Notes no. 2

 (๑•ิཬ•ั๑) 彡[ʟᴇᴛ'ꜱ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴠᴇʀɴᴍᴇɴᴛ]彡

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤ ◢◤ ◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤ ◢◤ ◢◤

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤ ◢◤ ◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤ ◢◤ ◢◤

 2.1 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝕽𝖊𝖛𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖞 𝕻𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖉 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝕻𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝕿𝖗𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

ɢօʋɛʀռɨռɢ քʀɨռƈɨքʟɛֆ

🌸 Government arises from the consent of the governed 

🌸 The rights of the citizen's must be protected 

🌸 The power should be divided among separate institutions 

    🌺 Property Rights: all free white makes should be able to acquire property and the government had the duty to protect it 

օʀɨɢɨռֆ ǟռɖ քʊʀքօֆɛ օʄ ɢօʋɛʀռʍɛռȶ

🌸 Human beings create the government, not god 

🌸 Social Contract: an implicit agreement that people exchange a small portion of their freedom and consent to being governed in exchange for the protection of their lives, liberties, and properties 

🌸If the social contract is ever broken, the people are allowed to withdraw consent and build a better government 

ɦɨֆȶօʀʏ օʄ ֆɛʟʄ ɢօʋɛʀռʍɛռȶ

🌸 Americans were accustomed to representation because of Parliament 

    🌺 Examples: Virginia's House of Burgesses, Mayflower Compact, All states had legislatures 

🌸 The American Revolution began once the representative self-government was threatened 

ȶɦօʍǟֆ ʝɛʄʄɛʀֆօռ ǟռɖ ȶɦɛ ɖɛƈʟǟʀǟȶɨօռ օʄ ɨռɖɛքɛռɖɛռƈɛ

🌸 Thomas Jefferson drafted the D.o.L

🌸 The D.o.L laid out the reasons for the rebellion 

    🌺 People have natural rights 

    🌺 People create a government to protect those rights 

    🌺 If the government were to ever fail then the people are able to overthrow the government 

🌸 D.oL lists of abuse of power 

    🌺 Taxation without the consent of elected representatives 

    🌺 Interfered with trade 

    🌺 Denied colonists rights of trial by jury 

    🌺 Deprived them of the rights to self-government 

2.2 𝕬𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖑𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖊𝖉𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

🌸 The Articles of Confederation were accepted by Congress in Nov. of 1777 and was sent to the state for ratification 

    🌺 To be accepted all 13 states had to approve

    🌺 Took 2 years before AoC passed because Maryland 

🌸 The AoC established a confederation: an entity in which independent, self-governing states form a union for the purpose of acting together in areas such as defense 

🌸 Americans didn't think that republic would be effective cause the colonies were too large, even though it was preferred 

🌸 Every 13 colonies made their own republic government, with their own governor and representative government 

🌸 The states were able to govern their residents as they wished 

🌸 The central government had authority in only a few areas 

    🌺 This was done to prevent the central government from becoming too strong 

🌸 Powers of the Central Government 

    🌺 National Defense (limited by states ability) 

    🌺 Exchange ambassadors 

    🌺 Make treaties with foreign gov. and Indian trades 

    🌺 Declare War 

    🌺 Coin currency and borrow money 

    🌺 Settle disputes between states 

 

🌸 Each state had 1 representative in Congress with only one vote 

🌸 No chief executive, no judiciary 

🌸 9 votes were needed before the central government could act 

🌸 The AoC could be changed only by unanimous vote of all 13 states 

աɦǟȶ աɛռȶ աʀօռɢ աɨȶɦ ȶɦɛ ǟʀȶɨƈʟɛֆ

🌸 Sovereignty of the states was protected, the central government is too weak 

🌸 Most issues with the AoC involved money 

🌸Government has no power to impose a tax 

   🌺  Only states could tax 

    🌺 The central government could request money from the states, but the states neglected this duty and the central gov was underfunded as a result 

    🌺 No money = could not pay debts from the war and unable to conduct foreign affairs 

🌸 Money from the central government, called the Continental, was worthless

🌸 State banks were allowed to make their own money 

     🌺 They suffered the same problems as the continental 

     🌺 People didn't want to use them because they didn't know if the bank was trustworthy or not 

🌸 Central government lacked the to impose tariffs on foreign imports or regulate interstate commerce 

