History tests

The U.S. Constitution arose out of important historical and philosophical ideas and preferences regarding popular sovereignty and limited government. Compromises were made during the Constitutional Convention and ratification debates, and these compromises have frequently been the source of conflict in U.S. politics over the proper balance between individual freedom, social order, and equality of opportunity.

democracy

democracy

• a government under the direct or representative rule of the people of its jurisdiction

republic

• a form of government in which the people elect, or choose, their leaders

republicanism

• theory that emphasizes participation of citizens for the common good of the community 

  • stresses public rights and obligations of the people in support of the community 

• is more rooted in the political + civic ideas of classical antiquity

  • european enlightenment put forward republican ideas 

• needs of the community considered superior to the claims of the individual

liberalism

• based on the constitutionally guaranteed rights of individuals being the primary concern 

• personal/individual > public/community

popular sovereignty

• people are the source of government power 

natural rights

• Initial list: life, liberty, property

  • changed after the passing of the declaration of independence

• God given rights that the government can’t take away

• Revolutionary for the time, because people believed that natural rights were given by the government

limited government

• the government is limited in what it can do

• In order to not violate rights, they have limited power

social contract theory

• An implicit agreement among the people in a society to give up some freedoms in order to maintain social order

  • Purpose of the government is to make & enforce rules that protect the peoples rights

  • Government cannot improperly violate the peoples rights in the name of social order

  • If the government does violate rights, the people have the right to dissolve the government

state of nature

• Ideal of what what humans look/interact like in a state of nature (before the government)

• Everyone is equally free, all born equal, all born free, all born with certain natural rights

John Locke

• person behind most of the philosophy of the revolution war

• What does a just government look like?

• limited government

• natural rights

• popular sovereignty

• social contract

• state of nature

• labor theory of property

majority

• when comparing two options (such as bills or candidates), the option preferred by more than half of the voters should win.

supermajority

• a specified proportion of votes in excess of a simple majority, as required by a legislature or other body to pass certain types of measure.

Articles of Confederation

• strengths 

  • treaty of Paris (1783)

  • Northwest ordinance/land ordinance

  • kept the states together

  • federal aid to education (NW Ordinance)

• Weakness 

  • no separate executive

  • one vote per state

  • no federal courts

  • 9 states required to pass legislation (2/3)

  • 13 states required to amend

  • no power to tax

  • couldn’t draft troops

  • no standard national currency (States had their own as well)

  • inability to repay french loans

  • British retention of forts in the northwest

  • no regulation of interstate commerce

  • Spain’s denial of right of deposit at New Orleans

  • boundary disputes between states

  • little trade with Britain

  • members often failed to attend congress

  • inability to protect settlers from Indian attacks

  • Barbary pirates raided shipping

  • States taxed each other’s goods

• Structure 

  • 9 states required to pass legislation (⅔)

  • 13 states required to amend

  • One vote per state

  • No federal courts

  • No separate executive

  • No power to tax 

  • No standard national currency (sts had own as well)

Shays Rebellion

• under the AOC —> the country was in debt and the national government had no way to raise money to repay this debt

  • the responsibility fell to the states who passed new taxes to try and raise money to meet these obligations

• A group of farmers and American Revolution war veterans in Massachusetts became increasingly angry at their state government

  • faced higher taxes they couldn’t pay, loss of property, and even the possibility of debtor’s prison

  • this group under shay’s leadership called for an end to the heavy burdens as well as demanding debt relief

  • 1787 —> the rebellion march into an armory and the government’s militia put down the rebellion

• caused the founding fathers to realize that a stronger government was needed

  • led to the adoption of the Constitution

Connecticut Compromise/Great Compromise

• proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the senate  

• Was a compromise between: small states and large states 

• Compromised by: (bicameral legislature 2 houses) 

  • Senate → equal number of senators (2 per state) 

    • Chosen by state legislatures

  • Changed by the 17th amendment → 1913 

    • Elected by popular vote

• House of Representatives → based on population

  •  Popular vote

three-fifths compromise

• ⅗ slaves were counted to determine a state’s total population for legislative representation 

• Also applied to taxation 

• States were taxed on the number of population 

• Was a compromise between: the non-slave and slave states

Slave Trade compromise

• it prohibited regulation changes to the slave trade for 20 years and it protected the interests of slave owners 

  • Congress can’t touch the international slave trade for 20 years 

  • But after 20 years, the international slave trade is abolished   

• Was a compromise between: north and southern states

Electoral College

• Was a compromise between: the election of the president by a vote in congress and the election of the president by a popular vote of the qualified citizens 

• Depending on how many electoral votes are in each state that determines the next president of the U.S. 

