Mrs. Hayes's Unit 1 Constitution Study Guide

What were the 4 main enlightenment thinkers that influenced our constitution?

1. Hobbes 2. Locke 3. Montesquieu 4. Rousseau

How many Articles are in the Articles of Confederation?

13

Hobbes

wrote The Leviathan and believed that people are always in a state of war and therefore need a strong absolute ruler/sovereign to keep them under control

Locke

Wrote the Second Treatise of Civil Government and believed that people are born with unalienable rights and only gave up some of their natural rights to be protected in a community (Natural Law and Social Contract Theory)

Rousseau

Wrote The Social Contract and believes in popular sovereignty

Popular Sovereignty

the people are the ultimate ruling authority

Montesquieu

wrote The Spirit of the Laws and argued for a limited government with separation of powers and checks and balances

What English documents influenced our constitution?

1. Magna Carta 2. Petition of Right 3. English Bill of Rights

Republicanism

1. citizens are entitled to life, liberty, and property 2. unalienable rights 3. consent of the governed 4. Citizens elect leaders for a limited period of time 5. Leaders make and execute laws in the public interest

Types of colonies

1. Royal 2. Proprietary 3. Charter

Royal Colony

colonies that are ruled by the crown; all colonies ended up here

Proprietary Colony

colony run by an individual or group because they were given land to supervise/govern in return for political favors

Charter Colony

colony established by a group of settlers who had been given a formal document allowing them to settle

What acts did GB pass to pay for their debt from the French and Indian war?

1. Sugar Act (1764) 2. Stamp Act (1765) 3. Quartering Act (1765) 4. Townshend Acts (1767) 5. The Tea Act (1773) 6. Coercive Acts (1774)

Sugar Act (1764)

taxed sugar, wine, coffee, and other common imports

Stamp Act (1765)

required all paper items bought and sold in the colonies to carry a stamp from the crown

Quartering Act (1765)

required all colonists to provide housing for British troops, even in their own homes

Townshend Acts (1767)

further taxed imports, including tea

The Tea Act (1773)

granted a monopoly to the East India Company to sell tea to the colonists

Coercive Acts (1774)

aka the "Intolerable Acts"; set a blockade of the Boston Harbor cutting off supplies until restitution was made for the tea and added another provision to the Quartering act, leading to 4000 additional troops as a show of force

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

Samuel Adams urged the colonies to meet with 9/13 meeting in NYC; first official meeting and step towards creating the USA

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Organizations that led protests, helped American soldiers, instated a boycott, and generally resisted the British.

What did the Sons and Daughters of Liberty do after the Townshend Acts?

called for a boycott of tea

Boston Massacre (1770)

massacre that occurred because a disgruntled mob of colonists were throwing and taunting British Soldiers in from of the Boston Customs House, leading to them opening fire and killing 5 colonists

Crispus Attucks

An African American man and the first to die in the unrest preceding the revolution

Boston Tea Party (1773)

group of colonists in costumes dumped tea into the Boston Harbor at night as a protest to the Tea Act

First Continental Congress

September 1774, delegates from twelve colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts

What was drafted at the first continental congress?

The Declaration of Rights and Resolves

Declaration of Rights and Resolves

called for colonial rights of petition and assembly, trial b peers, freedom from a standing army, and the selection of representative councils to levy taxes

What was the King's response to the Declaration of Rights and Resolves?

no

Why did the Congress have to meet again in the Spring of 1775?

because the King said no

What happened before the next meeting could occur?

Lexington and Concord

Lexington and Concord

first battles of the Revolutionary War

How many people died at Lexington and Concord?

8 minutemen

Minutemen

citizen soldiers who could be ready to fight at a minute's notice

How many troops did the King send to Boston after Lexington and Concord?

16,000

Second Continental Congress

Convened in May 1775 and where they drafted and adopted the Olive Branch Petition

How did the King react to the Olive Branch Petition (7/5/1775)

he rejected it and sent 20,000 more troops to the states while also branding all attendants of the Congress as traitors to the king and subject to death

Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Pamphlet published in 1776 that persuaded American Colonists to support independence.

The Call for independence

June 1776: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia rose in Congress and moved that the colonies should move towards Independence through a 3-part resolution

The Committee of Five

Five men appointed to draft a more formal resolution of independence: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman

When did Congress begin debating on the Declaration of Independence?

