1. What is a government?
A system that is put in place, each role filled by people that are designated to act on behalf of a group of people (nation)

2. What is the difference between politics and government?
is the system
Politics
Is the struggle between various groups to control or influence the government
It’s the different groups that try to run the system

4. What kind of government do we have?
Democracy
Rule by the many, people of the nation have the power in their government
Republic
System of government in which the people elect representatives to carry on the work of the government for them

5. Levels of Government (not branches)
National/Federal
State
Local (township, borough, school district, etc.)

8. Federalism vs Confederacy
A governmental system in which power is divided between a strong _______________ government and a smaller ________________ government.
Confederacy
A governmental system in which there is a loose association between a more powerful ________________ government and a limited ______________ government.

10. Levels of Government (not branches)
National/Federal
State
Local (township, borough, school district, etc.)

11. Levels of Government What does each level do for you?
Federal
State
Local

12. What creates/establishes a government?

13. What is a constitution? (not the U.S. Constitution)

14. A set of ideas (principles) that says the powers and duties of a government (theory)
A constitution sets up the framework of a government (tells what positions exist in a system of government) and expresses what it can and cannot do. (practice)

15. How many constitutions have we had in our history?

16. How did we end up with two?
How did we end up here?
How did we end up with two?

17. + and – of parents!
*Is life better with or without parents?

18. New fledgling nation…United States of America
Who was our parent? GB
What did we just do to our parent?
Kicked them out
But life is better with a parent, so what do we do now?
Adoption (find a new parent – Spain, France, etc.)
Make our own “parent”/government
Sheepishly return to our old parent (GB)

19. Which do we decide? To be our own parent and make a new government
What kind of document establishes a government?
A constitution (not THE US CONSTITUTION)

20. Articles of Confederation
Take one…
Our first attempt at writing a constitution (creating a new government)…
Did it work?
NO!
How do you know?
B/C we do not use it today.
Let’s figure out how they developed it and why it didn’t work.
Articles of Confederation

21. How did we get to this point?

22. If you were in charge of your own household, what would your rules be?
Be specific
Minimum of 5
*Are any of them the exact opposite of what you live under now? Why?

23. America is no different…
Created a government that was exactly the opposite of what they had before
No kings
No national military
States and local government had distinctly more power than the federal government

24. Articles of Confederation
First national/federal constitution (each state also created their own state constitutions)
The A of C laid out what our national/federal government would look like
Passed by the Second Continental Congress on Nov. 15, 1777 (not officially, unanimously ratified until 1781)

25. Articles of Confederation
Single branch of national government (Congress)
Each state had one vote in Congress (no matter how big or small your state – what’s the potential problem with this?)

26. Articles of Confederation The national/federal government that was created …
The bad…
The good…
The system was weak
Could not collect taxes (in order to raise money for the nation)
Had to ask states for money – states could say NO
Could not regulate interstate trade (states traded based on rules that were best for them – Would the rules be the same in South Carolina and Massachusetts?)
Had no executive branch (out of fear of a tyrannical king)
Could not force anyone to abide by its laws
Had no judicial branch/ national court system
No way to settle disputes between states (
Could only ask states to provide a military
Was not like the British monarchy (good b/c that’s what we just rebelled against)
Was able to make allies with foreign countries and sign treaties
Was able to declare war and make peace
Was able to coin (so were states) and borrow money

27. Articles of Confederation
Outcomes
Weaknesses
____
Each state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of size
There was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by Congress
There was no national court system
Congress had no power to tax
Congress did not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce (buying/selling)
Amendments to the Articles of Confederation required a unanimous vote
Laws required 9/13 majority to pass in Congress
There was no way to settle disputes between states
New laws were difficult to pass
A small state had the same power as a large state in all affairs
The laws were inconsistently enforced by the individual states
The government was always short of money and couldn’t repay its war debt
In all practical terms, there were no new changes to the government structure
Each state managed its own commerce (buying/selling), so it was difficult to trade with other nations

28. With thirteen states “being in charge”…
problems quickly surface
Govt. could not pay for things
Govt. could not settle arguments btwn states

29. By 1786…
Reality set in that the confederation of states (known as the United States of America) would likely fall apart

30. By 1786…
So twelve delegates from five states met in Annapolis, Maryland (former US Capitol). Due to limited representation the only conclusion was to hold another meeting in Philadelphia to discuss the changes or replacement of the A of C.

31. So, advocates emerge (both for and against the A of C)

32. Non-believers of the A of C were called federalists
Believers of the A of C are called anti-federalists
Non-believers of the A of C were called federalists
Thomas Paine
Patrick Henry
Samuel Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton
James Madison
George Washington
John Adams
Benjamin Franklin

33. Federalist Papers Federalist Papers
First published on October 27, 1787
Series of 85 essays (published in a book form)
Written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison
The papers were meant to be influential in the campaign for the adoption of the U.S. Constitution

34. And so a meeting was called.
We are simply going to need to compromise

35. The Constitutional Convention

36. What Constitutional Convention?
Why was it needed?

37. We need to fix this problem…
Let’s take the good stuff from the British style government…
Hmm…what should we call this new document…
And the good stuff from the A of C…

38. The United States Constitution
Ta da!
The United States Constitution

39. Constitutional Convention
Federalist Papers
May 1787
Philadelphia, PA
Independence Hall
Goal: improve the Articles of Confederation
Result – an entirely new constitution (the United States Constitution)
Ratification:
December 7, 1787 (DE); May 1790 (RI)

40. The 13 states that ratified the U.S. Constitution (in order)
Delaware (December 7, 1787)
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Georgia
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Maryland
South Carolina
New Hampshire
Virginia
New York
North Carolina
Rhode Island (May 29, 1790)

