The American Revolution

period of political change that took place between 1765 and 1783

what was the revolt?

• no taxation without representation

• the king said no, you’ll never be british people and you still get taxed

• there was an enlightenment

• many people took up an arms revolt

• declaring independence

democracy

• a system of government

how did British east India company play a role in the American revolution?

• a private corporation whose business was colonialism

• mostly in India

• involved in trade of all sorts of things i.e slaves, tobacco

• had enormous power

• intertwined with the government

• involved with the shipping of tea

• enforced monopolies

• required that tea were bought by this company and no one else

• stamp act

• the government protecting a private company who was also putting money in the government

• private companiesss

what were the main weaknesses of the articles of confederation?

• the u.s was not a country yet

• it was 13 states forming an alliance

• states could / federal goc couldnt

  • tax

  • enforce federal laws

  • regulate trade between the states

• all states have one vote in the continental congress

• all 13 states

• no power to tax

• no national executive unicameral legislature

• no judicial / national court

• no checks and balances!

shays rebellion

• started in 1786

• hard taxes to pay off the states war debt made massachusettes farmers rebel

• led my daniel shays

• created panic

• this made many people feel that a strong government was needed to control such violent acts

• the rebellion exposed the definite need for a constitutional convention

• …

natural rights

• rights that are defined in the declaration of independence as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” the founders believed that upholding these rights should be the governments central purpose

popular sovereignty

• the idea that government gains its legitimacy through regular elections in which the people living under that government participate to elect their leaders

what is a constitution

• a constitution lays out the fundamental principles of a government, as well as the structures and procedures by which the government operated to fulfill those principles

separation of powers\

• established three co-equal branches of the national government

• “horizontal“

federalism

• power is divided between the national and state government

• “vertical“

what was the great compromise?

• it ultimately something that would get us through the next 4 years

• future generations would fix it

• debate began with the new jersey plan (favored one state, one vote) vs virginia plan (favored representation based on population)

• the compromised established 2 chambers

  • an upper chamber with equal representation (senate)

  • a lower chamber represented by population (house)

• it diluted some power of larger states and checked the democratic power of the masses

what was the 3/5 compromise trying to resolve? how did it attempt to do so?

• the states decision during the constitutional convention to count each enslaved person as 3/5 of a person in a states population for the purposes of determining the number of house members and the distribution of taxation

federalism

• the division of power across the local, state, and national government

  • the us power

the bill of rights- the first 10 amendments

• freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, petition

• right to bear arms

• quartering of soldiers

• arrests and searches

• rights of persons accused of crimes

• the only way they would allow the…

living constitution vs originalism

• originalism- sometimes referred to as strict construction

• judges would

• living constitution- activism

  • judges should discover the general principles underlying the constitution and its sometimes vague language, amplify those principles on the basis of some consisten mral or economic policy and apply them to cases

  • judges should interpret constitution to reflect current conditions and values

a living constitution?

• 1787 language- arcane and vague

• historical context

yayyy constitution…?

• emphasis on states’ power over national unity

• enabled slavery to continue

• undemocratic structures

• senate