Midterm Study Sheet

The American Revolution and Natural Rights

1. What did the phrase "all men created equal" mean, and what do Jefferson’s letters suggest?

Declaration context: The phrase signals universal moral equality and the idea that government exists to secure rights that are inalienable.
Practical scope: In practice, equality before the law and equal political claims were not fully extended to enslaved people, women, or certain other groups at the founding. Jefferson’s letters reveal nuance and inconsistency:
He defended universal rights in principle but also upheld slavery and limited rights in various contexts.
He argued for (and hoped for) gradual, morally progressive extensions of rights, and he emphasized consent of the governed as the source of political legitimacy.
Key takeaway: The founders linked equality to natural rights (life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness), but political equality and universal inclusion were contested and incomplete at the founding.

2. What previous thinkers influenced the Founders natural rights philosophy?

John Locke: natural rights to life, liberty, and property; social contract; government legitimacy from the consent of the governed.
Montesquieu: separation of powers, checks and balances as a safeguard against tyranny.
Blackstone and other common-law theorists: articulation of rights and the rule of law.
Rousseau (general will) and other Enlightenment thinkers: debate about sovereignty and liberty.

Overall significance: The Founders synthesized natural-rights theory with a republican framework, shaping a government designed to secure rights while limiting power.

Problems of the Article of Confederation

3. What were some of the practical problems of government in the Articles period?

No power to tax; no stable revenue for the national government.
No national executive to enforce laws or coordinate policy.
No national judiciary to settle disputes between states or enforce rights.
No power to regulate interstate commerce; states pursued conflicting trade laws and currencies.
Unanimous consent required to amend the Articles; weak central authority to respond to international crises.
Currency instability and disputes over money created economic disarray.
Overall consequence: A weak, ineffective national government that could not protect rights, secure the union, or provide for common defense.

The Constitution of 1787

4. What is significant about he Preamble’s phrase “We the People”?

Significance of the Preamble’s phrase, "We the People":
Legitimacy derived from the people, not from a monarch or a federation of states.
Emphasizes popular sovereignty and the idea that the Constitution is a compact among the people to form a more perfect union.
Sets aims: form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

5. What clauses of the Constitution were meant to serve as a limit on national power?

Enumerated powers: Article I, Section 8 lists the powers delegated to Congress (e.g., coin money, regulate commerce, declare war).
Separation of powers and checks and balances across the three branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial).
The Supremacy Clause (Article VI) and federalism constraints via division of powers between national and state governments.
Specific constitutional restrictions: prohibition of ex post facto laws, bills of attainder, habeas corpus protections, and other limits embedded in various articles.
Tenth Amendment (part of the Bill of Rights) later codified reserve powers to the states, reinforcing federalism as a check on central power.

Antifederalist objections

6. What were the two most common objections raised by the Antifederalists?

Absence of a Bill of Rights to explicitly protect individual liberties against federal overreach.
Fear that a powerful national government would become distant and potentially tyrannical, undermining state sovereignty and local control.

7. Brutus’s recites an objection drawn from Montesquieu about representation. Explain.

Brutus argued that a large republic would be unstable for effective representation; distant elites could misrepresent the will of the people, and the size of the country would make faithful representation difficult.
He borrowed Montesquieu’s concerns about representation in large republics and used them to challenge the Constitution’s design.

The Federalist Replies

8. What was the aim of the US Constitution of 1787 in regard to rights? Was a stronger or weaker Constitution intended? Limited or unlimited? What clauses achieve that?

Create a stronger, more effective national government that could protect rights by structural design (separation of powers, checks and balances) rather than by relying solely on a vague notion of rights.
The Constitution was intended to be a limited government with enumerated powers and built-in protections against the concentration of power; it was not intended to be an unlimited government.
A stronger national government than under the Articles, but still limited by the Constitution’s framework and the separation of powers.
Clause-based protections include: enumerated powers (Article I, Section 8), the Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18), the checks and balances between branches, the federal structure (federalism), and the eventual addition of a Bill of Rights to shore up individual protections.

9. What was the reply to Brutus’ objection Hamilton offers in Federalist 9?

A larger republic can better guard against factional tyranny by distributing power across a wider set of interests and elites, making it harder for any single faction to dominate.
A larger, more diverse set of representatives requires that qualified individuals govern, reducing the risk of the people being led by a single faction.

The Problem of Faction

10. What was the reply to Brutus objection Madison offers in Federalist 10? What view of representation is entailed by that reply?

Factions are inevitable in free societies, but a large republic can mitigate their dangers by spreading power across many interests and classes.
A wider sphere with diverse interests makes it harder for any one faction to dominate, and a system of representation refines public opinion through deliberation.
The Constitution’s structure (representative government, division of powers, checks and balances) helps to control the effects of factionalism.

The view of representation entailed by Madison’s reply:

A large republic that relies on representative government, where elected officials deliberate to form a more accurate public will.
Representation serves to refine and expand public opinion rather than merely mirror it.

11. Which branch of the Constitution did Madison claim was most dangerous in democracy in Federalist 51? How were officials to be stopped from abusing power?

Madison’s claim: The legislative branch is the most dangerous if unchecked, because it holds the purse and the power to make laws; it has the greatest potential to encroach on liberty if not constrained.
How officials are deterred from abusing power:
Checks and balances among the three branches (legislative, executive, judicial).
Ambition to counter ambition: each branch has constitutional means to resist the others (e.g., veto, appointment, impeachment, judicial review, life tenure for judges, independent judiciary, federalism).
Bicameralism (House and Senate) to filter and refine legislation.
The Supremacy Clause and the Constitution’s limits on both federal and state authorities.

Connections and implications
- Foundational tension: balancing strong national authority with protections for individual rights and state sovereignty.
- The system aims to prevent tyranny by distributing power, enabling accountability, and fostering deliberation across multiple levels and branches.
- Real-world relevance: the lasting debates over what safeguards are necessary to protect liberty (e.g., why a Bill of Rights was considered essential by Anti-Federalists and later added) and how structural design can influence policy outcomes and minority protection.

Key terms to remember

Natural rights, social contract, republican government, separation of powers, checks and balances, faction, extended republic, representation, consent of the governed, enumeration of powers, federalism, Supremacy Clause, Bill of Rights.

Important figures and sources to associate with these ideas

Thomas Jefferson (all men created equal; natural rights; consent of the governed)
John Locke (life, liberty, property; social contract)
Montesquieu (separation of powers; checks and balances)
James Madison (Federalist 10 and 51 on factions and the structure of government)
Alexander Hamilton (Federalist 9 on the merits of a large republic)
Brutus (Antifederalist critique invoking Montesquieu)

Notable numerical/codified references (for quick recall)

Article I, Section 8 (enumerated powers of Congress)
Article I, Section 9 (limitations on Congress, e.g., habeas corpus, bills of attainder)
Article VI (Supremacy Clause)
Tenth Amendment (powers reserved to states)
Federalist numbers referenced: No. 9 (Hamilton’s defense of a large republic), No. 10 (Madison on factions), No. 51 (structure of government and checks and balances)

Ethical/philosophical implications

Tension between equality in principle and inequality in practice (slavery, women’s rights, indigenous peoples) and how constitutional design seeks to address or defer those gaps.
The ongoing ethical question of how much power should be centralized to protect liberty and how to protect minority rights within a system that relies on majority rule and representative institutions.

Real-world relevance

The debates foreshadow ongoing discussions about constitutional amendments, the role of the federal government in civil rights, the balance between national security and individual rights, and the continual reevaluation of how best to structure political power to prevent tyranny while preserving liberty.