• Compromised by: the founding fathers

Amendment Process

• propose 

  • ⅔ of both houses of congress 

  • ⅔ of states calls on congress to call for a national convention 

• ratify - formally approve (puts in effect) 

  • ¾ state legislatures 

  • ¾ state conventions

separation of powers

• the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another.

checks and balances

• HoR → impeach the president (majority) 

• Senate → holds the impeachment trial (⅔) 

• HoR → chooses the president if no candidate receives a majority in the electoral college 

  • voting by delegation 

  • each of the states get one vote and vote for one person

    • the person with the majority will be president (ballot for each state → ⅔ majority) 

• senate → chooses the VP if no candidate receives a majority in the electoral college

• president vetoes a bill → vetoed bill can be overridden by congress (can pass the act by ⅔ vote in both the house and senate) 

• senate → must approve appointments to head departments of the executive branch and ambassadors (majority) 

• senate → approves treaties (⅔) 

• congress → approves the relationship of the VP if the person resigns (majority in the house and senate) 

• congress → power to declare war (majority) 

• congress → has the power to tax and appropriate funds (majority) 

• president → must deliver a state of the union address to congress

Impeachment

• a charge of misconduct made against the holder of public office 

compare the House and Senate

• Senate 

  • trial of impeachment charges ⅔

  • override a presidential veto ⅔ 

  • confirming deputy heads, ambassadors, and federal judges (include SCOTUS) majority 

  • approve treaties ⅔ 

    • declare war maj. 

    • tax maj. 

    • appropriate funds maj. 

• House of Representives 

  • impeach - bring charges majority 

  • confirming deputy heads, ambassadors, and federal judges (include SCOTUS) majority 

  • approve treaties ⅔ 

    • declare war maj. 

    • tax maj. 

    • appropriate funds maj.

federalism

• division of power between the national government and the state government 

factions

• a party or group (as within a government) that is often contentious or self-seeking

judicial review

• can declare a law unconstitutional then the law isn’t valid (null and void) 

Marbury v. Madison

• established for the first time that federal courts had the power to overturn an act of Congress on the ground that it violated the U.S. Constitution.

enumerated powers

• the powers granted to the Federal government, and specifically Congress

• tax, borrow money, regulate interstate commerce, naturalization, coin money, establish lower courts, declare war, raise army and navy

implied powers

• powers Congress exercises that the Constitution does not explicitly define, but are necessary and proper to execute the powers.

elastic clause/necessary and proper clause

• congress 

• pass laws to carry out, execute, enumerated powers

supremacy clause

• it makes the Constitution and all laws on treaties approved by Congress in exercising its enumerated powers the supreme law of the land

commerce clause

• gives Congress broad power to regulate interstate commerce and restricts states from impairing interstate commerce. 

take care clause

• president must take care that the laws are faithfully executed 

Federalist Papers

• a collection of essays written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton in 1788. The essays urged the ratification of the United States Constitution, which had been debated and drafted at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787

arguments of Federalists and Anti-federalists

• Federalists → Supported the new Constitution.

• antifederalists → Opposed the new Constitution.

• Antifederalists →  Believed that the Constitution gave too much power to the central government.

• Antifederalists →  The nation was too large to adequately represent the interests of the people in a distant central government.

•  Federalists → A large republic is better because yes, many factions will inevitably develop, but in a large republic there are enough of them that they will check the power of each other.

• federalist → The states are represented in the Senate (originally, state legislators selected the Senators (from that state), so they shouldn’t fear the central government.

• antifederalists →  This new government doesn’t protect individual liberties.

• antifederalist →  The new government won’t represent the interests of small states and more rural areas.

• federalists → Each branch of the central government can check the power of the other two branches ensuring that no one branch will become too powerful.

• anti federalists →  States are better able to represent the people because they are smaller and closer to the people.

• federalist →  The people are directly represented in the House of Representatives.

• anti federalists →  The Supremacy Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause make the central government far too powerful over the states and will render the states powerless.

• anti federalists →  The President and the Executive branch generally are given far too much power and it would be easy to fall into despotism. How is this President any different from the king?

• Federalists →A strong executive is needed to carry out the laws of the legislative branch.

• antifederalists →  There is no effective limit on Congress’ power to tax.

• antifederalists →  If the federal government has the power to tax, then states will be unable to raise much of their own revenue from taxation. Citizens only have so many resources.

• federalists →  The Constitution doesn’t give the federal government the power to control the press, for instance, so why do we need to specifically protect a right that Congress doesn’t have any power over? The same can be said for other individual liberties. A Bill of Rights is not needed and could actually lead some to argue that Congress has more powers than those enumerated (listed) in Article I of the Constitution.

• federalists →  A stronger national government is necessary to facilitate interstate trade, manage foreign affairs, and provide for a national defense. But the national government can’t become too powerful because the powers of Congress are specifically limited to those enumerated (listed) in Article I of the Constitution.

• antifederalists →  The national government will overtake the state governments.

• federalists →  The President is elected by a college of electors, it is not a hereditary title and in no way resembles a monarchy.

Bill of Rights

• 1st amendment 

  • Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition

• 10th amendment 

  • The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Declaration of Independence

• to explain the colonists' right to revolution

 Constitution of the U.S.

• the fundamental law of the U.S. federal system of government and a landmark document of the Western world.

Articles of Confederation

• the original constitution of the US, ratified in 1781, which was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789.