Chapter Three Establishing the Constitution (Through a Series of Political Compromises) Instructor: Kevin Sexton Course: U.S. Political Systems Southeast.

Chapter ThreeEstablishing the Constitution

(Through a Series of Political Compromises)

Instructor: Kevin SextonCourse: U.S. Political SystemsSoutheast Missouri State University

constitution versus Constitution

rules or guidelines by which an organization (country)

operates

The document by which theU.S. Government operates

How many constitutions has the United States had?

TWOArticles of Confederation & U.S. Constitution

Colonial Experience Influences New Government

Much of what we are as a country is based on what we experienced as colonies.

Three Primary Colonial Influences On The Government of the United States

1. Mayflower Compact

2. Governance of the Colonies

3. European Philosophers

Mayflower Compact(November 11, 1620)

We whose names are underwritten, …………do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of

another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances,

acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we

promise all DUE submission and obedience.

Pilgrims placed an emphasis on the fact that it was they who created the government, and gave it legitimacy orauthority to govern the members of the Plymouth Colony.

This premise is also seen in the works of the philosophers that influenced the colonists political beliefs.

Governance of the Colonies •Each of the thirteen colonies were independent colonies.• Each with there own colonial legislature, that made rules

and regulations by which the citizens of the colony operated.

Two Types of Colonies

Royal Colony – operated by representatives of the Monarchy.Proprietary Colony – operated by a company for profit.

The colonial legislatures were made up of two chambers:

Colonial Assembly – elected by the eligible voters.

Colonial Council – Appointed by British Officials based on theRecommendation of the Colonial Governor.

Basically, the colonies had self-rule over local issues

European Philosophers

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Wrote Levithan (1651)• stated that governments are created by the governed.• people are warlike and selfish.• the only reason people are not in a perpetual state of war is that the people consent to be governed by a single all powerful leader or government.

• “power must be concentrated”

John Locke (1632-1704)Wrote Treatise of Two Governments (1690)

• agreed that people were selfish.• but disagreed with Hobbs on the point of concentration of power. • Instead called for the separation of powers.

• Pit selfish powers against each other.

Why Seek Independence?

If the colonies had self rule why did they seek Independence from England. After all, on most issues

England let the colonies make their own rules.

Something changed……

England’s Treasury started running low because:

1. The French and Indian War&

2. The continued cost to protect the colonies from the Indians.

England Tightens It HoldIn response to its need for money England begins trying to

extract more from the colonies in the form of new taxes. Themajor concern is that these taxes are being levied by a group

that does not have a representative of the colonies.

These new laws and actions of England begin to erode away at the colonists belief that they have self rule.

In response, the colonies convene the 1st and 2nd ContinentalCongress.

In 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress issues the Declaration of Independence.

Declaration of Independence

Primary author was Thomas Jefferson.• Concepts presented in the document were not new or unique concepts.• Most of the concepts or premises presented in the document were from John Locke.

Three Major Premises Presented in The Declaration

1. Men have inalienable rights.2. Authority to govern comes from the governed.

3. The governed have the right to change or overthrow a government that is not fulfilling its responsibilities.

We hold these truths to be self evident…..

That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among

these are……..

LIFELIBERTY

&The Pursuit of Happiness

Why the change from John Locke’s idea ofLIFE, LIBERTY & PROPERTY?

We hold these truths to be self evident…..

“…that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the

consent of the governed;”

As Locke and Hobbs stated, the government does not haveA DEVINE RIGHT to govern. The government only governs

When they are given that right by the PEOPLE (or the governed)

We hold these truths to be self evident…..

“… that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish

it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to

them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

This premise, which comes from John Lockes, Treatises ofTwo Governments, provides legitimacy to the colonies

War for Independence.

Articles of Confederation

• Created a confederation between the 13 States.• “The said states hereby enter into a FIRM LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP…..”• Each state retained all sovereignty over itself.

• National government had no real power to enforce the national laws.• National government had responsibility to provide for the protection of the members.