July 1

When was the Declaration of Independence approved?

July 4

What did the Declaration of Independence provide?

moral and legal justification for the rebellion

Participatory Democracy

a system of government where rank-and-file citizens rule themselves rather than electing representatives to govern on their behalf

Pluralist Democracy

citizen membership in groups is the key to political power; interest groups push for their ideas to be supported by political leaders

Elite Democracy

a model of democracy in which a small number of people, usually those who are wealthy and well-educated, influence political decision making

Articles of Confederation

laid the groundwork for the first form of gov in the USA

When was the Articles of Confederation ratified?

1777

What did each state do under the Articles of Confederation?

1. Write their own constitutions 2. Individual freedoms 3. Popular sovereignty 4. Branches of gov used 5. Addressed the injustices under British rule

What could the National Gov do under the Articles?

1. Declare war 2. Make alliances/treaties 3. Work with Native American tribes 4. Acquire territory 5. Coin money 6. Establish postal service 7. Make new laws (9/13 states needed to ratify) 8. Amending the Articles of Confederation (13/13 needed)

What did the Articles not allow?

1. levying taxes to raise money 2. regulating commerce between states/countries 3. establishing national currency 4. drafting soldiers into the military 5. judicial system 6. executive

How did these limitations make things difficult for the US?

1. couldn't pay their debt from the American revolution 2. couldn't adequately defend itself/pay its soldiers 3. pass legislation 4. nearly impossible to amend the Articles 5. mediate disputes between states

Shay's Rebellion (1786)

This MA conflict caused criticism of the Articles of Confederation; weak govt; increased calls for a Constitutional Convention to revise the Articles

Constitutional Convention

A meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution

Competing Plans at the Constitutional Convention

1. Virginia Plan 2. New jersey Plan

Virginia Plan

1. 3 branches of gov 2. 2 houses 3. proportional rep 4. supremacy of national gov 5. separation of powers

New Jersey plan

1. sovereignty of states 2. limited/defined powers of the national legislature 3. equal rep 4. no courts 5. strengthen the Articles of Confederation

Compromises

1. The Great Compromise 2. The Three-Fifths and Slave Trade Compromise 3. The Electoral College

Great Compromise

House membership would be apportioned by population with the Senate having 2 per state; federal supremacy

The Three-Fifths and Slave Trade Compromise

three of every 5 slaves would count towards total pop and rep for taxes and slavery couldn't be banned until 20 years had passed

What did the Electoral College compromise?

the debate over how the president should be chosen

What were some beliefs people held about how the president should be chosen?

1. Congress chooses the president 2. States choose the president 3. Popular election for the president

Electoral College

States would decide how the electors were chosen, each state would have the same number of electors as it had reps in Congress, and the electors would cast votes for a candidate based on how the popular vote was won

What did the Federalists want?

1. ratification 2. representative gov 3. 3-branches of gov

What did the Anti-federalists want?

1. Articles of Confederation 2. stronger state gov 3. weaker national gov 4. protecting individual liberties

How many Articles are in the Articles of Confederation?

7

Article 1

Legislative branch

Article 2

Executive branch

Article 3

Judicial Branch

Article 4

Article of the Constitution that regulates the states' powers, and their interaction with the National government.

Article 5

Amending the Constitution

Article 6

National Supremacy, supremacy clause, oaths of office

Article 7

Ratification

How can you propose to amend the constitution?

1. proposed idea receives a 2/3 majority vote in each house of Congress

2. proposed idea receives a 2/3 majority vote at a national convention from the state legislatures

How can you ratify the constitution?

1. receive 3/4 of the votes from the state legislatures

2. receives 3/4 of the votes of the state conventions

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments

1st Amendment

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

2nd Amendment

Right to bear arms

3rd Amendment

No quartering of soldiers

4th Amendment

Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures

5th Amendment

The Right to Remain Silent/Double Jeopardy, right to due process

6th Amendment

The right to a Speedy Trial by jury, representation by an attorney for an accused person

7th Amendment

Right to jury in civil trials.

8th Amendment

No cruel or unusual punishment or excessive bail

9th Amendment

Citizens entitled to rights not listed in the Constitution

10th Amendment

Powers Reserved to the States

Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

Legislate, Executive, and Judicial Branches