ap boling

political power

power over others, getting people to do what you want

founding fathers motives and misconceptions

“they were just old rich white guys who wanted to skip out on taxes” X

they prioritized liberty for people and government, but were elitist

unalienable rights

John Locke, rights given by God and nature, not the king

Articles of Confederation

each state was sovereign, all broke, no army, all different, no commerce regulation - didn’t work

Shay’s Rebellion

government couldn’t stop militia, proved how weak Articles were

framers were afraid of

“unpropertied majority” gaining power, i.e. Shay’s Rebellion

10th amendment

“reserved powers” for states, “concurrent powers” for states AND government

reserved powers

states powers outlined in the 10th amendment

concurrent powers

powers shared by state and government as outlined in the 10th amendment

federalist goal

implement the constitution, strong federal government

antifederalist goal

anti-constitution, strong state government

Federalist Papers

papers to argue for the case of the federal government

Federalist Papers on factions

Factions would not be a problem because in a small setting, one faction would rule over all, and in a large setting, too many factions would be competing and therefore would not rule (disproved obviously)

direct democracy

everyone votes on everything - didn’t work because communication was slow and there were too many states

representative democracy

people vote for other people to represent them - worked better

bicameral

Senate(equal interest of the states) House(interest of the general population)

compromise over slavery

Constitution “ended” slave trade in 1808, made existing slaves more valuable (resolved in the Civil War)

powers of Congress

taxes

borrowing

regulation of commerce

courts

war

necessary and proper clause

powers of the President

commander in chief

pardons

treaties and appointments (only w 2/3 vote from Senate)

powers of the Judiciary

jurisdiction of courts

review and change decisions made by lower courts

federal crimes tried by jury (except impeachment)

foreign disagreements

original case

case heard for the first time

appellate case

has been tried at a lower court

checks and balances, congress to president

refuse to pass bill

pass law over veto

impeach

refuse to approve appointment

refuse to ratify treaty

checks and balances, congress to courts

change number and jurisdiction of lower courts

impeach judge from office

refuse to appoint person nominated as judge

checks and balances, president to congress

veto bill

checks and balances, president to courts

nominating judges

checks and balances, courts to congress

declare law unconstitutional

checks and balances, courts to president

declaring his or his subordinates’ actions unconstitutional

or unauthorized by law

judicial review

power to declare laws unconstitutional

framer’s view of powers reserved to the states

surprised they would be willing to give up most of their rights