Foundational Documents

Date: 17/05/2025

Topic: AP US Government - Foundational Documents

Preamble, List of Grievances, Resolution for Independence
Thomas Jefferson
Purpose: Rally the troops, declare independence, find allies
Preamble starts with justification for the break up
"We hold these truths... life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" - Natural Rights (John Locke)
"Governments...[derive] their just powers from the consent of the governed" - Popular Sovereignty/Social Contract (Rousseau)
"Whenever the government becomes destructive... it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it" - (AKA flush the turd)

James Madison answers: How will the new Constitution protect the liberty of citizens against the tyranny of the majority?

Factions: A group of people who want to dominate government to impose their own ideas on society, Madison says they're a horrible threat to liberty
Solutions: Either remove the causes or control the effects
- Remove the causes: Terrible option because it destroys liberty... as long as multiple people exist, there will be multiple opinions
- Control the effects via a Republican Government: Allows representation for all factions, as more people come to America, more factions form, leading to two consequences: 1, each faction's power is diluted and 2, everyone has to compromise due to competition

Anti-federalist papers... answer the question: Would a confederated government be the best for the United States or not?

Confederated Government: States had all the power, very weak federal government (Like the AoC)
Necessary and Proper Clause + Supremacy Clause: Brutus is worried that a strong central government would do whatever they wanted under the Necessary and Proper Clause and then use the Supremacy to force the states to do their bidding, leading to state governments shriveling up and dying
Any government can only collect a small amount of taxes, because anything beyond that will lead to revolt. So if the fed gov is collecting taxes, then how will the states collect taxes without rebellion? And without taxes, the state governments will, again, shrivel up and die.
- Same thing with the idea that federal courts trump state courts
Montesquieu said "It is natural to a republic to have only a small territory, otherwise it cannot long subsist" because there representatives can't represent EVERYONE with the sheer amount of people in the country (and more coming in). The people wouldn't even know how the rulers or the government work.

Very first US Constitution, "Confederation" = Several powers unite to form a central power

State > fed gov, each state gets one vote in Congress (NH = VA), no national army, but every state must always keep up a well regulated militia. Congress can't do any unless 9 states agree (basically impossible), no amendments without a unanimous decision

AoC was weak because fed gov had no power --> Const. Conv. --> The Constitution
Republican gov as opposed to the confederacy of the AoC
Preamble + Seven Articles
Article I: Form and powers of Congress: The most important branch b/c it represented the people, bicameral legislature (Senate/HoR), Enumerated powers (AKA Congress' powers are specifically stated), Necessary and Proper Clause
Article II: Electoral College, executive powers (Pres can't declare war, but does control the army), president enforces the laws (final step in the lawmaking process)
Article III: Supreme Court + Inferior courts where needed, defines court's jurisdiction (When the state is a party, SC has original jurisdiction, meaning it can hear the case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, where SC cannot hear a case for the first time, only appeals from the lower courts
Legislative branch (Congress) makes the laws, executive branch (president) enforces the laws, judicial branch (SC) interprets the laws (judicial review, Marbury v Madison)
Article IV: Fed gov's relationship to the states + relationships among the states
Article V: Process to add amendments (two part process: proposal (either 2/3 of both Houses of Congress can propose it or 2/3 of state legislatures can propose it) + ratification (3/4 of states must agree)
Article VI: Supremacy Clause (fed laws are the supreme law of the land... fed > state)
Anti-feds were scared --> BoR

James Madison
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary" AKA Madison hates humans because we suck
- Government protects the liberty of the people but also must not have enough power to allow for a dictator --> Sep of power + Checks and Balances INTERNALLY
Bicameral legislature to make sure Congress doesn't have too much power
Power also divided with Federalism between Fed and State governments
Double Security
More factions = separation of powers because they're all competing
Everyone values themselves over everyone else, so everyone must compete against each other to avoid tyranny

Antifeds want multiple presidents so none of them get power hungry

Hamilton says that's stupid

"Energy is a leading character in the definition of goof government" whereas a "feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government"
- Basically the ability to carry out the demands of the office
With a single executive, the people know exactly who to blame if the executive does something wrong (as opposed to multiple presidents, where one can hide behind the others)

Argument: How/how long judges are appointed + what kind of power they have

Appointed by pres (Article III), lifetime appointments (given good behavior)
- This prevents them from being pressured by politics
- Agreeing with Madison (from Federalist 51) that each branch must be as independent as possible
- It's also too much for someone to learn every x years

Judicial Review

Antifeds said that would make the judicial branch more power than the legislative branch
BUT that's not true because if legislature passes an unconstitutional law, it's already null anyways because no one should follow that

MLK Jr. after getting arrested for protesting in Birmingham

Social Movements: Civil Rights Movement (nonviolent action because everyone's ignoring black right under Due Process clause of 14th amendment)

Gurl we've been planning this forever and training in case you people are violent
"Waiting" can't be a reality because no one's going to give anyone any freedom until it's demanded and seized
White moderate thing - how can you value order over justice
Being an extremist is good
Oh btw it's your fault this is so long because you threw me in jail and now I'm bored