The Constitution Chapter 5

The Constitutional Convention Frustration with the Articles of Confederation had been building for years Congress called all states to Philadelphia in May ◦ Purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation

The Constitutional Convention

A Historic Meeting Constitutional Convention – May 1787 ◦ Delegates from 12 states attended (Rhode Island never took part because it opposed a strong government) ◦ Each state had one vote ◦ Decisions were made by a simple majority (half plus one)

A Historic Meeting The Constitutional Convention chose George Washington as its president. ◦ Strength and character ◦ His leadership brought the Convention respect and legitimacy

A Historic Meeting All delegates were men Most were in their thirties and forties The delegates were well educated (many were lawyers and half had attended college) Many had served in the Revolution Most were wealthy

Controversial Plans Biggest Issues of the Convention ◦ Finding a balance between the large and small states ◦ Finding a balance between northern and southern interests ◦ Strong national government vs. states’ rights

Finding a Balance Between Large and Small States

Virginia Plan James Madison’s Plan ◦ Government would have three separate branches: executive, legislative, and judicial ◦ National legislature would be bicameral (two houses) ◦ Voters would choose members of the lower house, who would then choose members of the upper house ◦ Members of the lower house would be in proportion to each state’s population

Virginia Plan Small states objected to certain parts of the Virginia Plan They were afraid that larger states would have more of a voice in government because they would have more votes

New Jersey Plan Proposed by William Paterson ◦ Proposed a unicameral (one house) legislature ◦ Each state would have equal representation in the legislature ◦ Suggested a “plural executive” – two or three top executives chosen by Congress

The Great Compromise Connecticut delegates came up with a compromise for the Virginia and New Jersey Plans The legislature would be bicameral (2 houses) ◦ The Upper House, the Senate, would have two representatives from each state ◦ The Lower House, House of Representatives, representation would be based on states’ population

The Great Compromise Virginia Plan – Power to state governments, Bicameral Legislature, Representatives based on Population New Jersey Plan – Power to national government, unicameral legislature, Equal number of Reps in each state The Great Compromise – Bicameral legislature, lower house based on population, upper house equal number of reps in each state

Finding a Balance Between Northern and Southern States

Compromises on Slavery How to count population? ◦ Enslaved African Americans made up a large portion of some southern states (sometimes up to 30-40%) ◦ Counting enslaved African Americans in full would give those states much greater representation in Congress

Compromises on Slavery Three-fifths Compromise ◦ Southern states wanted to count all slaves for representation and no slaves for taxation ◦ Northern states objected ◦ Delegates agreed that all whites and 3/5 of slaves would be counted for representation and taxation  Native Americans were not counted

Three Fifths Compromise

Compromises on Slavery North and south did not include a ban on slavery in the Constitution, although some favored it They agreed to a clause allowing the slave trade to continue for 20 years Fugitive Slave Clause – stated that a slave who fled to another state had to be returned to his or her original state

Strong National Government v. States Rights

Separation of Powers The division of different powers between the different branches of government ◦ Legislative ◦ Executive ◦ Judicial

Separation of powers

Legislative Branch Legislative Branch  Creates and passes laws Congress is at the top of the Legislative Branch ◦ Senate  Upper House ◦ House of Representatives  Lower House

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH SenateHouse of Representatives 

Legislative branch functions: Pass laws Can override Presidential vetoes Approve treaties and Presidential appointments Impeach and remove President (& other high officials) Create lower federal courts Appropriate money Print and coin money Raises and supports the armed forces Declare war Regulate foreign and interstate trade

Executive Branch Executive Branch  Executes and enforces the law The President, Vice President, Cabinet and advisors are at the top of the federal executive branch

Powers of the executive branch Propose laws Can veto laws Negotiates foreign treaties Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Appoints federal judges, ambassadors, and other high officials Can grant pardons to federal offenders

Judicial Branch The Judicial Branch of government is the Supreme Court Supreme Court Justices determine if laws are constitutional They also see cases that are being disputed among two or more states President would nominate the judges ◦ Senate would have the ability to approve them ◦ Judges could not be fired arbitrarily

Checks and Balances How to balance the powers of Congress and the powers of the president? What powers should the states have and which powers should the federal government have?

Checks and Balances How to elect the president? ◦ The people would not elect the president directly ◦ The state legislatures would choose electors, who would then choose the president ◦ Vice president – would go to the person who came in second for the electoral vote

Checks and Balances Checks and Balances – set up between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches ◦ Constitution provided each branch with power to slow or stop an action taken by one of the other branches ◦ Ensured that no one branch of government would dominate the others

Revision of the Articles Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation like planned… The delegates wrote a new a completely new Constitution at the Constitutional Convention

The Constitution Constitution designed a Republic  a government in which citizens rule themselves through elected representatives Constitution designed a federal system  a system of government where power is divided between the states and the national government Constitution established a strong national government ◦ But was also designed to protect the people from excessive power in government

The Constitution The delegates fought over ratification (acceptance) of the Constitution for 10 months ◦ Some didn’t like the Constitution because they were afraid of a government that would be too strong ◦ Afraid of tyranny like in Britain

Federalists and Antifederalists Federalists – supporters of the constitution Anti federalists – opponents of the constitution

Federalists Leaders were: James Madison, John Dickinson, Alexander Hamilton Believed that a strong national government was necessary for America to survive Separation of powers would keep government from being too strong Federalists were mostly found in cities; educated, wealthy, urban elite

Antifederalists Leaders: Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee Most were farmers and planters They distrusted any central authority (strong national government would lead to tyranny) Thought the new government favored the wealthy and educated

Ratification Process Antifederalists demanded the addition of the Bill of Rights Wanted basic rights to be protected in the Constitution because they did not trust the government 9 of 13 states had to agree to put the Constitution into effect

The Federalist Papers A series of essays written under the pen name Publius Main goal was to persuade New York delegates to ratify the Constitution The actual writers: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay

Fight for Ratification 11 states ratified the Constitution by July North Carolina and Rhode Island did not join the Union until after the new government had already been started

Fight for Ratification After ratification the first thing the delegates did was… ◦ Set dates to choose members of Congress and presidential electors ◦ Start working on the Bill of Rights to add (some states said they would only ratify if a Bill of Rights was added)

Bill of Rights September 1789 ◦ Congress approves 12 amendments ◦ They were sent to the states for approval ◦ End of 1791 the states had approved 10 of them ◦ Those 10 amendments became the Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights Protected states and individuals from too much central government power First 8 Amendments: individual civil liberties Ninth Amendment: said that just because some rights of the people weren’t listed, didn’t mean they did not exist Tenth Amendment: addressed the actions that states could take

Tenth Amendment Defined government power ◦ Delegated Powers: those that are expressly stated in the Constitution ◦ Implied Powers: those that are not expressly stated in the Constitution ◦ Reserved Powers: those that the Constitution does not specifically give to the federal government or deny to the states. These powers belong to the state or people

Bill of Rights 1. Freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition, religion 2. Right to bear arms 3. No lodging of troops in private homes without consent 4. No illegal searches and seizures 5. Rights of the accused 6. Right to speedy trial by jury 7. Jury trial in civil cases 8. No excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishment 9. Powers reserved to the people 10. Powers reserved to the states

Amending the Constitution The framers made the Constitution difficult to amend An amendment must be proposed ◦ 2/3 of both houses of Congress can propose an amendment or 2/3 of the states can propose one ◦ ¾ of the states must approve the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution Since the Constitution was written it has only been amended 27 times!