HY

AP Gov 2: Ratification of the U.S. Constitution

Competing interests

Virginia Plan

  • proposed by VA governor Edmund Randolph
  • three-branch system of government: judicial, executive, and legislative
    • the legislative branch would be bicameral: two-house
    • each branch had a clear separation of powers
  • the national government was more powerful than the states and had the power to overrule
  • James Madison created a comprehensive version of the plan that served as the main draft of the Constitution.

New Jersey Plan

  • proposed by William Patterson
  • national government with limited powers, states had more power
  • no national court system
  • equal representation of states in the legislature (one vote per state)

Great Compromise

  • there was a debate in representation:
    • smaller states wanted equal representation: equal number of votes for each state regardless of population
    • larger states wanted more representation: states with a larger population would receive more votes proportional to the population
  • proposed by Roger Sherman
  • created the House of Representatives and the Senate (Congress) that was a perfect compromise:
    • Senate satisfied smaller states’s want of equal representation (2 senators per state)
    • HOR satisfied larger state’s want of more representation (number of representatives proportional to population)

Three-Fifths Compromise

  • proposed by Roger Sherman
  • Slaves would could as three-fifths of a person when counting the population to determine the number of representatives states would get in the HOR

Electoral College

  • compromise on electing the president
  • some believed that Congress should elect the president, others believed the people should directly, and still others believed that the states should.
  • system where elected representatives from each state vote for President (same number as representatives in HOR)

Amendment process

  • The constitution could be amended in two steps
    • 2/3 vote of approval of House and Senate
    • ratification, vote of 3/4 of the state legislatures

Constitutional system

ratification

  • formal consent

bill of rights

  • a list of essential rights added to the Constitution
  • the addition of this document was necessary to convince Anti-Federalists to ratify the constitution
  • others initially opposed the document, arguing that the government could attempt to take away the powers that were not listed, or enumerated.

Today

USA Patriot Act

  • in response to the 9/11 attacks and how to prevent them in the future
  • sparked a debate on privacy and the extent to personal data that the government collected

No Child Left Behind Act

  • improvements in teaching methods and testing as well as penalties for underperforming schools
  • the set standards were too high and the law received backlash

Race to the Top

  • rather than penalties, incentives were offered to high-performing schools to encourage high schools to prepare students for college