereafter arise,
who laying hold of popular disquietudes, may collect
together the desperate and discontented, and by assuming
to themselves the powers of government, may sweep away
the liberties of the continent like a deluge.”
Articles of Confederation
• Prelude to our constitution
• Benjamin Franklin
influenced by Iroquois
“confederacy”; Mohawk,
Oneida, Onondaga,
Cayuga, Seneca and
Tuscarora who met in a
central council called the
Long House
The Annapolis Conference
• September 1786 conference called to discuss commerce in the new
nation.
• The national government had no authority to regulate trade
• The conference was called by Virginia leader James Madison.
• Only five of the 13 states sent any delegates at all (Delaware, New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia), and of those, only three
(Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia) had enough delegates to speak
for their states.
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The delegates decided that another conference, "with more enlarged
powers" meet in Philadelphia "take into consideration the situation of
the United States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to
them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal Government
adequate to the exigencies of the Union."
• Congress approved the plan to hold another, more sweeping conference
on February 21, 1787.
Madison and the Virginia Plan
• Virginian James Madison was a critic of the Confederation;
• States were under no obligation to pay their fair share of the
national budget; violated international treaties; ignored the
authority of the Congress; and violated each other's rights.
• The Confederation allowed state sovereignty and weak national
council.
• Madison favored - a republican model based on state
representatives
• His vision included separate authorities with separate
responsibilities, allowing no one to control too much of the
government; and a dominant national government, curbing the
power of the states.
• From Madison's thoughts, notes, and work, the delegates from
Virginia all met prior to the start of the Convention. They
hammered out the details of what became known as the Virginia
Plan.
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Virginia Plan
A bicameral legislature (two houses)
Both house's membership determined proportionately
The lower house was elected by the people
The upper house was elected by the lower house
The legislature was very powerful
An executive was planned, but would exist to ensure the will of
the legislature was carried out, and was so chosen by the
legislature
Formation of a judiciary, with life-terms of service
The executive and some of the national judiciary would have
the power to veto legislation, subject to override
National veto power over any state legislation
The Virginia Plan was reported to the Convention by Edmund
Randolph, Virginia's governor, on May 29, 1787
Sherman and the Connecticut
(Great) Compromise
• Most of the debate in the first few weeks
concerned the revision of the Virginia Plan.
• Roger Sherman of Connecticut rose on the floor
and proposed:
• "That the proportion of suffrage in the 1st. branch
should be according to the respective numbers of
free inhabitants; and that in the second branch or
Senate, each State should have one vote and no
more.“
• This was later amended to allow two votes per
state
Paterson and the New Jersey Plan
• New Jersian William Paterson feared that the larger states would dominate
the new government.
• The current Congress was maintained, but granted new powers. For
example, the Congress could set taxes and force their collection
• An executive, elected by Congress, was created - the Plan allowed for a multiperson executive
• The executives served a single term and were subject to recall based on the
request of state governors
• A judiciary appointed by the executives, with life-terms of service
• Laws set by the Congress took precedence over state law
• The New Jersey Plan was more along the lines of what the delegates had been
sent to do - draft amendments to the Confederation to ensure that it
functioned properly. It also protected the small states from the large ones by
ensuring one state, one vote.
• Paterson reported the plan to the Convention on June 15, 1787. It was
ultimately rejected, but gave the small states a rallying point from which to
defend their firm beliefs.
Hamilton and the British Plan
• For New Yorker Alexander Hamilton, neither the Virginia
Plan nor the New Jersey Plan were enough.
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In politics, he was of the general opinion that the masses
could not be trusted to select the leaders of the United
States.
• Hamilton proposed a new government based on a model he
and the other delegates knew well, perhaps all too well:
that of the British monarchy and parliament.
• Hamilton advocated virtually doing away with state
sovereignty, noting that as long as there was power to be
had in the states, people would aspire to acquire that
power, to the detriment of the nation as a whole. His plan
featured:
• A bicameral legislature
• The lower house, the Assembly, was elected by the people for three
year terms
• The upper house, the Senate, elected by electors chosen by the people,
and with a life-term of service
• An executive called the Governor, elected by electors and with a lifeterm of service
• The Governor had an absolute veto over bills
• A judiciary, with life-terms of service
• State governors appointed by the national legislature
• National veto power over any state legislation
• Hamilton reported his plan to the Convention on June 18, 1787
• Hamilton's plan was well-received, it seems, with general agreement
that it was well thought out and complete. However, no one supported
it as a model for a new form of government. The system was too similar
to that of Britain, under which the Americans had long-suffered. His
plan went no further.
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However, in the struggle for ratification, Hamilton became a
champion of the new Constitution, and was one of the main
contributors to the Federalist Papers.
Pinckney - step-father of the
Constitution?
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Pinckney argued that the people could be trusted to
make important decisions on a national scale.
• Historians point out that his feud with Madison
resulted in his obscurity.
