Ch. 1, 2, 3: The Origins of the Constitution

S. Guide

   

Ch. 1

1. Government – the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.  It is made up of those people who exercise the power, those who have authority and control over the people.

 

2. Public policies – all of those things a government decides to do.  The government does many things like imposing taxes, setting a minimum wage, maintaining large combat-ready forces, and protecting the environment.

 

3. The state – defined as the body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically under a government and having the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any other authority.  There are more than 180 states today in the worked and they all vary in size, greatly.

 

4. Sovereign – supreme and absolute power within its own territory.  It can frame the economic its economic system and shape its own foreign policies.

 

5. Population- with relation to size and culture.  A population can be of mostly the same kind of people or it can be a very diverse population.

 

6. Territory – the land where the state exists with its own boundaries.  San Marino is the smallest state and Russia is the largest, while the United States has 3.7 million square miles of territory

 

7. Origins of the State – Many people have wondered how the “state was formed over the years.  There are many different theories but there are four main theories of the origins.

 

8. The Force Theory – Many people believed that the state was formed by force.  Someone came into the area and said I am in control and the people followed.

 

9. The Evolutionary Theory – Others believe that the state just developed naturally.  They believe that one family was there and then the head of the household was the leader and slowly the state became larger and larger.

 

10. The Divine Right Theory – Many people basically accepted the fact that the ruler is the one who was born into leading.  The Divine right meaning, “I am born into the royal family, therefore I am the royal ruler. 

 

11. The Social Contract Theory – This theory most represents how the United States was formed.  Basically a group of people in an area kind of just agreed on having a government that protected the area and certain people helped in ruling the state.

 

12. The Purpose of Government – There are five different things that the government is supposed to do.  These are the reasons why there is a government. 

 

13. To Form a More Perfect Union – The Constitution was formed to link the 12 originals states together to make more of a union.  Before the constitution was formed there were rivalries among the original states for power.

 

14. To Establish Justice – Justice is a concept that has been developing over time in the United States.  The law in content and administration has to be fair, reasonable, and impartial. 

 

15. To Insure Domestic Tranquility – Order is very important to the well-being of the population in a state.  Lebanon has a government that has become weak over the years because of the anarchy in the “state”.

 

16. To provide for the Common Defense – Defending the people against foreign enemies has always been one of the important things that the government should do.  Defense and foreign policy are the main parts of the security of the United States.

 

17. To Promote the General Welfare – The government has the public schools, and other things like keeping the air, water, and food we all eat clean.  In some other governments, it is in charge of operating railroads, airlines, and coal mines.

 

18. To Secure the blessings of Liberty – No one can actually do whatever he or she pleases, but the government is designed so that one can do things freely, and they are close to being fully free.  The federal constitution and state constitutions try to preserve some certain rights and privileges that are guaranteed.

 

19. Classifying Governments – There are no two governments that are alike therefore there must be a way to classify the different governments.  There are three basic things that classify the governments: the geographic distribution of the government power of the state, the relationship between the legislative and executive branches, and the number of persons who can take a part in the governing process. 

 

20. Geographic Distribution of Power – the places of which the powers are in the government are different in all governments.  There are three basic governments in this category the unitary, federal, and confederate. 

 

21. Unitary Government – is the centralized government.  This is where all the power is put in a certain place by the convenience of that government.

 

22. Federal Government – is one in which the powers of the government are divided between a central government and local governments.  The United States is a federal government because there are 50 different local governments and then the federal government that is above all the states.

 

23. Confederate Government – this is an alliance of independent states.  Most of the time the central state has a limited way of governing like focusing on defense and foreign affairs.

 

24. Relationship between Legislative and Executive Branches – There are two basic forms of government, the presidential and parliamentary.  This is where the two branches differ.

 

25. Presidential Government – features a separation of powers between the executive and the legislative branches of the government.  The chief executive is chosen independently of the legislature and they do a check and balance thing where they complement each other and make sure they are doing the right thing.

 

26. Parliamentary Government – the executive is made up of the prime minister and they are members of the parliamentary.  These people stay in office as long as the policy or administration may tell them to.  Its not a set time period

 

27. The Number Who Can participate – the most meaningful of the classifications of the government is the number of persons who can tae part in governing.  There are two basic forms: democracy and a dictatorship.

 

28. Dictatorship – exists where those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.  Basically the dictator has all control and power over the people.

 

29. Democracy – supreme political authority rests with the people.  The people have the ability to decide how the government is handles and all the things that associate with their lives.

 

30. Direct Democracy – this is also known as a pure democracy.  This is where the will of the people is translated into a public policy directly by the people. 

 

31. Representative Democracy – a small group of persons chosen by the people act as their representatives.  These people are responsible for the carrying out day-to-day conduct of the government.

 

32. The Foundation of Democracy – There are five different foundations in which the democracy exists.  They are the fundamental worth of the individual, a respect for equality of all people, a faith that majority rule and an insistence of the minority rights, acceptance of compromise, and the widest possible degree of individual freedom.

 

33. Fundamental Worth of the Individual – According to democracy a person’s worth and dignity has to be respected by all people and society at all times.  There is a fine line here because there are problems like forcing people to pay taxes and such which they cannot afford and it is difficult to determine how that should be handled.

 

34. Equality of all Persons – There is a democratic concept of equality that means that one is entitled to equality of opportunity and equality before the law.  This concept basically means that a person is free to develop his or her own self as much as they really want.

 

35. Majority Rule and Minority Rights – There is a majority rule for everything that is decided for the government, but because there are minorities there is a need for minority’s rights too.  The minority has rights; therefore, the majority has to do a few things that acknowledge the rights of the minorities.

 

36. Necessity of Compromise – Compromise is important to democracy for two reasons.  One reason is that democracy puts the individual first and insists that individuals have equal rights.  Second reason is that the most questions have multiple sides and in order to make everyone happy there needs to be some give and take on all the sides.

 

37. Individual Freedom – there is no complete freedom in a democracy because without it there would be ruthless rule.  All rights are vital in a democracy; therefore, people are free as far as the laws will let them be free because there must be some kind of order in a democracy.

 

38. Anarchy – is the total absence of the government.  This is where everyone has absolute freedom, but it would never really be fair because the strong and powerful people are going to be the ones who will dominate the area.

 

Ch. 2

 

39. Basic Concepts of Government – There have been many different concepts that were brought to the United States from the different people that came to the US in its pre-united country stage.  We use concepts from the Romans with their democracy and the English politics with laws, religion, and customs.

 

40. Ordered Government – The English colonists needed to have a regulation in relationships.  Many of the offices and units of the government are still found in the government of today.

 

41. Limited Government with respect to England and the Magna Carta 1215 – The first English people wanted the government to be less powerful in the lives of the people.  The concept of a limited government is under the Magna Carta tat was created 400 years earlier than when the people came to America.

 

42. Representative government (will of the people) – This idea is about how the government should actually serve the will of the people.  The people wanted to have a voice in what was going to happen in the government also. 

 

43. Magna Carta – This is the great charter that was made in 1215.  It included the fundamental rights as trial by jury and due process of law, the protection against arbitrary taking of life, liberty and property.

 

44. The Petition of Right – The limited king’s power by demanding that the king not imprison political critics without trial by jury.  The petition challenged the idea of divine right of the kings.

 

45. The Bill of Rights – they wanted to prevent the abuse of power by the king and queen of England.  In 1688 the parliament offered the crown to William and Mary of Orange.

 

46. English Bill of Rights – this bill prohibited a standing army in peacetime, except with the consent of the Parliament.  It also required the parliamentary elections be free.  Our nation was built on, changed and added to those and institutions that settlers brought here from England.

 

47. John Locke (natural rights) – he believed that the bill of rights were natural rights and not privileges.  This heavily influenced 18^th century America.