    🌺 Unable to stop British goods from dominating the market with low-cost goods 

    🌺 States often put tariffs on neighboring states goods which interfered with trade 

🌸  Central gov. could not raise an army or navy 

    🌺 Fear of tyranny left the defense in the hands of the states 

    🌺 Even if the central government could declare war or agree to make peace, they needed states to send soldiers 

    🌺 States can refuse to send soldiers which leaves the central gov. powerless 

2.3 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖕𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

🌸 Annapolis, MD 1786: Virginia and Maryland invite the other states to meet to revise the AoC- only 5 showed up 

    🌺 All 13 states had to agree to any changes in the AoC so this convention failed 

🌸 Philadelphia, PA 1787: All states except Rhode Island delegates to revise the AoC

    🌺 they decide that the AoC has too many shortcomings so a new government must be made 

քօɨռȶֆ օʄ ƈօռʋɛռȶɨօռ

🌸 Gathering of 55 delegates known as the Constitutional Convention 

🌸 Topics they had to tackle: 

    🌺 Creating a stronger central government that was not too powerful 

    🌺 Preserving states rights without giving them so much power that would hinder the states working together 

    🌺 Creating a society that balanced concern for law without giving away too much individual liberty 

    🌺Giving political rights to all free men without leading to a mod rule 

    🌺  Smaller states feared their interests getting pushed aside by larger 

    🌺 Slave states feared the loss of Slavery, free states did not want slavery to continue 

ֆʍǟʟʟ ֆȶǟȶɛֆ ʋ. ʟǟʀɢɛ ֆȶǟȶɛֆ

🌸 Virginia Plan: called for a bicameral (2 house) legislature

    🌺 direct vote would choose the representatives in the lower house 

    🌺 representatives would then select state representatives for the higher house from candidates selected by the state 

    🌺 The amount of representatives per house is based on the population of the state

🌸 New Jersey Plan: called for a unicameral (1 house) legislature 

    🌺 each state has one vote 

    🌺 smaller states will have the same power as larger states 

    🌺 Lager states argued that they had more residents so they need more representation

ɨֆֆʊɛֆ ȶօ ȶǟƈӄʟɛ

🌸  Slavery v. Freedom 

    🌺 Northern states had either abolished slavery or was phasing it out. They believed it was unamerican and inconsistent with Christianity 

    🌺 Southern states depended too heavily on slavery for their economy, to count as taxes (as property), and representation purpose in the government 

🌸 Federal Supremacy v. State Sovereignty 

    🌺 Those who favored the Virginia plan wanted more a more powerful central government 

    🌺 Those who favored the New Jersey Plan wanted the states to retain power over the central government 

🌸 Individual Liberty v. Social Stability 

    🌺 Unlike the other issues, everyone agreed that the government should not intrude on a person's rights to life, property, without reason. 

ȶɦɛ ɢʀɛǟȶ ƈօʍքʀօʍɨֆɛ

🌸 The Great Compromise 

    🌺 Created by Roger Sherman of Connecticut 

    🌺 Congress will have two chambers: House Representees and the Senate 

        🌷 House: Representation is based on population and elected by popular vote with 2-year terms 

        🌷 Senate: each state has two representatives that are appointed by the state legislature with 6-year terms 

🌸 Congress is given the power that the AoC lacked 

    🌺 Congress could coin or borrow money, grant patents and copywrites, declare war, and establish laws regulating naturalization  and bankruptcy 

    🌺 Laws could be started in either house but had to pass by majority vote in both houses before being sent to the president for approval 

    🌺 Laws regarding taxes and revenue can only state in the House because  those are the representatives chose by the people 

ȶɦʀɛɛ-ʄɨʄȶɦֆ ƈօʍքʀօʍɨֆɛ

🌸 Three-Fifths Compromise: slaveholding states will count all their freedmen and 3/5 (60%) of slaves for representation purpose 

    🌺 To appease the north, this count will also be used for federal taxation purposes, but no taxes were ever collected 

🌸 Congress was also given the right to tax imports if the importation of slaves were protected for another 20 years 

🌸 Slave states, such as SC, threatened to leave the convention should abolition be attempted at this time 

ֆʟǟʋɛʀʏ ɨռ ȶɦɛ ƈօռֆȶɨȶʊȶɨօռ

🌸 The Constitution contains two protections for slavery 

    🌺 Article 1: postponed abolition for foreign slave trade until 1808 and slaves could be imported as states wished 