• But had no power to tax the members.• Each State gave what they wanted to give.

Articles of Confederation (continued)

National government had the power to coin money.• So did each of the states.

All states were equally represented.• Small States had same power as large states.

No independent executive (president) to make decisionswhen Congress was not in session.

• Committee of the States (9 or 13 had to agree).All IMPORTANT DECISIONS (ie. passing a law) needed a supermajority (9 of 13)To Amend the Articles of Confederation all of the States had toagree to the changes.

Articles in ActionForeign Affairs:

• Each State was totally sovereign.• This meant they could negotiate with other governments, even foreign governments.

• France demanded that the U.S. pay back loans given to the states/colonies during the Revolutionary War. National government had trouble negotiating because States were negotiating independently.

Articles in Action (continued)

Money and Interstate Commerce:

• The national currency was not the only legal tender in the country.

• Each state had their own currency.• This caused problems when states tried trading with each other.

i.e.. If New York tried to pay Maryland with New York currency the two sides had to agree on an exchange rate. Most of the time they could not agree on such a rate.

Articles in Action (continued)

Shay’s Rebellion:

• In 1786 farmers and other debtors in Massachusetts begin an uprising related to foreclosures on their farms and prison for those not being able to pay their debts.

• The State of Massachusetts had a difficult time putting down this uprising, and the national government was unable to provide very much help.

• This event, and the inability of the State of Mass. to react in a timely and efficient manner is said to be one of the prime reasons that Constitutional Conventions were held to review the Articles of Confederation.

1786 & 17871786 – 5 of 13 State come together in Annapolis to discuss modifications to the Articles of Confederation.

NOT ENOUGH THERE TO AMEND THE ARTICLES

1787 – 12 of 13 States show up in Philadelphia to discuss modifications to the Articles of Confederation.

NOT ENOUGH THERE TO AMEND THE ARTICLES

IT IS DECIDED THAT THEY MUST START OVER ANDCREATE A WHOLE NEW DOCUMENT.

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

Creating the Constitution

In creating the U.S. Constitution the writers hadmany important issues to deal with. Our studyof the Constitution, and how and why it wascreated will focus on three primary issues.

Each of those issues will deal with EQUALITY.

1.Equality of States2.Equality of Government Institutions

3.Personal Equality4.Political Equality

EQUALITY OF STATES

All our experiences in governance have included a legislature ofsome kind. As colonies we had the colonial legislatures, and

under the Articles of Confederation we had Congress.

For this reason, we knew we would have a national legislature.

BUT…..

What would it look like?How would the states be represented?

What powers would it have?

Equality of States (continued)

Two plans suggested by members of the Convention:

Large State Plan:• Suggested by Virginia.• Called for a Bicameral Legislature, based on population.

Small State Plan:• Suggested by New Jersey.• Called for a Unicameral Legislature, based on equal representation.

Equality of States (continued)

Connecticut Compromise

1. Created a Bi-Cameral Legislature (two houses).2. One house (Upper) would have equal representation.

• Two Senators from each state.3. One house (lower) would have representation based on the population of each state.

• One representative for each 30,000 in population.

WHO MAKES UP THE POPULATION?

Equality of States (continued)

Slaves States (south):• wanted slaves counted for representation in Congress, but not for taxation purposes.

Free States (north):• wanted slaves counted for taxation purposes but not for representation in Congress.

3/5th CompromiseRepresentatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several

States which may be included within this Union, according to their respectiveNumbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free

Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excludingIndians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

Equality of States (continued)

Process for Amending The Constitution

Under the Articles of Confederation smaller states, like Rhode Island had anenormous amount of power. This was due to the fact that they had the

power to prevent the Articles from being amended, even if that change wouldhave benefited all of the other states and the country as a whole.

To overcome this unequal distribution of power the writers of the U.S. Constitution created a new set of rules by which the Constitution

could be amended.

The process to amend the U.S. Constitution is now a two step process:

Step One: Proposal

Step Two: Ratification

Equality of States (continued)

Process for Amending The ConstitutionFirst Step: Proposing the Change.