 

48. Government in the Colonies – the colonies developed separately over the years and each were created from different circumstances.  They were all shaped by the English origins which helped in combining the governments to make one central government

 

49. Charter – is a written grant of authority from the king.  Each colony was created under this basis and over time this led to the three different kinds of colonies: royal, proprietary, and charter.

 

50. Royal Colonies - they were the subject to the direct control of the Crown.  There were eight: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.   Virginia was the first royal colony.

 

51. Bicameral – this is a two house legislature.  There was the council which was made up of the king’s people and then the legislature who were the property owners that qualified to vote.

 

52. The Proprietary Colonies – There were three of these: Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware which was a powering whom the king had made a grant of land.  According to the charter, the land could be settled and governed as much as the owner chose. 

 

53. Unicameral – Pennsylvania had a unicameral body.  This means the governors council did not act as one house of the legislature.  It was basically whatever appealed to the governor

 

54. The Charter Colonies – Connecticut and Rhode Island were the charter colonies.  These were based on the charters that were granted in 1662 and 1663; they were largely self-governed.

 

55. Royal Control – At first all 13 colonies started out being governed by the king.  More and more through the time there they became more self-governed and they soon became federal in the 13^th century.

 

56. Growing Colonial Unity – there were many attempts before 1770s to promote unity within the colony. 

 

57. Early Attempts – in 1643 Mass. Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut formed a league of friendship for defense against the Native Americans.  In 1696 Penn offered a plan for intercolonial cooperation in trade, defense, and criminal matters

 

58. The Albany Plan – 1754 the British Board of Trade called a meeting in Albany.  The purpose was to discuss the problems of the trade and dangers of the attacks by the French and Natives

 

59. Albany Plan of Union (Ben Franklin Factor) – Franklin proposed a formation of annual congress delegates from each colony.  They would have the power to raise a military and naval force, make war and peace with the Natives, regulate trade, levy taxes, and collect custom duties.  It was turned down by the colonies and the Crown.

 

60. The Stamp Act Congress – The Act required the use of tax stamps on legal documents on business agreements and newspapers.  The taxes were denounced and the Congress met in New York and prepared the Declaration of Rights and Grievances which got the act repealed. 

 

61. The First Continental Congress – Fifty delegates met in Philadelphia except from Georgia and discussed the terrible situation.  They sent a Declaration of Rights to the king and the delegates urged the colonies to refuse all trade with England until the taxes were levied.

 

62. The Second Continental Congress – here a continental army was forced and congress became a force of circumstance, the nation’s first national government.  It was condemned by the British.  It was a government for five years until the Articles of Confederation were created. 

 

63. The Declaration of Independence – they announces its freedom in the first paragraph, two thirds of the declaration speak of the repeated injuries and usurpations that led to the colonists revolt.  This was when America was born.  It was very dangerous for those who signed the Declaration, but it was well worth it.

 

64. The First State Governments – New Hampshire adopted the constitution to replace the charter, South Carolina followed suit three months later.  1776 and 1777 most states adopted constitutions/

 

65. Written Constitutions (in states) – these are the bodies of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of their government.  Assemblies and conventions were commonly used to draft the constitution. 

 

66. Common Features of New States – the constitutions of the states differed in detail.  They did share common features.

 

67. Popular Sovereignty – most of the constitutions was based on popular sovereignty.  This insists that the government can exist and function only with the consent of the governed. 

 

68. Limited Government – this was a major feature in the document.  The powers delegated to government were at best reluctantly granted and hedges with many restrictions.

 

69. Civil Rights and Liberties – Seven of the documents contained a bill of rights setting out rights that could not be destroyed.  Every state made it clear the sovereign people held certain rights that the government has to respect.

 

70. Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances – the powers granted to the new state governments were purposely divided among three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.  They all have a way of checking each other out and balancing themselves out

 

71. The First National Constitution – It took 17 months for the body of America to consider the problem of uniting the colonies.  November 15, 1777 there was an article of confederation that was approved

 

72. Ratification – the formal approval of each of the colonies was needed.  Eleven states agreed within a year, but Maryland was the last to ratify the document.

