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Constitutional Foundations

I.The “supreme law of the land”a.The Founding Fathers created the Constitution to be thesupreme law of all of the United States of America. b.It is called a “living document” because of its ability to growand change with the times.II.The Declaration of Independencea.The Founders (Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Roger Sherman, andRobert Livingston included ideas from Enlightenment thinkerssuch as Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu in the Declaration. b.By looking at Locke, you will notice many similarities in thelanguage and ideas used.i.Natural rights as they relate to life, liberty, and property.ii.The consent of the governediii.Concept of limited governmentc.Major parts of the documenti.Philosophical Basis1.The Declaration establishes “unalienable rights” asthe cornerstone of natural rights.2.limited governments are formed receiving their powers from “the consent of the governed”ii.The Grievances1.This part is the “case” against Great Britain2.taxation without representation3.unjust trials4.quartering of British soldiers5.abolition of colonial assemblies6.policy of mercantilismiii.The Statement of Separation1.Jefferson said that the colonists had no choice butto revolt.2.England had a supreme navy and resources thatcould support a war…the colonists had knowledgeof the land, leadership, and a desire to be freed.Founders tried to create a government based on the idea of theconsent of the governed.i.State governments granted their citizens the same rightsthey had under British rule.

ii.Power was NOT centralized, and the Articles of Confederation, could not end up as a govt. with a king.e.Even though the Founders said that “all men are created equal”this was only meant to apply to white male colonists.i.Property as an indicator of wealth and status was also arequirement for political officeIII.The Articles of Confederationa.The first government of the United States, the Articles of Confederation, relied on the states to make the decisions thatwould ultimately determine whether the new nation wouldsurvive. b.There were two levels of governmenti.A weak national government1.one-house (unicameral) Congressa.could declare war, make peace, sign treaties b.could borrow money, but had no power totax the individual statesc.there was a national army and navy, but hadno power to draft soldiers2.no chief executive or national court system3.legislation had to have a 2/3 majority to be passed,and amendments had to have unanimous consentii.Dominant state governments1.imposed tariffs on each other 2.created their own currency3.refused to amend the Articles4.refused to recognize treaties made by the nationalgovernmentiii.Successes of the national government1.Northwest Ordinance, which abolished slavery inthe newly acquired northwest territories2.established some of the first cabinet positions, thuscreating a bureaucracyiv.New middle class1.developed on the state level2.small farmers began to dominate state politics3.led to opposing political parties (Federalists andAnti-Federalists)4.Shays’ Rebellion

a.Farmers returning from the RevolutionaryWar were faced with extremely high taxes,for which they had no money to pay b.Farms were taken from the farmers whocould not payc.Daniel Shays led a group of farmers to takeover the Massachusetts State Armoryd.Revolt succeeded in pointing out the many problems faced by the new governmentIV.The Constitutiona.With the exception of Rhode Island, the rest of the states sent55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in1789 b.Make-up of the delegationi.All menii.Average age – 42 (Ben Franklin was oldest at 81)iii.Most had important roles in the Revolutioniv.Most had served in their state legislaturesv.Most were of moderate means, some wealthy – but nonewere poor vi.Some, but not all, had attended college (31)vii.Many were merchants, lawyers, farmers, and bankersc.Original intent of the Convention was just to REFORM theArticles, but most in attendance realized that reform wasn’tenoughd.They shared a cynical belief that people could NOT be giventhe power to govern freely, so checks had to be put into place.e.Because the delegates came from not only the upper class, butthe newly developing middle-class, factions started to show thatwould exist not only in society, but in politics as well.(Federalist 10 says that these factions could ultimately paralyzethe government)f.Key Concepts of the Framers

William Blackstone’s

Commentaries on the Laws of England

, Montesquieu’s

The Spirit of the Law

, andRousseau’s

Social Contract

all showed popular sovereignty (the right to rule yourself) and limitedgovernment (not too powerful). John Locke’s

Second Treatise of Civil Government

also gave the Framers