Chapter 2 Part 1: Founding of the Constitution Notes 5/7/25

The foundation of the U.S. is built on ideals:
- Equality: Everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
- Justice: Fair justice for all, regardless of wealth. There's a question of whether this is actually achieved, considering the resources available to the rich vs. the poor.
- Individual Liberty: Freedom to do what you want, within legal boundaries, as protected by the First Amendment.
- Pursuit of Happiness: As Thomas Jefferson put it (Declaration of Independence); John Locke spoke of "life, liberty, and property".

The idea of whether the US is an exceptional country.
The US is considered a great place to live because of equality, justice, and individual liberty.

Land removal from Native Americans:
- Europeans removed Native Americans from their lands starting in the 1620s.
- Native populations decreased by 50% due to diseases (smallpox, measles) brought by Europeans.
Enslavement of Africans:
- These issues were problematic for the Founding Fathers.
- The need to fix these issues contributed to the concept of American exceptionalism.

Remember that James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton articulated American values and ideals.
Two significant problems at the start of the country were land removal from Native nations and enslavement of Africans.

Jamestown, Virginia (1607):
- The first colony was established as a trading post.
Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620):
- The second colony was established by settlers seeking a new country and religious freedom.
- They arrived on the Mayflower and formed the first governing document, the Mayflower Compact, in 1620.
- The Mayflower Compact was signed and voted on only by men.
- The settlers were fleeing oppression from England and wanted to worship freely.
The foundation of the country was built with issues corrected in 1787 by the Constitutional Convention.
- Important to remember the first colony was Jamestown (1607) and the second was Plymouth (1620) based on the Mayflower Compact.

British initially ruled American colonies with a light hand.
The French and Indian War in the 1760s led to British debt (over £70,000,000).
British decided to recoup the money through taxes on the colonists.
Colonists were divided into two groups:
- Radicals: Small farmers, shopkeepers, and artisans fighting for rights. They had fewer economic resources and distrusted the elite.
- Elites: Merchants, planters, and royalists who supported the British government and benefited from British rules.

Sugar Act of 1764:
- Taxed sugar, molasses, and other commodities.
Stamp Act of 1765:
- Taxed all documents, mortgage documents, newspapers, and printed material.
First Continental Congress (1774):
- Formed to address taxation.
- Sent a message to King George III: "No taxation without representation."

The First Continental Congress led to the Boston Tea Party.
In 1773, the British granted the East India Trading Company a monopoly on tea.
On December 16, 1773, colonists dressed as Native Americans boarded ships and dumped tea into Boston Harbor in protest.
This led to a cycle of provocation and retaliation that ultimately led to the First Continental Congress.

Enslavement: A system where individuals are held as property for forced labor and profit.
Enslaved people have no legal rights and are owned as property with monetary value.
The British were hypocritical because the British had their own slave trade while telling the colonists to get rid of theirs.

The British Are Coming:
- The British are coming in response to the Boston Tea Party.
The Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft a statement of independence.
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence:
- Statement on the principle of self-governance.
- A list of grievances against King George III.
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to accept the document, declaring independence.
The declaration states that the purpose of government is to secure rights and that government derives their just powers from the consent of the governed.
It also says that when governments violate these rights and no longer have the support of the people, the people have a right to overthrow the government (though this refers primarily to voting them out of office).

The most important grievances include:
- The colonists did not have the right to maintain a standing army without consent.
- Not providing appropriate representation rights.

The government was built on the concepts of three philosophers:
- John Locke: A British philosopher who advanced the principles of republican government and spoke about life, liberty, and property.
- Thomas Hobbes: A British philosopher who believed government should have limits and empowers their exercise.
- Montesquieu: A French philosopher who argued that power needed to be balanced as a bulwark against tyranny, against dictatorship. His ideas led to checks and balances and equal branches of government.
The three branches of government:
- Executive
- Judicial
- Legislative

The first constitutional document was written in 1777 and lasted from 1777 to 1789.
It's the first written constitution in the United States.
It was written in 1777 and implemented in 1781.
It was primarily concerned with limiting the powers of the central government.
State governments retain sovereignty, freedom, and independence.

The purpose of the constitutional convention was to fix what was wrong with the Articles of Confederation.
Weaknesses:
1. It did not have the right to demand revenue from the states.
2. It did not create a national court (Supreme Court).
3. It all depends on the goodwill of the states to contribute.
4. The most fundamental weakness: the colonists lacked the power to raise funds to establish a military.
Under the Article of Confederation, America was indeed a confederate country.