• Pinckney was saved, though, in the early 1900's, when
the papers of fellow delegate James Wilson were
examined and found to contain notes from Pinckney's
Plan. Upon examination, it was clear that a great deal
of what Pinckney proposed eventually appeared in
some form or another in the final Constitution. Among
his plan's features:
• A bicameral legislature
• The lower house, the House of Delegates, was elected by the
people, with proportional representation
• The upper house, the Senate, elected by the House of
Delegates, four per state, with four year terms
• An executive called the President, elected by the legislature
• A Council of Revision consisting of the President and some
or all of his Cabinet, with a veto over bills
• National veto power over any state legislation
• A judiciary was established
• Pinckney reported his plan to the Convention on May 29,
1787, the same day as the Virginia Plan was introduced.
• It is clear from the accounts of other members of the
Convention that Pinckney's plan was sent on to the
Committee of Detail that drafted the first copies of the
Constitution, and many of his ideas and phrases are included
in what we read today.
Separation of Powers
• One thing each of the Plans had in common was a division
of the government into "departments." An executive
branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch.
• In addition to this separation on the national level, there
was an additional level of separation between the states
and the national government.
• Some advocated giving the federal government almost total
power; with the ability to overrule or approve all state
legislation.
• Another idea was to grant specific powers to the federal
government.
• The Virginia Plan had a body consisting of the executive
and judiciary, some control over the legislature was
provided for; it also allowed the federal government to
overrule the states in some cases.
Federal Powers
• the Convention established a Committee
of Detail to take everything discussed
thus far and put it into a rough draft.
• Congress would have the power make all
laws deemed "necessary and proper for
carrying into execution"
• Today, it is clear to us how much power
the Necessary and Proper clause grants
to the federal government.
State Powers
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the Virginia Plan proposed a national veto over
state laws, but the potential for abuse was easily
recognized.
• Southern states were concerned that the national
government would eliminate slavery.
• However, it was noted that it would be difficult for
the federal government to review all state laws.
• That, plus the idea of Luther Martin to adopt
language from the New Jersey Plan that made all
national laws and treaties the "supreme law of the
respective states," provided some control over the
states while not going overboard.
The Executive
• When the Convention took up the question of the President, they
had a few decisions to make: single individual or committee?
Appointed or elected? And what powers should the President, in
whatever form, be able to carry out?
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States rightists wanted a weak executive; nationalists a strong one.
It was noted that each of the states had single executives; the idea
is well-known and seemed to work. When it came to a vote, the
single executive prevailed.
• The Virginia Plan also called for the President to have a council to
advise him, but the idea was deemed unnecessary with the
separation of powers being built into the Constitution, and it was
eliminated.
• How the President would be chosen - by the people or by the
legislature? The idea of direct election sounds so simple to us
today, but in 18th century America, there were no parties, no
conventions, no mass media ... how would the people know who to
vote for?
The Executive Branch
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In the Virginia Plan, a weak executive was a single person, who,
along with the judiciary, would have some veto power over the
legislature. In the New Jersey Plan, the executive was not one
person, but a council of sorts, a sort of co-presidency. In both
cases, the executive was chosen by the legislature. These
presidents were nothing like the president we know today.
• One of the driving forces behind the strong presidency we have
today is a figure virtually unknown today, but who was very
prominent in his day, and eventually would serve on the
Supreme Court: James Wilson of Pennsylvania.
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His theory required the direct election of as many
representatives as possible; to him, an appointed President was
as dangerous, or at least as onerous, as a monarch. He is
considered responsible for our peculiar Electoral College.
• The Framers did not want to give the power to directly
elect the President;
• Citizens were beholden to local interests, easily fooled, or
simply because a national election, in the time of oil lamps
and quill pens, was just impractical.
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The Electoral College, proposed by James Wilson, was the
compromise that the Constitutional Convention reached.
• Though the term is never used in the Constitution itself,
the electors that choose the President at each election are
traditionally called a College. In the context of the
Constitution, the meaning of college is not that of a school,
but of a group of people organized toward a common goal.
• The Electoral College insulates the election of the President
from the people by having the people elect not the person
of the President, but the person of an Elector who is
pledged to vote for a specific person for President.
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Each state is allocated "electoral votes" equal to the total number of
Senators and Representatives allocated to that state.
The District of Columbia is also allocated 3 electoral votes.
On election day, voters are actually voting for Electoral College
members who promise to vote for the candidates of their respective
political parties.
In all but two states the party with the greatest number of votes
receives all the electoral votes for that state, even if no candidate gets a
majority.
Nebraska and Maine allow their electoral votes to be split among
candidates, but this has not actually happened in modern times.
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In order to win, a "ticket" (A party's Presidential and VicePresidential candidates) must receive 270 votes, one more than half of
the total of 538 electoral votes. If no ticket has 270 votes, then the
House of Representatives decides the election.
