A.P. Government
Chapter 2
The United States’ break with Great Britain played a major role in shaping the first American governing document, the Articles of Confederation. This document, however, fashioned a system of government that proved unworkable in the new nation. Today, the foundation of the American political system rests on the Constitution, a document that established the United States as a federal republic composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Over time, the Constitution has been amended to account for the growth of the nation and changes to the political system.
Roots of the New American Nation:
-For 140 years, Great Britain allowed the American colonists significant ability to self-govern.
Colonists were able to levy taxes, while British controlled foreign relations and trade under the system of mercantilism.
The French and Indian War led to significant debt for Great Britain.
-Levied a series of increasingly oppressive taxes on the colonists to make up revenue shortfalls.
-Included the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Quartering Act.
Colonists mobilized in opposition to these acts.
-Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry formed the Sons of Liberty.
-Stamp Act Congress met in 1765 to detail a list of British violations of the colonists’ fundamental rights.
-Oppressive British rule increased after this meeting; the Townshend Acts were passed in 1767.
-Samuel Adams formed the Committees of Correspondence to keep the colonies appraised of developments with the British.
-Tea Act and Coercive Acts followed; these acts had the greatest impact in Massachusetts, where the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre took place.
Colonists held meetings to decide how to respond to these acts.
-First Continental Congress was held in 1774 to iron out differences with the king. The Declaration of Rights and Resolves was drafted at this meeting. It demanded that the Coercive Acts be repealed.
-Second Continental Congress was held in 1775.
Fighting had already begun at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.
Original intention was still to heal wounds with Great Britain, and they extended the Olive Branch Petition.
Thomas Paine released Common Sense, galvanizing the colonists in favor of independence.
Eventually drafted the Declaration of Independence, which explained why the colonists were establishing their own sovereign country separate from Britain.
Declaration of Independence was the official break Great Britain.
-Listed grievances against the king and justified revolution
-Borrowed heavily from the social contract theories of John Locke.
The First Attempt at Government: The Articles of Confederation
-Articles of Confederation created a loose league of friendship between the states with the national government drawing it powers from the states.
-The only national institution was a Congress made up of one member from each state.
-Ratified by all states by 1781.
-A national government without any centralized power to be ineffectual.
-No power to coin money.
-No ability to make foreign agreements.
-No executive or judiciary
-No power to tax
Shay’s Rebellion: 1786 rebellions in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their farms. The government’s inability to respond quickly to this uprising of Massachusetts farmers illustrated the very real problems with the Articles.
The Miracle at Philadelphia: Writing the U.S. Constitution:
-Constitution: A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government.
-Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles.
-All of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were male and well educated.
-Has been significant debate over the motives of the framers. Some scholars argue that they wrote the new Constitution to ensure their own economic well-being.
-The biggest compromise was in legislative representation of big and small states.
-Large states favored the Virginia Plan. Under this plan, representation in a bicameral legislature would be determined by the population of each state.
-Small states favored the New Jersey Plan. Under this plan, states’ representation in a unicameral legislature would be the same regardless of size or population.
-This debate was resolved by the Great Compromise. This created a bicameral legislature that borrowed elements from both plans. The Senate was made up of two representatives from each state. Representation in the House was determined by the population of each state.
Conflict between Northern and Southern states was resolved by the Three-Fifths Compromise. This mandated that representation in the House would be based on the whole number of “free persons” plus three-fifths of the number of slaves living in a state.
-The executive branch was resolved by the Committee of Unfinished Portions.
-Chose a single chief executive serving a four-year term
-President elected by the Electoral College
-President could be removed from office through impeachment.
The U.S. Constitution:
-Preamble declared that the source of the government’s power was with the people.
-The U.S. constitution created a federal system, a system of government in which powers and responsibilities were divided between the state and national governments, both of which got their power from the people.
-Document was based on the ideas of separation of powers and checks and balances.
-Separation of powers parcels out power among the three branches. Each branch is staffed separately, with equality and independence from the other branches. The functions of each branch are as follows:
- The legislature makes the law
- The executive enforces the law
- The judiciary interprets the law
-Checks and balances give each branch a way to limit and counteract the powers other branch.
-The new Constitution has seven articles.
-Articles I created the legislative branch.
-Sets out the duties and qualifications for the office.
-Article I, Section 8 is one of the most important parts, as it lists the powers of Congress. These are known as enumerated powers.
-This is the basis for the implied powers of Congress, which are powers derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause. These powers are not stated specifically but are considered to be reasonably implied through the exercise of delegated powers.
Articles II creates the executive branch:
-Sets out the duties and qualifications for office.
-Lists the powers of the president, including action as commander in chief, making appointments, and making treaties.
-Details how the president can be removed from office.
Article III creates the Judicial Branch:
-Creates the Supreme Court
-Declares that judges “shall hold their Offices during good behavior.”
Article IV: It includes the Full Faith and Credit Clause, which mandates states to honor the laws and judicial proceedings of other states, and the provisions for admitting new states to the union.
Article V: specifies how the constitution may be amended.
Article VI: includes the Supremacy Clause, which states that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government, and specifies that the government cannot use any religious tests.
Article VII: includes provisions for ratification
The Drive for Ratification of the U.S. Constitution:
-The approval of at least nine states was needed to ratify the constitution.
-There were two factions during the ratification period.
Federalists supported the new Constitution and a stronger central government.
Leading the Federalists Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote The Federalist Papers to defend the new constitution.
Anti-Federalists believed that a strong central government would limit the powers of the states and would run rampant over citizens’ rights and liberties. They demanded a Bill of Rights to protect rights and liberties from government infringement. Today, this is the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
-Small states and states where Federalists were well organized ratified the Constitution quickly.
-Larger states, such as New York and Virginia, held out much longer, and only ratified after the publication of The Federalist Paper and concessions for a Bill of Rights.
Toward Reform: Methods of Amending the U.S. Constitution:
-The formal amendment process has two stages.
- Proposal may be done by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress or by a national constitutional convention.
- Ratification may be done by three-fourths of state legislatures or by conventions in three-fourths of the states.
-The traditional process is proposal with the approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of legislatures.
-A ratifying convention has only been used once, with the Twenty –First Amendment.
-The Constitution can also change informally.
-The judiciary can reinterpret the provisions of the Constitution.
-Social and Cultural change can also lead citizens and policymakers to reexamine relevance and meaning of constitutional provisions.