1.2 The Founding of the republic and Constitutional Design

Week 1 – Power, Democracy, and the American Founding / Wednesday (4/1): The Founding of the republic and Constitutional Design / Lecture

Originalism

a theory of legal interpretation holding that the U.S. Constitution should be applied based on its fixed, objective meaning at the time of its adoption.

What do we need to know about the Framers and Founding?

• The framers built a world that did not include everyone 

• The framers would not even be able to imagine the society that we are living in rn 

French & Indian War (1754-1763)

The North American theater of the Seven Years’ War between France and England. The American colonialists sought protection from French and indigenous armies raiding from Canada. Britain sent Red Coats to protect the colonies.

British Taxation in the 1770s

To pay for the war (particularly the American deployments), Parliament levied heavy taxes on the American colonies: The Sugar Act of 1764, The Stamp Act of 1765; The Tea Act of 1773.

The Sugar Act of 1764

A British law that taxed sugar and molasses imported into the American colonies. It also aimed to stop smuggling and raise revenue from the colonies after the French and Indian War.

The Stamp Act of 1765

A law that required colonists to pay a tax on printed materials (like newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards) by placing an official stamp on them. It was the first direct tax on the colonies.

The Tea Act of 1773

A law that allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies at a lower price, but still taxed. It was meant to help the company financially, but colonists saw it as Britain forcing them to accept taxation, leading to protests like the Boston Tea Party.

Boston Massacre (1770)

British colonists (led by Crispus Attucks, an Anglo-African, charged a line of Red Coats and were killed. John Adams, the second president of the United States, was hired to defend the soldiers.

The Declaration of Independence Philosophical roots

Jefferson drew on John Locke and Enlightenment thought — government derives just powers from the consent of the governed.

consent of the governed

consent of the governed.

The Declaration of Independence Core claims

Articulates universal rights, lists colonial grievances, and justifies revolution against tyranny.

The Declaration of Independence Core contradiction

The Declaration proclaimed equality in a society structured by slavery and political exclusion.

The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson

A 33-year-old, Virginia slaver was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. The document was unanimously ratified by the Philadelphia Convention on July 4, 1776.

The Battle of Yorktown (1781)

The American colonials with major support from the French Army and Navy withstand a one-month siege at Yorktown, Virginia and the British withdraw effectively ending the war.

James Armistead Lafayette

A Virginia slave, who served under the command of General Lafayette, provided the critical intelligence to the colonials that allowed them to fortify Yorktown for the British siege. He was later granted freedom by the Virginia legislature for his efforts during the war.

The Articles of Confederation (1781)

Created a weak national government with strong states and no effective taxation power or military capabilities — reflecting fear of centralized authority

Charles Beard (1874-1948)

Developed the “economic interpretation of the Founding.”

• This was one of the most widely influential theses of American history in the early 20th Century.

Economic interpretation of the Founding

This was one of the most widely influential theses of American history in the early 20th Century.

The economic interpretation held that the social and economic status of the framers led them to privilege their property rights over the democratic rights of the masses in the Constitution.

Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick (1960)

Argued that Beard was wrong; the framers were motivated by a desire to resolve collective action problems and preserve the republic;

Shays’ Rebellion (1786)

The financial crises that led to the rebellion cemented the national elite’s desire to promote reforms.

Three Compromise Plans

• Virginia Plan:

  • States would be represented in the Congress based on population.

• New Jersey Plan:

  • States would have an equal number of representatives in Congress.

• Connecticut Compromise:

  • A bicameral legislature with population determining representation in the lower house and equal seats in the upper house.

Constitutional Convention (Philadelphia, 1787)

•  Drafts the New Constitution.

• 11 states ratify the document by June 1788: Delaware is the first state to ratify.

The final document is the product of intense debates over ratification that took place between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.

3 Branches of Federal Government

Legislative, Executive and Judicial.

Bill of Rights

First 10 Amendments to the Constitution; protect civil liberties and the prerogatives of the states. (The primary of legacy of Patrick Henry and the Anti- Federalists).

Federalism

A type of government that divides sovereignty between at least two different levels.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents to the U.S. Constitution who argued that power should reside in the hands of the original 13 states.

The Tenth 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.

The Bill of Rights

The First 10 Amendments to the Constitution are widely regarded to be protections of personal liberty demanded by the Anti-Federalists.

Three-Fifths Compromise

The Framers agreed to protect slavery in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution with the Three-Fifths Compromise: “three fifths all other persons” will be counted in the apportionment of the United States.

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney

A South Carolina delegate to the 1787 Convention won the day for slavers by threatening to walk away from the negotiations if the slave trade was not protected in the Constitution.

Fugitive Slave Clause

Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3: Is a Fugitive Slave Clause that states “No person held to Service or Labour in one State…escaping to another, shall…be discharged…but shall be delivered up.”