1 Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes 1 st United States Constitution A. loose alliance of states B. Congress – lawmaking body C. 9 states had to vote to pass laws D. each state had 1 vote in Congress Northwest Ordinance / Land Ordinance – division of land in new territory Congress couldn’t tax states – had to ask states for money Congress could not force states to follow laws Hard to get states to agree to anything Congress is too weak The Articles of Confederation formed a very weak United States government. The country didn’t want a government that looked anything like what they experienced under Great Britain. It was very unsuccessful.
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Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes
1st United States Constitution
A. loose alliance of states
B. Congress – lawmaking body
C. 9 states had to vote to pass laws
D. each state had 1 vote in Congress
Northwest Ordinance / Land Ordinance
– division of land in new territory
Congress couldn’t tax states – had to
ask states for money
Congress could not force states to
follow laws
Hard to get states to agree to anything
Congress is too weak
The Articles of Confederation formed a very weak United States government. The country didn’t want a government that looked anything like what they experienced under Great Britain. It was
very unsuccessful.
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Constitutional Convention
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes
Date of the convention: 1787
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The meeting was held in secret because
they didn’t want to be influenced by
public opinion.
Important Members:
President: George Washington
Oldest member: Ben Franklin (81)
Alexander Hamilton of New York (Are you happy Giulia and Katrina?)
James Madison of Virginia became
known as the “Father of the
Constitution” because he kept
detailed notes which allows us to
know what happened at the
convention
Absent Members:
John Adams of Massachusetts –
foreign minister to Great Britain
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia –
foreign minister to France
The original purpose of the Constitutional
Convention was to revise the Articles of
Confederation – they decided to start over
because there was so many things wrong
with the Articles of Confederation.
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COMPROMISE
Your Notes:
Virginia Plan Proposed by Edmund Randolph and
James Madison
3 branches of government
1. Legislative branch makes the laws
2. Executive Branch carries out the
laws
3. Judicial Branch determines if laws
are fair
2 house legislature (law-making body)
determined by population. This is
called a bicameral legislature
This plan favored large states
New Jersey Plan Proposed by William Paterson
3 branches of government
1. Legislative branch makes the
laws
2. Executive Branch carries out the
laws
3. Judicial Branch determines if
laws are fair
1 house legislature where all the state
had 1 vote. This is called a
unicameral legislature.
This plan favored smaller states
Great Compromise Bicameral (2 house) legislature called Congress
Congress consisted of the House of Representatives based upon
population (favored large states) and the Senate where each state
had 2 votes (favored small states)
3 branches of government
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3/5ths Compromise The Question: Would slaves count as part of a state’s
population?
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes
North View
The North wanted slaves to count as part of a
state’s population when it came to taxation. If this
happened then the South would pay more of the
country’s taxes.
The South didn’t like this because they would
have to pay more taxes.
South View
The South wanted slaves to count as part of a
state’s population so that they would get more
members in the House of Representatives.
The North didn’t like this because the South
would have more votes in Congress.
3/5ths Compromise
Slaves would count as 3/5ths of a person for
purposes of both taxation and representation.
…………………………………………….
Slave Trade Compromise
Nothing would be done about the slave trade for
20 years (until 1807).
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Preamble
The Preamble is the introduction to the Constitution. It is written below:
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 posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes
The Constitution gets its power from
the people – “We the people”
The idea that the power of the
government is given to it by the
people is one of the principles of the
Constitution. The principle that
says that the power of the
government comes from the
people is called popular
sovereignty.
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Legislative Branch
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes Job: Make the laws
The Legislative Branch’s main part is called Congress,
which is made up of the Senate and the House of
Representatives. It has two parts which means we could
call it a bicameral legislature.
Senate
Each state sends 2 Senators to the Senate.
The total number of Senators today is 100.
Senators serve for 6 years before they have to be
reelected:
Requirements:
1. 30 years old
2. 9 years a citizen of the United States
3. Resident of the state they are elected from
The title of the leader of the Senate is: President
(actually the Vice-President of the United States)
This type of state has more than its share of power in
the Senate: small states
The Senate is known as the Upper House.
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House of Representatives
Each state sends a number of representatives based
upon the population of the state.
The total number of House of Representative members
today is 435.
House of Representative members 2 years before they
have to be re-elected.
Requirements:
1. 25 years old
2. resident of the state they are elected from
3. citizen of the United States for 7 years
The title of the leader of the House of Representatives
is: Speaker of the House
This type of state has more power in the House of
Representatives: large population states
What are 4 powers delegated (given) to Congress by
(Article 1, Section 8 pp.934-936)?
1. to make and collect taxes
2. to regulate trade with foreign countries
3. to establish post offices
4. to coin money
What does the elastic clause let Congress due? (Art. 1,
Sec. 8, Cl. 18 –p. 936)
It lets Congress increase its power in times of
emergency.
Congress is in charge of impeachment of government
officials. Impeachment means bringing an elected
official to trial.
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Executive Branch
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes Job of the Executive Branch: Carry out the laws
President is the main person of the Executive Branch.
3 Requirements:
1. 35 years old
2. natural born citizen
3. resident of the United States for 14 years
President is elected in November.
The President is inaugurated or sworn into office in
January.