41. Present and accounted for: Present and accounted for:
Notable Names!
President of convention: George Washington
Present and accounted for:
James Madison
M.I.A.
John Adams
Present and accounted for:
Benjamin Franklin
M.I.A.
Thomas Jefferson
M.I.A.
Patrick Henry

42. Signers Hall of Fame
42 of the 55 delegates were present when Benjamin Franklin called for a vote
Every state had one or more delegates at the time of the vote
All but THREE of the 42 delegates signed the Constitution
Elbridge Gerry, George Mason, Edmund Randolph
FIVE delegates signed both the D of I and Constitution
George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, Roger Sherman

45. DUE BY THE END OF CLASS Read through the states and their populations
List the 13 original colonies & their MODERN day populations & their current ranking
Notice the changes from past to present (ex. How some states that were once the smallest are now if the top ten in terms of population)
Why are there 51 rankings if we only have fifty states?
What state (of all fifty) grew the most?
What state (of all fifty) shrank the most?
What are three reasons states grow and shrink in population?
Look at the Congressional map.
What does this map show you?
What 5 states have the most representation? (you will actually have more than five states)
What states have only 1 representative?

47. Congressional Representation (House of Representatives)
Total number of US Representatives: 435
435 has been used since 1913
1 representative = ~711,000 people
US population is approx. 300,000,000
# of representatives each state gets is based on STATE pop.
The larger the state pop. the more reps.
The smaller the state pop. the fewer reps.
Every state is guaranteed ONE rep.
The number of representatives that each state gets in the H of R can change with each census carried out (every ten years = 2020)
PA once has 21 representatives. What must have happened to our state population relative to other states?

48. Coming to an agreement…
Took months to come to an agreement
Why?
Different opinions
Different states wanted different things
Dictated by lifestyle (education, occupation, religion) and size (population)

49. Coming to an agreement…
Even though change was needed there was still concern about the creation of something that would put too much power in one person’s hands
So this time when giving the federal govt. more power than under the A of C – they split up the power (separation of powers) in order to prevent a tyrannical king.

50. 3 branches

51. Executive Branch constitutional debate
Delegates knew they needed a branch to enforce the laws
executive branch
Title: King? President?
Length of term: Option of eternity? Limited?
Vice President: Runner up? Running mate?

52. Coming to an agreement…
Legislative branch –
we had one last time, but it still struggled to be effective
Difficulty passing laws
Wage war without a military
No means of raising money to pay for the nation
Delegates knew they needed an improved legislative branch

53. Legislature constitutional debate
An official group of people that have the power to make laws
How many groups (houses) should be able to do this?
How should we determine the number of people in each group (representation)?
(A of C - multiple representatives per state in one house {Congress} with only one vote per state)
*And so people offered their ideas (of course offering ideas that benefit them best)

54. Virginia Plan (suggestions along the way…)
VA – big or little state?
Edmund Randolph
Bi-cameral legislature (two houses) w/ representatives based on state population (bigger the state population – the more representatives)
*If every representative gets one vote, who (big states or little states) would appear to have more power in a system like this?
*Who is likely to disapprove this plan?

55. New Jersey Plan (suggestions along the way…)
NJ – big state or little state
William Patterson
Unicameral legislature – one-house w/ an equal number of representatives from each state
* Who is going to have an issue with this plan?

56. If two sides (big states vs
If two sides (big states vs. little states) can’t agree on a single plan what do you propose they do next?
Great Compromise
Look at the cartoon and explain the Great Compromise in your own words…

57. Did it work? How do you know?
The Great Compromise
Did it work?
How do you know?

58. Great Compromise Roger Sherman Bicameral legislature
Senate (upper house); two senators per state regardless of size (appealing to the smaller states)
House of Representatives (lower house); the number of representatives would be determined by state population (appealing to the LARGER states)

59. By the end, what did it say?

60. By the end, what is our governments goal?
We the People…
Preamble

61. Preamble
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 our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

62. What does the U.S. Constitution say?
What did those Founding Fathers put down on paper?

63. Seven Articles of the U.S. Constitution
Creates the Legislative branch and gives Congress the power to make laws
Bicameral Legislature
Senate (2/state)
House of Representatives (based on state population)
Creates the Executive branch
Explains how the President carries out the laws passed by Congress
Creates the Judicial branch
Federal Court System
Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District Court
Right to hear cases that involve the Constitution, federal laws, treaties, disagreements between states, states and foreign nations

64. Seven Articles of the U.S. Constitution
Relations Among the States
Each state must recognize the official acts of other states
Amending the Constitution
Constitution can be changed if necessary
National Supremacy
National government trumps (outweighs) state power/law

65. Seven Articles of the U.S. Constitution
Ratification (approval)
Must require nine states to ratify the Constitution (applied at the time of only thirteen states)

66. Hey, how does the Constitution handle our, individual, rights?
Bill of Rights

67. Write a paper.

68. How many of you are comfortable with that assignment as it was stated?

69. How many of you need to know MORE?
Write down any questions you may have about the assignment.

70. Same applies to the U.S. Constitution
Not everyone was satisfied with the ratified version. Many wanted specific individual rights written out in plain language (not assumed).

71. Bill of Rights
Ratified: Dec. 15, 1791

72. Bill of Rights James Madison First ten amendments
Delegates took ideas from past grievances (abuses by the King)
Created to guarantee citizens’ individual rights

73. Amendments Changes to the Constitution
Article V (of the U.S. Constitution)
Provided a way to change the document when necessary to reflect the will of the people
Amendments must be approved by 2/3 of both houses and then voted on and approved by ¾ of the states