        🌷 There were no restrictions on the domestic slave trade 

    🌺 Article IV: required the states to return escaped slaves to other states where they have been charged with crimes 

        🌷 Clause 3: Fugitive slave cause allowed enslaves to reclaim the enslaved in the states where they had fled 

ֆɛքǟʀǟȶɨօռ օʄ քօաɛʀֆ ǟռɖ ƈɦɛƈӄֆ ǟռɖ ɮǟʟǟռƈɛֆ

🌸 The chief concern of congress is to increase the power of the national government without making it too powerful - the solution would be to separate the powers 

🌸 Separation of  Powers: divided the national government into 3 separate branches and giving each branch different responsibilities 

🌸 Checks and Balances: gives each branch of a government the power to restrict the actions of the others 

    🌺 Branches are thus required to work together 

    🌺 Ex. Presidents can veto a law created by Congress 

🌸 The constitution created the executive and judicial branches, which were absent during the AoC 

🌸 Roles of each branch: 

    🌺 Legislative: make laws 

    🌺 Executive: enforce laws 

    🌺 Judiciary: trail cases under federal laws  

ʄɛɖɛʀǟʟ քօաɛʀ ʋ. ֆȶǟȶɛ քօաɛʀ

🌸 Federal Systems: power is divided between the federal (national or central) government and state government 

🌸 Enumerated Powers: great or explicit powers given to the federal government 

    🌺 The ability to declare war 

    🌺 Impose taxes 

    🌺 Coin and regulate currency 

    🌺 Regulate foreign trade and interstate commerce 

    🌺 Raise and maintain an army and navy 

    🌺 Maintain a post office 

    🌺 Make treaties with foreign nations and Native American tribes

    🌺 Make laws regulating the naturalization of immigrants 

    🌺 Control overall "Territory or other Property belonging to the US" 

🌸All powers not expressly given to the national government were intended to be left for the states 

🌸 Reserved Powers: powers reserved to the states and denied to the federal government

     🌺 Interstate commerce 

     🌺 Marriage 

     🌺 Drug Use 

     🌺 Drivers Licenses 

     🌺 School Standards 

     🌺 Holding Accessing elections 

🌸 Some powers (such as taxation) are shared by both state and federal government 

🌸States may also have their own government system such as a chief executive to enforce laws (governor) and a court system 

🌸 Supremacy Clause: Article VI of the Constitution, treaties made by the federal government, and the constitution itself are considered to be "the supreme Law of the Land" 

    🌺 In the event of a conflict between the states and the national government, the national government will triumph 

🌸 Necessary and Proper Clause: Article I, congress may "make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing [enumerated] powers, and all other powers vested by this constitution in the government of the US, or in any department or officer thereof"

    🌺 the federal government is supposed to be limited to the powers enumerated in the Constitution, there is a clause for the expansion of powers should it be needed 

    2.4 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

🌸 The Constitution had to be approved by 9/13 states in order for it to be accepted 

🌸 Conventions were held in each state to seek approval 

   🌺 citizens could elect delegates through popular vote to represent them when it came time to vote 

   🌺 avoided going through state legislatures b/c Constitution is asking for each state to limit their powers 

🌸 The greatest source of dissatisfaction with the Constitution came from the fact that it did not guarantee the protection of individual liberties 

    🌺 Virginia's Declaration of Rights was the most right-giving document among the states 

    🌺 Many states did not want to approve the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was made 

ƈɦǟʟʟɛռɢɛֆ ɨռ ʀǟȶɨʄɨƈǟȶɨօռ

🌸 Large States (NY, VA, MA, PA) had the most to lose - they did not want to ratify it 

    🌺 they did not believe that they needed a large central government to protect and provide for them 

🌸 If no large state-approved, the ALL nice of the small states had to approve of the Constitution for it to go into effect 

🌸 Small States benefitted the most from the Constitution, they were likely to ratify it EXCEPT Rhode Island (the smallest state) 

ȶɦɛ ʀǟȶɨʄɨƈǟȶɨօռ ƈǟʍքǟɨɢռ

🌸Citizens were divided into 2 groups 

    🌺Federalists: Supporters of the Constitution 

        🌷 tended to be elite, wealthy, educated landowners, businessmen, military men 

        🌷 believed a strong united government would be beneficial for national defense and economic growth 