Length of a Presidential term: 4 years
The total length of years a President can serve in a row:
10 years
Current President: Donald Trump
Current Vice-President: Mike Pence
What is the job of the Electoral College: Elect the
President
List 5 jobs of the President:
1. Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
2. grant pardons to people who have committed a
crime
3. Make treaties with other nations
4. Appoint ambassadors to foreign nations
5. Head of the Executive Branch
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Judicial Branch
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes The Judicial Branch determines if laws are
fair.
The highest court in the United States is the
Supreme Court.
The head of the Supreme Court is the Chief
Justice.
There are 9 justices in the Supreme Court?
What types of cases does the Supreme Court
hear?
It is the court of last appeals (it takes cases
that have already been decided at lower
courts)
There are no requirements to become a member
of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court members serve for life (or until
you retire.
How else can you word what the job of the
Judicial Branch is?
Checks if laws are constitutional
Determines if a law goes against the
Constitution
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Principles of the Constitution Guide #1
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes When we talk about the Principles of the
Constitution we are talking about the main ideas
or goals of the Constitution. Everything the
founders of the Constitution did was done with
these ideas in mind.
Principles of the Constitution:
Popular Sovereignty
Limited Power of Government
Federalism
Judicial Review
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Popular Sovereignty
The definition of Popular Sovereignty: The power
of the government comes from the people
Where is the idea of Popular Sovereignty most
evident on the Constitution? Preamble
Limited Power of
Government
The definition of Limited Power of Government: The government can only do what the people give it the
power to do.
Why did the writers of the Constitution include
this in the Constitution? They didn’t want anything powerful like the king.
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Judicial Review
Judicial Review is when the Supreme Court
determines if a law passed by Congress is
Constitutional. It was established with the case
of Marbury vs. Madison (1803).
Federalism
The definition of Federalism: Power is shared
between the states and the national government.
The Federal System
The Federal System
Powers delegated (given) to the Powers reserved (kept) by the
National Government states
1. Create and maintain armed forces
1. Establish and maintain schools
2. Establish post offices 2. Establish local governments
3. Coin money 3. Make laws about marriage and divorce
4. Declare war
Powers shared by both governments
1. raise taxes
2. borrow money
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Separation of Powers
Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes Separation of Powers is defined as: System in
which the power of the government is divided among separate
branches.
The power of the government is separated (divided) as shown below.
Name of Branch Executive Legislative Judicial
Groups called President
Congress Supreme Court
Job Carry out the laws Make the laws Determines if laws are fair
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Even though the founders knew that the power should be divided equally, they
understood that it was possible for one branch to get greedy so they put the
principle of Checks and Balances into the Constitution.
Checks and Balances Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes
Checks and Balances is defined
as: System where each branch of the
government could control the power of the other
branches.
The Executive Branch checks the Judicial
Branch by:
Appointing federal judges.
The Executive Branch checks the
Legislative Branch by:
Vetoing laws.
The Judicial Branch checks the Legislative
Branch by:
Declaring acts of Congress
unconstitutional.
The Judicial Branch checks the Executive
Branch by:
Declaring executive actions
unconstitutional.
The Legislative Branch checks the Judicial
Branch by:
Approves appointments of federal judges.
The Legislative Branch checks the
Executive Branch by:
Overriding a President’s veto.
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Amendments Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes
Amendments are ways to add to the
Constitution as times change. They are
important because they can adjust the rules
the country follows without having to write a
completely new constitution.
27 of them
1st ten called the Bill of Rights – they were
added to the Constitution in order to
protect individual rights such as freedom
of speech and freedom of religion. The
Bill of Rights were a reaction to how the
writers felt people’s rights were taken
under the British and other governments.
The Antifederalists were big supporters
of the Bill of Rights.
allows the Constitution to change over
time.
13-15th Amendments ended slavery and
gave the right to vote to former male
slaves.
19th amendment gave women the right to
vote.
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Why has the Constitution survived? Mr. Cripps’ Notes Your Notes
Our Constitution has survived since 1787. It is the oldest written
Constitution in the world. How has it survived while other
countries have had 2 or 5 or even 20 constitutions in the same
time period? Below is a list of reasons for its success:
Colonial Past The framers learned from their experiences as a colony. A single
ruler was unfair and would often result in tyranny. To combat
this threat, they designed the Constitution so this could never
happen again.
Constitutional Design The Constitution contains several principles that have enabled it
to survive. Often constitutions have been destroyed because an
individual or small group of people has taken over the
government. This cannot happen in the United States because of
the principle of Separation of Powers. This divided our
government into three branches with equal power. The three
branches are the Executive, Judicial and Legislative. The
principle of Checks and Balances was included just in case one
branch of government tried to take over the government. Each
branch can control the other branches.
Power of the People The people have the power to control what the government in
doing. If the government is not meeting the needs of the people,
the people can vote for other representatives who hopefully will
do what the people want. This goes back to the principle of
Popular Sovereignty.
Amendments Amendments or changes can be made to the Constitution. This
allows for changes to be made as situations in the country
changes. This allows for the Constitution to change as times
change without having to be rewritten.
Vagueness of the Constitution The Constitution set out the principles of the government. It did
not make many specific laws. It did set up the system to create
laws that are necessary for that time period. The three branches if
government can create laws to deal with current situations. If
specific laws were created in 1787, many would be obsolete by