AP Gov. Required Foundational Documents

Declaration of Independence

Natural rights – people are born with them; government to protect them, Popular sovereignty – people = source of power; abolish unjust gov’t., Social contract

Articles of Confederation

States were sovereign, Each state had 1 vote, Congress couldn’t collect taxes or regulate interstate commerce, No executive or judicial branches, States basically did what they wanted

Constitution

Separation of powers, Checks and balances, Federalism, Republican form of government, Limited government, Bill of Rights and amendments

Federalist #10

Madison says factions are the biggest threat facing republic, Factions are groups that don’t want what’s best for everyone, Factions are inevitable because of liberty – can’t get rid of them without taking away liberty, you can control negative effects of factions but not through democracy – that would lead to tyranny of majority, Rather, best solution to control effects is a large republic

Brutus #1

Advocates for small republic, Warns that if you give up power, you will never get it back, Elastic clause is fearful because it gives the government absolute power, Power to tax leads to tyrannical government, Federal government would destroy the states

Federalist #51

Since men aren’t angels, there is a need for government to limit the ambition of men, However, need for limited government because they can become corrupt; Separation of powers – divide power amongst the 3 branches in order to counteract ambition; Checks and balances – each branch will guard its own power and keep the other branches in check; Congress has the most power of the 3 hence it’s divided into 2 houses so they can check each other’s powers

Federalist #70

Hamilton argues for unitary executive; Executive must be strong and energetic; Congress needs to be slow to act while executive needs to act fast and one person can act faster than group

Federalist #78

Judiciary is the least dangerous branch because they can’t make laws, declare war or even enforce their own rulings; Life terms for judges so they are not bound to political/outside pressure; Power of judicial review

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Demand that the ideals of the DoI and Constitution (14th amendment) finally applied to all; List of grievances (similar to DoI); Freedom has never been given, only get when demanded; Advocates for civil disobedience