    🌺 Anti-Federalist: Opponents of the Constitution 

        🌷 Feared the power of the national government, the believed government could be better protect individual freedoms 

        🌷 Worried that taxes on farmers would be too heavy and that taxes on imported goods would make foreign trade more difficult for agriculture - strong in the South 

ɛʋɛռ ʍօʀɛ ǟռȶɨ-ʄɛɖɛʀǟʟɨֆȶ ֆɛռȶɨʍɛռȶ

🌸 Feared that the Central government would not be able to govern for the greater good 

    🌺 If people govern themselves, they will care for the greater good over self-interest 

    🌺 Similarities among community members make them better leaders because they understand their neighbors 

    🌺 A huge community would lack common interests 

🌸 Diversity of religion prevents the formation of a political community with shared values and interests

     🌺 Constitution forbade the use of religious tests to determine eligibility for public office 

     🌺 Henry Abbot: feared that the government would be run by pagans 

ǟքքʀօʋǟʟ ȶɨʍɛʟɨռɛ

🌸 Smaller states that had more to gain approved of the Constitution first 

🌸 Some larger states, such as PA and MA, would favor this new form of government and approve it 

🌸 New Hampshire would be the 9th state to ratify the Constitution in 1788 - now the Constitution could go into effect 

🌸 Delaware was the first to ratify for the Constitution 

ȶɦɛ ʄɛɖɛʀǟʟɨֆȶ քǟքɛʀֆ

🌸 The remaining 4 states (VA, RI, NY, NC) all had different reasons why they would not approve of the Constitution 

🌸 The biggest hurdles were VA and NY, two large and wealthy states 

🌸 VA: approved of Constitution after the work of James Madison, George Washington, and the promise of addition of Bill of Rights 

🌸 NY: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay  wrote 85 essays together called The Federalist Paper under the name Publius 

🌸 Federalist, No. 51: argues that all branches serve to check on another, this is to keep tyranny at bay 

🌸 Federalist No. 35: A person with extensive knowledge could be a better representative than the local people 

🌸 Federalist, No. 2: the goal of America was to unite since the beginning of the Revolutionary War 

ʄɛɖɛʀǟʟɨֆȶ ռօ. 10

🌸 Written by James Madison 

🌸 Believed that a group of the elite would be to dominate the nation's politics

🌸Representaties ould protect the government from unjust or biased favor of the majority 

🌸 Americans should not fear the party of factions or special interests, for the republic is too big and its people are too diverse to allow the development of political parties 

 ʄɛɖɛʀǟʟɨֆȶ ռօ. 68 ǟռɖ 70

🌸 Written by Alexander Hamilton

🌸 address to those that feared the president would grow to a king like 

🌸 Electors from each state would select the president separately, so the person elected would be free from influence and corruption of crowd 

🌸 In addition, it is easier to control one person than many 

🌸President is able to make quicker decisions than waiting for congress 

2.5 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊

🌸 One of the biggest issues of the AoC was how difficult it was to change it => the Constitution has an amendment process 

🌸 Since its ratification in 1789, the Constitution has been amended 27 times 

    🌺 the first 10 amendments were made in 1791

    🌺 This was a response to the Anti-Federalists who demanded protections for individual citizens 

🌸 James Madison took the lead in creating this change 

ȶɦɛ ǟʍɛռɖʍɛռȶ քʀօƈɛֆֆ

🌸Found in Article 5 and could be amended in 2 ways 

     🌺 Proposal by Congress- approved by 2/3 majority vote in both house and Senate  - sent to the states for ratification 

        🌷if 3/4 of the state legislatures approve, it comes the part of the Constitution 

        🌷 if 3/4 of the state-ratifying conventions support the amendment, it is ratified 

🌸 Petition of Congress: upon receiving a petition from 2/3 of the states, Congress must call for the convention in order to propose amendments which are forwarded to the states for ratification by 3/4 

🌸 All current constitutional amendments were created using the 1st method of proposal 

🌸 The process is flexible to respond to the nation-changing over time, yet firm enough so that the Constitution doesn't change constantly 

ɮɨʟʟ օʄ ʀɨɢɦȶֆ

🌸 1st 10 amendments are the Bill of Rights 

🌸 May provisions are based on the English Bill of Rights and the Virginia Declaration of rights 

    🌺 English: 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th

    🌺 Virginia: 5th