The Constitution

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 In this chapter, you will:

• Discover the roots of the Constitution in colonial and revolutionary

America.

• See why Americans declared independence from England and learn

about the first constitution, the Articles of Confederation.

• Follow the arguments that shaped the Constitution and get an overview
of the final document.

• Read about the great national debate over whether to adopt it.

• Learn how Americans have changed the Constitution—and how the

Constitution has changed America.

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
The Colonial Roots of the Constitution

– Salutary neglect
• King and army three thousand miles away
• Paid little attention to colonies
– Every colony elected its own legislature
• First: Virginia House of Burgesses 1620
• Colonists had experience with representation
– Plentiful land
• Created opportunities for ordinary people
• Economic conditions helped foster a republic

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
The Colonial Roots of the Constitution

– Compacts or Covenants
• Some colonies began with mutual agreements
• First: Mayflower Compact 1620
– Religion
• Colonists came to practice religion in peace
• New idea: individual freedom without government
interference
– Border areas violent
• Pushed the Americans to adopt strong central government

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Why the Colonists Revolted
– The Colonial Complaint: Representation
• Americans used to making their own decisions through elected
assemblies
• English violated the idea of self-rule
• Delegate Representation: do what the voters want
• Trustee Representation: do what is best for voters
– The Conflict Begins with Blood on the Frontier
• French and Indian War
• Settlers poured westward
• Native Americans fought back
• England closed the border and prohibited settlers from moving
westward
• Mercantilism: government restrains imports and promotes exports to
maintain national power

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Why the Colonists Revolted

– The Stamp Tax and the First Hints of Independence

• Parliament ignored colonial assemblies and announced new taxes
• Colonists began working together
– The Townshend Acts Worsen the Conflict
• Stamp Tax lifted but followed up with new taxes
• American Board of Customs created to collect taxes
• Bureaucracy denying colonists self-governance
• Legislatures dissolved
• Boston Massacre
– The Boston Tea Party
• Taxes repealed except tax on tea
• Fifty men dumped tea from ships into Boston Harbor

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Why the Colonies Revolted

– Revolution!
• Intolerable Acts
– Boston Harbor closed
– Abolished town meetings
– Quarter troops in homes
– Massachusetts under military control
• First Continental Congress 1774
– Petitioned to end Intolerable Acts
– Boycott British goods
– Asserted colonial rights
• April 1775 British looking for guns met armed colonists

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 The Declaration of Independence

– Second Continental Congress 1775

• Declare independence
• Mobilize army
• Organize government
• Adopted Declaration of Independence
– Statement to world of America’s purpose
– Two parts: statement of principles, list of grievances

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 The Declaration of Independence

– The Principle: “We Hold These Truths . . .”

• All people are equal
• Their creator endowed them with rights that cannot be taken
away
• These rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
• People form governments to protect those rights
• Governments derive their just powers form the consent of the
governed
– Grievances
• Violations of the right of representation
• Standing army not under civilian control
• Loss of an independent court

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 The First American Government
The Articles of Confederation

– The National Government

• National government weak
• States strong
• Congress selected and paid for by the states
• No chief executive
• No central authority to tax
• No central power to muster an army
• Each state had single vote in Congress
• Changes required agreement of all thirteen states

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 The First American Government
The Articles of Confederation
– Some Success . . .
• Northwest Ordinance of 1787
– Process for buying western lands
– Process for becoming a state
– . . . And Some Problems
• Congress could not raise taxes and had no money of its own
• Impossible to amend the articles due to unanimity rule
• State governments dominated by their legislatures
• Weak national government had a difficult time standing up to a foreign
power
– Secrecy
• Constitutional Convention
• All agreed deliberations would be secret

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Constitutional Convention

– How Much Power to the People?

• Government answers to the people
• Too much power to the people leads to chaos
• Filtration or indirect elections
– Public votes for those who would vote for public officials
– Public less involved in government
– People would vote for only one federal office: House of Representatives
– National Government Versus State Government
• Most authority granted to national level
• Compromise on a system that included both national and state power
• Federal government had function
• States had functions

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Constitutional Convention
– Big States Versus Small States
• Virginia Plan
– Bicameral legislature, representation by population
– Citizens vote for House of Representatives
– Congress would elect the President
– National courts established
– Congress legislate in cases where the states were incompetent
• New Jersey Plan
– Unicameral legislature, each state would have one vote
– Congressional acts law of the land
– Congress would elect executive committee
– Executive committee would select a supreme court
– National government could tax
• Connecticut Compromise
– Bicameral Congress
» House of Representatives: based on population
» Senate: two representatives from each state
» All finance bills introduced first in House
CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Constitutional Convention
– The President
• An Individual
• Four year term
• Electoral college would elect the president
– Separation of Powers
• Each branch has a job to do
• Legislative power in Congress
• Executive power in the president
• Judicial power in the courts
• Checks and Balances
– Each power is balance by a countervailing power in another branch
– Each branch involved in the others’ business
– Most distinctive feature of American Constitution

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Constitutional Convention

– “A Principle of Which We Were Ashamed”

• Slavery
• Delegates wanted strong union more than they hated slavery
• Three-fifths Compromise: slaves counted as three-fifths of free
population
• Slave Trade continued for twenty years
• Fugitive Slave: rest of nation would assist in returning runaway
slaves

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 An Overview of the Constitution

– Preamble
• Authority rests on “we the people”
• Six goals for the new government
– Form a strong union
– Establish equal justice for all
– Insure domestic tranquility
– Provide for the common defense
– Promote the general welfare
– Secure liberty for ourselves and our posterity

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 An Overview of the Constitution

– Article 1: Congress
– Article 2: The President
– Article 3: The Courts
– Article 4: Relations Between the States
– Article 5: Amendments
– Article 6: The Law of the Land
– Article 7: Ratification

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Ratification

– The Anti-Federalists
• Argued against ratification
• Classical Republicanism
• Republics small and local, maximum popular participation
• Four major criticisms
– Stripped political control from citizens, place in powerful national government
– President looked like a king
– Standing armies and navies were a threat to peace and liberty
– Missing a Bill of Rights

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Ratification

– The Federalists
• James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay wrote the
arguments
• Federalist Papers
– Pro-Constitution editorial
– Guide to thinking that guided the Constitution
– Theoretical essays about politics and government
– Federalist 10 argues large national government can protect liberty more than
small local governments
– Factions: groups that pursue their self-interest at the expense of others
– Federalist 51: popular government must be organized to protect minorities
from majorities
– Have many factions to keep any one from dominating

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Ratification

– Two Strong Arguments

• Anti-Federalist: local government that responds directly to the
people
• Federalists: national government could protect people’s rights
– A Very Close Vote
• Small states ratified quickly and unanimously
• Larger states were slower
• If 3 percent of delegates across Virginia, Massachusetts, New York
had changed vote would not have been ratified

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Changing the Constitution

– The Bill of Rights

• First ten amendments
• Rights and liberties that every citizen is guaranteed
• Applied only to Federal government until Fourteenth
Amendment
• Incorporated to states using Fourteenth Amendment
– One right at a time
– Most recent second amendment in 2010

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
 Changing the Constitution

– The Seventeen Amendments

• After Bill of Rights amendments rare
• Seventeen since 1791
• Amendments do one of four things
– Extend rights
– Adjust election rules
– Change government operations
– Affect governmental powers over individuals
– The Constitution Today
• Americans disagree about how to read the Constitution
• Originalism: relies on the original meaning of those who wrote the
Constitution
• Pragmatism: living, breathing, changing Constitution speaks to
each generation differently

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION