SOL 2 REVIEW

What type of government does America have? We have a democracy because the PEOPLE rule! WE are in charge! We also have a REPRESENTATIVE form of government because we elect our government officials. Just like a basketball team picks its best player to represent their team in an all-star game, we pick the people we think are the best ones to serve and REPRESENT us in government!

Limited Government vs. Consent of the Governed Limited Government means the government is not all-powerful and can only do what the people say they can. Just like we have speed limits that tell us the fastest we can drive, LIMITED government tells the government the most they can do. Consent of the governed means that the people are the source of any and all power in this country. WE control the government! Just like you have to ask permission from a teacher to go to the bathroom, our government has to ask us permission to make new laws and changes in our country!

How did America become free from Great Britain? First, we had to come here. To do so, some English people started the Virginia Company, and told the king they would make money for him, and make profit for themselves, if they went to Virginia. He granted those people a charter, which gave them permission to come to America. This was the CHARTERS OF THE VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON. The new colonists arrived in the New World and established the colony of Jamestown.

What went wrong? The colony of Jamestown never made any money, and soon the king began taking away rights that were promised to them under the charters. For example, the king passed new taxes like those in the Stamp Act, but the colonists never got to be represented in the English Parliament and take a vote on the new taxes. They were supposed to have the right to govern themselves, but they were no longer allowed to. Soon patriots like the Sons of Liberty began rebelling against the king, until finally a group of Founding Fathers got together and wrote the Declaration of Independence. = =

The Declaration of Independence: 1776 The Declaration of Independence was written to formally announce our decision that America would from now on be independent from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson also included the complaints (grievances) the colonists had against the king, such as taxation without representation, so he knew why America was breaking away from him. It also stated that all people were equal and had “unalienable rights”: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Forming our New Government Once we broke away from the king, we needed our own system of government for the freed states. The Founding Fathers were afraid of a new king, so they wrote the Articles of Confederation, where the states had most of the power of government, and there was no president. A CONFEDERATION means that the states were allies with one another rather than one united country. Think of it like the Allied Powers from WWI and WWII….different countries, but working together for a common goal when need be.

The New Constitution The Articles of Confederation failed because the national government was too weak to enforce laws or collect taxes. The Founding Fathers knew a new government was needed, and the US Constitution was written in its place. This time the federal government would share power with a state government, and three branches of government were created, including a president in the executive branch.

The United States Constitution The US Constitution establishes our structure of government, which is still used today. Just like sports teams have rulebooks they must follow, so does our government, and these rules are in the Constitution, the government’s “playbook”. The Constitution guarantees majority rule with the rights of the minority protected. In other words, when we vote, majority rules, but we’re not going to torture the people who lost! It also guarantees certain freedoms, such as assembly, petition, speech, press, and petition.

The Preamble The Preamble is the opening line of the Constitution. It introduces the purposes of our government, or what the government will do for its citizens. When you write an essay, your first paragraph introduces your topic, and this is the same idea. It begins with, “We the People”, which is important because we have the power of government.

Amending the Constitution The Founding Fathers knew the needs of the people and their government would change over time, so they made a system of amending (changing) the Constitution. It is a complex system, so it is not easy to change the Constitution. To begin, a convention of state representatives or Congress can propose an amendment. Once the amendment is ready, ¾ of the states need to ratify (approve) the amendment, or it fails. In Virginia, our constitution can be amended with a proposal from a convention or the General Assembly, and the voters of Virginia need to ratify it through a vote. There are only 27 amendments to date.