 

73. Articles of Confederation – this established a firm league of friendship among the states.  Each state kept its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and power and jurisdiction and right. 

 

74. Governmental Structure – the government set up by the Articles was simple.  The Congress was the sole body created, it was unicameral each state had one vote.

 

75. Powers of Congress – there were many powers appointed the Congress.  They can make war and peace, send and receive ambassadors, make treaties, borrow money, set up a monetary system, build a navy, raise an army by asking State troops, fix uniform standards of weights and measures, and settle disputes among the States.

 

76. State Obligations – the state pledged to obey the Articles and act of the congress, provide funds and troops requested treat citizens of other States fairly and equally, give full faith and credit to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings, surrender fugitives, submit their disputes to the congress and allow open trade and travel between states.

 

77. Weaknesses – it wasn’t fair to have just one vote for every state because many of the states were different sized with different populations.  The Congress had no ability to make the States obey the Confederation or the laws that they made.

 

78. The Critical Period, the 1780's – After they got their freedom chaos basically rang throughout the United States.  The articles did not create a government that could deal with the nation’s problems.

 

79. The Meetings at Mount Vernon and Annapolis – Maryland and Virginia had trade dispute so they ignored Congress and met together.  They were so successful they called for a joint meeting of the states.

 

80. The Framers – they are the people that developed the constitution which included many people who helped develop the constitution.

 

81. Framers (included who?) – Washington, Madison, Edmund Randolph, George Mason, Franklin, Morris, Robert Morris and James Wilson.

 

82. Organization and Procedure – they met in Independence Hall and organized immediately.  They unanimously elected Washington as the president of the convention. 

 

83. The Decision to Write a New Constitution – the Philadelphia convention was called to recommend revisions of the Articles of Confederation.  Almost at once the delegates agreed that they were there to create a new government of the US.

 

84. The Virginia Plan – this called for a new government with three separate branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.  The legislature would be bicameral so to keep it fair with the states.

 

85. Virginia Plan (3 branches govt.)- Executive is the president and his cabinet.  The legislative is the Congress with the House of Representatives and the senate.  The judicial branch is the Supreme Court.   

 

86. The New Jersey Plan – this plan was to keep the government unicameral but have equal representation with all the states.  This called for a federal executive of more than one person.  This would be chosen by the Congress.

 

87. New Jersey Plan (plural Executive) – This would be determined by the Congress. The federal judiciary would be composed of a single supreme court.

 

88. The Connecticut Compromise – There was a large disagreement with these plans and the small states thought they would not get enough representation.  They combined the Virginia Plan and New Jersey plan. 

 

89. The Three-Fifths Compromise – The southern states wanted to count the slaves as the population so they could get more votes in Congress, but the slaves would not be able to vote.  The northern states did not like it, so a slave became 3/5 of a person.

 

90. The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise – the congress agreed that the power to regulate foreign and interstate trade.  The South was afraid because they believed the northern commerce was more interesting in congress than the south.  The congress is forbidden to the export of goods from any state.

 

91. "A Bundle of Compromises" – everyone agreed on popular sovereignty and a limited government in the compromises.  It was mainly the little things that the sates disagreed on so they had to compromise.

 

92. Sources of the Constitution – the framers used many of the philosophies of the political writers of their times.  They also developed their own ideas about government and democracy. 

 

93. The Convention Completes Its Work – It took several months for everyone to agree on different things.  Franklin believes that the constitution was not perfect, but it would do just fine for now.

 

94. Ratification – All the states had to ratify the constitution.  The framers had seen the crippling idea so the Congress of the confederation agreed to irregular procedure.

 

95. Federalists – these are people who supported ratification. They included James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.  They stressed the weaknesses of the constitution and argued the difficulties facing the republic.  

