Lecture 1.2 - Constitutional Foundations II
The Slave Trade Question
•Main issue of contention
Lurther Martin proposes a ban on importing slaves
But delegates from SC slash this idea as non-negotiable
•Why could they not ban slavery outright?
The Slavery Debate: George Mason says slaveholders “bring the judgement of heaven upon a country.”
Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut says slaves should be freed
Charles Pinckney put an end to the debate. “No way will the Constitution get ratified in states like SC if it bans the slave trade”
•The 1808 Compromise
–When was the slave trade actually banned?
=Congress cannot ban slavery for at least 20 years (until 1808)
Note: slavery was not banned until almost a century after this compromise was made and it took a Civil War for it to be achieved
-Tension between ideals espoused by founders and the continuation of slavery
-Illustrates the tension over “compromising” when the issue is a clear moral right and wrong.
The Bill of Rights
•Main issue of contention
Q. Should a bill of rights be included in the Constitution? or is it, as Madison suggests, unnecessary and dangerous?
•What did Federalists think?
–What did they mean by...
∗Unnecessary: Consittuiton gave government limited power. It is basically a Bill of Rights
∗Dangerous: Impossible to write a list of the complete range of rights. People might assume rights not a BoR are not rights.
•What did Anti-Federalists think?
They are wary of giving the government too much power but they are overruled and no Bill of Rights is included.
•Who won…
Anti-Federalists win in the end will the Bill of Rights later added as the first 10 Amendments.
–At the Convention?
Madison wanted the Bill of Rights to be included throughout the original constitution but was voted down as it was perceived as rewriting the Constitution
Madison’s Original Bill of Rights Included 17 Amendments
-5 did not make it past Congress including;
-No state shall infringe the right of trial by jury in criminal cases, nor the rights of conscience, nor the freedom of speech, or the press.
-The powers delegated by the constitution to the government of the United States, shall be exercised as therein appropriated, so that the legislative shall never exercise the powers vested in the executive or judicial; nor the executive the power vested in the legislative or judicial; nor the judicial the powers vested in the legislative or executive.
-2 made it past Congress but did not receive enough support from the States to be ratified
-Original first Amendment: a formula for revisiting the size
Gouverneur Morris Cleans Up the Document
Change the preamble from “We the people of the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts…” to “We the people of the United States”
Signing 4 Pages: Setting Up How U.S. Government Works
–In the end?
-Franklin calls it imperfect but “so near to perfection”
-Federalists and Anti-Federalists write papers to convince public to support it an States to ratify it
-Bill of Rights are added as the first 10 Amendments
-17 further Amendments
Required Ratification in all 13 States Legislatures
-Federalist Paper: published anonymously as part of a campaign for ratification
-Written by John Jay, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton
-Need to think of as “propaganda/ campaign” papers with mix of genuine ideas/ thoughts and persuasion/ campaigning
-Anti-federalists published some of their own papers
-Took adding a Bill of Rights (first 10 Amendments) for it to get through every State
-BoR not subject to same debate/ careful consideration as the initial document
-Federalists thought unnecessary so did not pay much attention
-Once ratified, hard work of putting into practice and also adding Amendment as necessary.
Amending The Constitution
Framers knew the document would need to be changed/ amended as the country grew
Saw it as a living document
Explicitly included rules on how to amend the Constitution
Rules for Amendments: 4 Routes
•What two levels do Constitutional Amendments have to go through in order to be ratified?
–1. First Level: National Level Options
∗What two options do we have at this level? Which option has never been used?
·1. Pass in House and Senate with two-thirds vote
-EVERY amendment has been with this method
·2. Pass in a national convention called by Congress in response to petitions by two-thirds of the States
-This has never happened
– 2. Second Level: State Level Options
∗What two options do we have at this level? Which option has only been used once?
·1. Acceptance by majority vote in legislatures of three-fourths of the states (38 states)
-All but 1 amendment has used this option
·2. State conventions called in three-fourths of the states.
-Used to repeal prohibition (21st Amendment)
•How many amendments have been passed in Congress and sent to the States to ratify? How many have actually passed to become official Amendments?
The 27 Amendments
-33 Amendments have been proposed/ passed in Congress and sent to States for ratification but just 27 have passed.
-1-10 are the Bill of Rights and we ratified at the same time as the Constitution
-11th state sovereign immunity
-12th VP and President elected at same time (VP not election runner up)
-13th-15th- Slavery/ Reconstruction amendments (abolish slavery, right to vote, citizenship/ equal protection) passed 1865-1870
-16th income tax
-17th direct election of US Senators by popular vote (1913)
-18th Prohibition (1919)
-19th women’s suffrage (1919)
-20th changes date’s of government term start date and says VP will take over if president-elect role because vacant
-21st repeals 18th Amendments (1933)
Rejected Amendments: The 6 That Passed Congress
House Size (1978)- no more than 1 Representative for every 50,000 citizens
Gis from Abroad (1810)- any citizen that accepted a title of nobility or honor from a foreign power would lose citizenship and not be eligible for office
Persons Held to Labor or Service (1861)- banning any Amendment that would give Congress power to abolish slavery or interfere within any State’s laws about persons held to labor or service
Child Labor (1924)- give Congress power to regulate and limit labor of children under 18
Equal Rights Amendment (1972)- gender equality (needed 38 states but only 25 signed in time limit)
DC Statehood (1978)- 16 States ratified
Rejected Amendments (Did Not Pass Congress)
-Dueling ban on anyone holding federal office (1838) proposed after Rep Graves killed Rep Cilley in a duel
-Christian Amendment to add acknowledgement of the Christian God to the Preamble (proposed 4 more times including in 1954)
-Rep Miller proposed renaming the U.S. to the United States of Earth and wanted to abolish the Army and Navy in 1893
-Maximum wage amendment (no more than 1 million dollars) in 1933
-Repeal of 22nd Amendment (term limits)
-Federal Marriage Amendment banning same-sex marriage (2003, 2004, 2005/06 and 2008)
-Campaign finance reform
-Prohibit President being able to pardon himself (2017/2018)
-Prohibit barriers to voting (identity burden), prohibit foreign interference in elections, and reduce gerrymandering, election day public holiday etc.
–What do we call the First 10 Amendments?
The Bill of Rights