The electoral system forces candidates to carefully allocate their time
and money among the states. Each candidate must devise a
campaigning strategy which gives him or her the best chance to win at
least 270 electoral votes.
• At the same time, the term of the President
was debated; the delegates toyed with many
ideas, including a seven year, nonreselectable term, a three-year reselectable
term, and a term which was essentially life,
or on good behavior.
• The detail committee took Wilson's
Electoral College idea and expanded upon
it; electors would be chosen by the states in
whatever manner they desired, which
accommodated selection by the state
legislature, governor, or the people.
The problem of slavery
• The enslavement of blacks in America was of great
concern to the men at the convention.
• Southern delegates wanted to maintain Southern
economy based on slavery.
• Many of the largest slave holders in the United
States were at the Convention.
• Most Northern delegates opposed slavery, but did
not favor racial equality and also feared a large
slave revolt
• Roger Sherman proposed a compromise;
• The deal allowed the South to keep the
three-fifths count for representation that
had been used under the Articles for
calculation of state levies, as long as they
also had a three-fifths count for
calculation of taxes.
• The slave trade issue was debated at length
• The states of the deep south wanted it maintained;
• The North and the middle south strongly opposed
the issue
• They reached a compromise;
In exchange for a prohibition on export taxes, the
South agreed to allowing the slave trade to
continue for just 20 more years, and for imported
slaves to be taxable.
As a side note, the very day that the slave trade
could constitutionally be prohibited, it was: on
January 1, 1808.
The Bill of Rights
• the Bill of Rights is one of the most recognizable parts
of the U.S. Constitution; but the Framers, for the most
part, felt one was not necessary.
• George Mason (the principle author of the Virginia
Declaration of Rights), argued in favor of a bill of
rights.
• Many argued that “rights” were a state issue
• Mason proposed that the entire Constitution be
prefaced with a bill of rights - the placement to signify
the importance of the rights. He wanted to use the
Virginia Declaration as a model to expedite the process.
• However, the delegates had been working on the
constitution for months and few felt that Mason's
ideas be agreed on in a few hours and feared the
discussions would end the end the convention.
• For example, how to add a provision that all men
are born equal and free with the specter of slavery
looming over the nation?
• As the completed Constitution went out among the
states for debate and ratification, the issue of the
lack of a bill of rights was a major point of
contention raised by the opponents of the
Constitution, the Anti-Federalists.
• December, 1791, the Bill of Rights were added to
the end of the Constitution, placing some of the
strongest protections of individual rights since
before or since into force on a national scale.
Adjournment
• September 17, 1787, the final draft of the
Constitution was signed.
• Of the 55 people who attended the
Convention, 39 actually signed.
• Some refused to sign in protest, such as
Mason.
• The Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison as the Republican party in
1792, was the dominant political party in the United States
from 1800 until the 1820s.
• Foreign policy issues were central; the party opposed the
Jay Treaty of 1794 with Britain (then at war with France)
and supported good relations with France before 1801.
• The Party insisted on a strict construction of the
Constitution, and denounced many of Hamilton's
(federalists) proposals as unconstitutional.
• The party promoted states' rights and the primacy of the
yeoman farmer over bankers, industrialists, merchants,
and other financial interests.
• From 1792 to 1816 the party opposed such Federalist
policies as high tariffs, a navy, military spending, a
national debt, and a national bank.
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The
Federalists
The Federalists were originally those forces in favor of the
ratification of the Constitution and were typified by:
A desire to establish a strong central government (unlike
that which existed under the Articles of Confederation)
A corresponding desire for weaker state governments
The support of many large landowners, judges, lawyers,
leading clergymen and merchants
The support of creditor elements who felt that a strong
central government would give protection to public and
private credit.
• The term "Federalist" was later applied to the emerging
political faction headed by Alexander Hamilton in George
Washington's administration.
• The Bank of the United States would provide
loans to businessmen to assist them in
industrialization.
• The bank also was responsible for controlling
inflation by limiting the amount of money that
the federal government issued.
• This would help create a stable currency for the
United States and encourage investment in
business.
• The Federalists were also elitist.
• Hamilton believed that only the
wealthiest and most educated white men
should rule in America.
• If working-class or even middle-class
people received power, greed might
corrupt them.
• The Federalist Party ceased to exist at the end of the War
of 1812.
• Some Federalists opposed the war.
• Many of these men earned their living through trade. The
raging conflict hampered the Federalists' ability to trade
with England, America's major economic partner during
this time period.
• In 1814, some Federalists in New England even
contemplated breaking away from the United States and
forming their own country unless the American
government immediately sought peace.
• With the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 and the
resulting United States victory, many Americans viewed
the Federalists as traitors.
• The Federalist Party collapsed, leaving the DemocraticRepublican Party as the only political party in the United
States until the mid 1820s.
Check it out!
• The Federalist
Papers http://www.foundingfathers.info/fe
deralistpapers/