D4 Review: What goals did you come up with for the class constitution? What rules did you create in order to meet these goals? Let’s finish creating our Class Constitution!

Ch. 7.5 Sect. 1, Part II: The Main Goals of the Constitution: U.S. History I Ch. 7.5 Sect. 1, Part II: The Main Goals of the Constitution:

Major Principles Besides these goals, the Constitution rests on 7 main principles. They are: #1: Popular Sovereignty This means gov. gets power / rights from the people. #2: Republicanism People vote for representatives, and they in turn make laws and run the government on our behalf. #3: Limited Government Worried that a powerful Federal government might by tyrannical and abuse its power, they limited the powers the federal government has. Article I describes the powers that the government does and doesn’t have. “Rule of Law” is also very important, meaning ALL must obey the rules, even those in positions of power.

#4: Federalism When the states created the Constitution, they gave up some of their rights to this new Federal Government, and also kept many for themselves. Thus, the differences in state laws, because some things work in one state, but not another. The sharing of these powers is called federalism. And there are three distinct types of powers they share: Enumerated / Expressed Powers: These are only given to the Federal Government. Ex: Power to create money, regulate interstate trade, create federal courts, etc. Reserved Powers: These are only for the states to keep. Ex: Power to Establish schools, regulate trade in a state, etc. These are outlines in the Tenth Amendment, which clarifies that any power NOT given to the federal government is “reserved for the States.” Concurrent Powers: These, as you might guess, are shared between the federal and state governments. Ex: Power to tax, borrow money, criminal justice, etc. If there is ever a dispute about these, the federal court system will settle it, often ending at the Supreme Court (examples: Gay Marriage, Abortion, etc.)

NOTE: Enumerated Powers are the same as Expressed Powers

#5: Separation of Powers To prevent any particular group (like a political party, for instance) from getting too powerful, we have separation of powers, which breaks up the government into the three different branches.

#6: Checks & Balances #7: Individual Rights As another way to avoid corruption, the Framers established our lovely system of checks & balances, as we have discussed before. Interestingly, as time passed, the Supreme Court acquired the power to determine the meaning of the Constitution, and whether something was Constitutional or not, allowing them to overturn laws, and in a sense create laws too. We’ll talk more about this later. #7: Individual Rights In 1791, right after Ratification, the Bill of Rights (first 10 Amendments) was passed to protect basic liberties of all American citizens. Additionally, the 17 Amendments after these expanded the rights of many Americans, including allowing women to vote, as well as blacks, authorizing an income tax, among other things.

VID

Next: The Bill of Rights!

The Bill of Rights #1: Guarantees freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and press, and the rights of the people to petition the government #2: Protects the rights of states to maintain a militia, and the right of citizens to bear arms (weapons) #3: Restricts the quartering of troops in private homes #4: Protects against unreasonable “searches & seizures” #5: Assures the right not to be deprived of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”

The Bill of Rights, Cont. #6: Guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury #7: Assures the right to a jury trial involving common law (law as established by previous court decisions) #8: Protects against excessive bail, or cruel or unusual punishment. #9: Specifies that rights are not limited to those in the first 8 amendments #10: Restates the principle of federalism, saying all powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states and people. Class Activity.

HW Reminder: Finish the “Value of Rights” & “Life without Rights for the Accused”, Due next time!