 

96. Anti-Federalists – they were against the ratification they included people like Hancock, Henry Lee, and Sam Adams.  They attacked the entire new document and the absences of the mention of God.

 

97. Success (Federalists) – They finally won the votes for the ratification.  Rhode Island was the last to ratify the constitution.

 

98. Inauguration of the New Government – the new Congress convened on March 4^th 1789, in Federal Hall in New York.  New York became the temporary capital

Ch. 3

 

99. Popular Sovereignty – this means that people are the only source of governmental power.  The government can govern only with the consent of the governed. 

 

100. Limited Government – this means that the government is not all powerful.  It has some things that it must do to protect the people. 

 

101. Constitutionalism – which the government must conducted according to constitutional principles.  The concept of limited government is also described in the rule of law. 

 

102. Rule of law - the government and its offices are always subject to the law.  They are never above the law. 

 

103. Separation of powers – the Constitution distributes the powers of the National Government among the Congress and the courts.  This is clearly set forth in the Articles of the Confederation. 

 

104. Checks and Balances – this means that each branch is subject to a number of constitutional checks and balances by the other two branches.  Each branch has the power to check and balance the other branches.

 

105.                      Judicial Review – the power to decide whether what government does is in accord with what the Constitution provides.  The courts have this power and no other branch.

 

106. Unconstitutional – this is something to declare illegal, null and void, of no force and effect.  This is basically a governmental action that violates some provision in the Constitution.

 

107. Federalism (How did it come about?) – The division of power among the central government and several regional governments that came to the Constitution out of both experiences and necessity.  The colonists had rebelled against the hard rule of the powerful and distant central government.

 

108. Amendment – the constitution provides of the amendments.  It changes in its written words.

 

109. Formal amendment – changes and additions that become a part of the written language of the Constitution itself.  There are four methods to this formal amendment. 

 

110. First Method – an amendment can be proposed with a two thirds vote in each house of Congress.  26 out of 27 amendments were adopted in this first method.

 

111. Second Method – an amendment can be proposed by the Congress and then ratified by conventions and this would have to get ¾ of the votes.  The 21 amendment was added in 1933 in this way. 

 

112. Third Method – An Amendment is proposed by a national convention called by the congress at two-thirds of the state legislature.  It must be ratified by the ¾ of the other half of the congress.

 

113. Fourth Method – it may be proposed by nation’s conventions and ratified by conventions in three-fourths of the States.  When both houses of Congress pass a resolution proposing an amendment, Congress does not sent it to the President to be signed or vetoed, though the Constitution would seem to require it.

 

114. The 27 Amendments – Congress proposed the first ten amendments in 1789.  Each was formed by the problems with ratifying the Constitution. 

 

115. Bill of Rights – The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.  They set out the great constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression, belief, of freedom security of the person. 

 

116. Informal amendment – the process in which many changes have been made in the Constitution that has not led to changes in the document’s written words.  The informal amendments are the result of every day and every year experiences of government in the Constitution.

 

117. Basic Legislation – it has passed many laws to spell out several of the Constitution’s brief provisions.  The congress has added to the Constitution by the way in which is has used many of its powers.

 

118. Executive Action – the manner in which differed Presidents have used their powers has also produced a number of important informal amendments.  The constitution makes the President the Commander in Chief of the nation’s armed forces.

 

119. Executive agreement – a pace made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state.  Recent presidents have used the treaties in conduct of foreign affairs instead of the more cumbersome treaty-making process.

 

120. Court Decisions – the Supreme Court interprets and applies the Constitution to many cases in the court.  Woodrow Wilson put the Supreme Court as a “constitutional convention in continuous session”

 

121. Party Practices – the constitution makes no mention of political parties.  Neither the Constitution nor any law provides for the nomination of candidate for the presidency.

 

122. Customs- Unwritten customs may be as strong as written laws, and many customs have developed in our governmental system.  Both the strength and the importance of unwritten customs can be seen in the reaction to the rare circumstances.