Foundational Documents
Declaration of Independence
Key Principles:
All individuals are created equal and possess inherent rights.
These rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (natural rights).
Governments are established to safeguard these rights, deriving their authority from the consent of the governed.
The people have the right to alter or abolish a government that becomes destructive to these ends.
Popular Sovereignty:
The Declaration lays the groundwork for popular sovereignty.
This principle asserts that the government exists to serve the people.
Citizens elect representatives to express their will.
Right to Resist Oppression (John Locke):
The right to alter or abolish a destructive government is inspired by John Locke's philosophy.
However, imperfect governments should not be overthrown; only those that subject the people to tyranny (destruction of natural rights) warrant such action.
Significance:
The Declaration is a strong declaration of individual rights.
It emphasizes the limited role of government.
It underscores the right of the people to resist oppression.
Articles of Confederation
Structure:
Established a confederation of states with a very limited central government.
Ineffectiveness:
The central government's limitations rendered it ineffective in governing the growing American states.
State Sovereignty:
Each state retained its sovereignty.
Governmental Structure:
Unicameral legislature: Each state had one vote.
Absence of a President and Judiciary.
Powers:
The central government could not enforce taxation.
It had no standing army.
The Constitution
Preamble:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Articles:
7 articles:
Article I: Legislative Branch
Article II: Executive Branch
Article III: Judicial Branch
Article IV: Federalism (Full faith and credit, extradition, creation of new states)
Article V: Amendment Process
Article VI: Supremacy Clause
Article VII: Ratification of the Constitution
Amendments:
27 Amendments
Bill of Rights (1-10) ratified in 1791
Freedom – Speech, religion, press, petition, assembly
Right to bear arms– Own weapons
Army – No quartering soldiers in homes
Privacy – No unreasonable searches/seizures (need warrant)
Self-incrimination & Due Process – “I plead the Fifth!”
Trial – Right to a fast, fair public trial (criminal cases)
Jury – Right to a jury in civil cases
Cruel and unusual – No cruel/unusual punishment or excessive bail
Rights retained by the people – Just because it’s not listed doesn’t mean you don’t have it
Powers to the states – Powers not given to the feds go to states/people
Other Must-Know Amendments for AP Gov:
13th – Abolished slavery
14th – Equal protection & due process (used for selective incorporation!)
15th – Black men can vote
17th – Direct election of senators
19th – Women can vote
22nd – Two-term limit for president
24th – No poll tax
25th – Presidential succession
26th – Voting age = 18
Supremacy Clause:
The Constitution is the "Supreme Law of the Land" (Article VI).
Living Document:
Interpreted by courts, making it a living document.
Federalist No. 10 (James Madison)
Factions:
Factions are inevitable in a democracy, but their effects can be controlled.
Controlling Effects of Factions:
Preventing majority interests from forming, or if formed, making it difficult to unite.
Benefits of a Large Republic:
Diversity of interests and opinions.
Less opportunity to "concert and oppress" (pluralism).
Brutus No. 1 (Antifederalist)
Main Argument:
The immense power of the federal government requires the people to sacrifice their liberties.
Bill of Rights:
A bill of rights was necessary to protect the people from the government.
Concerns about Congress:
Congress possesses far too much power, including taxation, standing army, and the Elastic Clause.
Size of Republic:
A free republic cannot exist in such a large territory as the United States.
Judicial Authority:
Judicial authority will broaden the federal government’s power, potentially leading to tyranny.
Federalist No. 51
Separation of Powers:
Proposes a government divided into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
Checks and Balances:
Each branch should be self-sufficient but have power over the others to prevent any one branch from taking over the government.
"Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."
Legislative Branch:
The Legislative branch needs to be further split into the House of Representatives and the Senate because it's the most powerful branch.
Division of Power:
"The power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments."
Federalist No. 51 Quote
"But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others.”
Federalist No. 70
Executive Unity:
Argues that unity in the executive branch is essential for both energy and safety.
Executive Strength:
Justifies executive strength by claiming that the slow-moving Congress needs to be balanced by a quick and decisive executive.
Energy in the Executive:
"Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy…"
Ingredients of Executive Energy:
Unity
Duration
Adequate provision for support
Competent powers
Duration:
Advocates for a presidential term long enough to promote stability.
Support:
Support can be defined as a presidential salary, which insulates government officials from corruption by attracting capable, honest men to office.
Federalist No. 78
Judicial Weakness:
The Judiciary is "the weakest of the three departments of power" and needs strengthening.
Independent Judiciary:
Without an independent judiciary, any rights reserved to the people by the Constitution "would amount to nothing," since the legislature cannot be relied upon to police itself.
Nature of the Judiciary:
The Judicial Branch has "neither FORCE NOR WILL, but merely judgment…"
Lifetime Appointments:
Lifetime appointments guaranteed "during good behavior" ensure judges can resist encroachments from the legislature through bribes or threats.
Big Idea:
The design of the judicial branch protects the Supreme Court’s independence, and judicial review remains a powerful judicial practice.
Letter From Birmingham Jail
Duty to Fight for Justice:
King argues that he and his fellow demonstrators have a duty to fight for justice.
It is up to the oppressed to take charge and demand equality.
Immoral Laws:
Immoral laws are laws that are neither just nor fair.
White Moderates:
White Americans who agree with desegregation but criticize the methods of civil rights activists are the biggest obstacle to racial equality.
Their demeaning and "paternalistic" attitude shows a lack of real understanding about segregation.
This group perpetuates the idea that time, not human intervention, will be the equalizer, discouraging others from joining the civil rights campaign.
Ultimate Success:
The civil rights movement will ultimately be successful because "the goal of America is freedom."
Letter from Birmingham Jail Quote
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963.