A. Could be proposed by a two-thirds vote in EACH chamber of the U.S. Congress.

OR

B. Could be proposed by a national constitutional convention called bytwo-thirds of all the state legislatures.

Second Step: Ratifying the Change

A. Approval of three-fourths of all state legislatures.

OR

B. Approval by three-fourths of all states in a special national convention.

Equality of Government Institutions

Created three co-equal branches of government:

1.Legislative2.Executive3.Judicial

1. Each had its own powers.2. Each branch had to share some powers. 3. Each branch had a series of checks on the powers of the other branches.

MUCH MORE ON THESE ISSUES TO COME

Personal EqualityWhat are we talking about here?

SLAVERY

What does the Constitution (in 1787) say about slavery.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress

prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty maybe imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

&

THE 3/5th COMPROMISE

Political Equality

What are we talking about here?

VOTING

The Constitution said absolutely nothing about who couldAnd could not vote. It was assumed by the writers thatThis should and would become a power of the state.

This power was officially given to the StatesWith passage of the Bill of Rights. Specifically, The 10th Amendment.

Government Created By the Constitution

The Constitution set out the basic guidelines by which our government is created. With that in mind, during the semesterwe will look more closely at what the Constitution says abouteach branch of the government. Right now we need to take a

broad look at the government created by the Constitution.While we do this keep several things in mind:

1. The view of Human Nature that was prevalent among the writers of the Constitution.

2. The political and social make-up of the country.

3. The past experiences of the writers of the Constitution.

View of Human Nature

Locke and Hobbes both stated that men are SELFISH Creatures.

The writers of the Constitution believed this, in fact theterm they used were SELF INTERESTED.

Realizing that ALL MEN were SELF INTERESTED theyCreated a form of government with the expressed

Desire to offset or counteract the SELF INTERESTED

Nature of man.

The Social Make-up of The United States

Most Americans, in 1787 were not of the same socialAnd/or economic class of the writers of the Constitution.

With this in mind, the writers of the Constitution knew ifThe masses gained control of the government they would

Do things that would cause them to lose power.

TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY

In short, They were acting, at least partially, in their own SELF INTEREST when they created the structure by which

The United States government would operate.

They truly felt that the masses did not have the ability torun the country.

Past Experiences of the Writers

The Writers of the Constitution had:

1. Just been through a War with a country, where most of the power rested with one person.

2. Just been through a period of government, under the Articles where the power of the national government had been eroded by a single branch of government.

3. Were very much influenced by the works of Locke.

Madisonian Model

In creating the new government, the writers wereattempting to prevent TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY.

The Tyranny of any majority.

To do that Madison, and the other writers came upWith a governmental design that had three (3)

Key points.

1. Place as much of the government as possibleBeyond the control of the masses.

2. Separate the Powers of the different governmentalInstitutions

3. Construct a system of Checks and Balances.

How the Government Created Accomplished those three things.

Protection of Individual FreedomsThe Constitution itself addresses very few

individual freedoms.1. Can’t Suspend Writ of Habeas Corpus2. No Bills of Attainder3. No Ex Post Facto Laws

Why didn’t the Constitution Address more Individual Freedoms.

1. Most of the States already addressed them in their State constitutions. 2. Writers felt they should remain State issues.3. Writers felt that making a list of “protected” rights would cause the national government to feel those were the only “protected” rights.

Federalist versus Anti-Federalist

Anti-Federalist felt the new Constitution placed tooMuch power in the hands of the national government.

&Felt it did little to protect individual freedoms.

They threatened to oppose the ratification of the Constitution.

(9 of the 13 States had to ratify before it took affect.)

Federalist wrote a series of papers addressing the concerns of the Anti-Federalists.

In the end, the Federalist promised to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution as soon as the new Congress was seated.

One of the first acts of Congress was to begin amendingThe Constitution to include a Bill of Rights

(The first ten amendments to the Constitution)