Principles of United States Government

Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of the American government as expressed in the Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy.

State Standard GC.1

GC.1 Cite textual evidence and evaluate multiple points of view to analyze the influence of ancient Greek, Roman, and leading European political thinkers such as John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Niccolò Machiavelli, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and William Blackstone on the development of United States government.

Leading European Political Thinkers

John Locke Charles-Louis Montequeiu Noccolo Machiavelli Jean Jacques Rousseau William Blackstone

John Locke John Locke FRS, widely known as the Father of Classical

Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Wikipedia

http://www.iep.utm.edu/locke/

http://www.johnlocke.org/

Charles-Louis Montesquieu

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Age of Enlightenment

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/

Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance.

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/machiavelli.html

Jean Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher,

writer, and composer of the 18th-century. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/rousseau/

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone KC SL was an English jurist, judge

and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England.

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/blackstone.asp

State Standard GC.2

GC.2 Determine the central ideas in passages from Democracy in America to examine the character of American democracy as articulated by Alexis de Tocqueville. (H, P)

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French

political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/DETOC/toc_indx.html

State Standard GC.3

GC.3 Describe the purposes and functions of government as outlined in the Preamble to the Constitution and demonstrate an understanding of current application of those purposes and functions by identifying current government actions related to each of the six purposes.(P)

Preamble of the Constitution We the People of the United States, in Order to form a

more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

State Standard GC.4

GC.4 Explain how the Constitution reflects a balance between the promotion of the public good and the protection of individual rights.(H, P)

Balance of Public Good and Protection of Individual Rights

As all the world now knows, Judge Shira Scheindlin has ruled that the New York City Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy amounts to “a policy of indirect racial profiling” that violates the U.S. Constitution. But how did the she reach this conclusion? The answer turns out to be pretty interesting. It involves a number of statistical studies presented to the court by expert witnesses for the plaintiffs (a number of New Yorkers who claimed to have been stopped and frisked without cause) and the defense (the city of New York). August 13, 2013 “The Statistical Debate Behind the Stop-and-Frisk Verdict” Posted by John Cassidy, New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2013/08/scheindlin-stop-and-frisk-verdict-new-york-statistical-debate.html

What is “Stop and Frisk”?

The situation in which a police officer who is suspicious of an individual detains the person and runs his hands lightly over the suspect's outer garments to determine if the person is carrying a concealed weapon.

One of the most controversial police procedures is the stop and frisk search. This type of limited search occurs when police confront a suspicious person in an effort to prevent a crime from taking place. The police frisk (pat down) the person for weapons and question the person.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Stop+and+Frisk

Is It Fair? David Floyd v City of New York “NYPD stops are significantly more frequent for Black and

Hispanic citizens than for white citizens, after adjusting stop rates for the precinct crime rates, the racial composition and other social and economic factors predictive of police activity. These disparities are consistent across a set of alternate tests and assumptions.

Blacks and Latinos are more likely to be stopped than Whites even in areas where there are low crime rates and where residential populations are racially heterogeneous or predominantly White.”

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/stop_and_frisk/index.html

Stop-and-Frisk Data

In 2012, New Yorkers were stopped by the police 532,911 times

473,644 were totally innocent (89 percent).

284,229 were black (55 percent).

165,140 were Latino (32 percent).

50,366 were white (10 percent).

http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data

Pop Quiz!!!!

One a scale of 1-10, for # of officers assigned, how many were assigned to a...

a) Jimmy Buffett Concert?

b) Ludracis Concert?

c) Justin Bieber Concert?

d) A Thomas the Fire Engine Show?

e) The Ice Capades?

Imagine This....

People complain about flying today, being searched at the airport.

Imagine Living Like That Every Day of Your Life.....

State Standard GC.5

GC.5 Summarize (CC) with supporting evidence why the Founding Fathers established a constitutional system that limited the power of government. (H, P)

Founding Fathers George Washington James Madison

Thomas Jefferson John Adams

Benjamin Franklin Alexander Hamilton

George Mason Gouverneur Morris

Roger Sherman James Wilson

Edmund Randolph

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-founding-fathers/about-the-founding-fathers/

Other Readings

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The Ballot or the Bullet” speech, Malcolm X

Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, 1786

Primary Readings

Magna Carta

Mayflower Compact

English Bill of Rights

Two Treatises of Civil Government, John Locke

Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson

The Federalist Papers – 1, 9, 10, 39, 51, 78

Constitution

Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville

“The Social Contract” by Jean Jacques Rousseau

Magna Carta

Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, is an Angevin charter originally issued in Latin in the year 1215

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/magna_carta/

Mayflower Compact

The "Mayflower Compact" was signed on 11 November 1620 onboard the Mayflower shortly after she came to anchor off Provincetown Harbor. The Pilgrims had obtained permission from English authorities to settle in Virginia, whose northern border at the time extended up to what is now New York.

http://mayflowerhistory.com/mayflower-compact/

English Bill of Rights

The English Bill of Rights is an English precursor of the Constitution, along with the Magna Carta and the Petition of Right. The English Bill of Rights limited the power of the English sovereign, and was written as an act of Parliament. As part of what is called the “Glorious Revolution,” the King and Queen William and Mary of Orange accepted the English Bill of Rights as a condition of their rule.

http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator-resources/americapedia/americapedia-documents/english-bill-of-rights/

Two Treatises of Civil Government

The Two Treatises of Government is a work of political philosophy published anonymously in 1689 by John Locke.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/old/trgov10h.htm

Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), approved the Declaration of Independence, severing the colonies' ties to the British Crown.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DeclarInd.html

Federalist Papers

Beginning on October 27, 1787 the Federalist Papers were first published in the New York press under the signature of "Publius". These papers are generally considered to be one of the most important contributions to political thought made in America. The essays appeared in bookform in 1788, with an introduction by Hamilton. Subsequently they were printed in manyeditions and translated to several languages. The pseudonym "Publius" was used by three man: Jay, Madison and Hamilton. Jay was responsible for only a few of the 85 articles. The papers were meant to be influential in the campaign for the adoption of the Constitution by New York State. But the authors not only discussed the issues of the constitution, but also many general problems of politics.

http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1786-1800/the-federalist-papers/

Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

Democracy In America

De la démocratie en Amérique is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. Its title translates as On Democracy in America, but English translations are usually entitled simply Democracy in America

http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/toqueville/dem-in-america1.pdf

“The Social Contract”

Of The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right (Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique) (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is the book in which Rousseau theorized about the best way in which to set up a political community in the face of the problems of commercial society which he had already identified in his Discourse on Inequality (1754).

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/RouSoci.html

“Letter from Birmingham Jail”

The Letter from Birmingham Jail is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King, Jr. The letter defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, arguing that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/martin-luther-kings-letter-from-birmingham-jail/274668/

“The Ballot or the Bullet”

“Mr. Moderator, Brother Lomax, brothers and sisters, friends and enemies: I just can't believe everyone in here is a friend, and I don't want to leave anybody out. The question tonight, as I understand it, is "The Negro Revolt, and Where Do We Go From Here?" or What Next?" In my little humble way of understanding it, it points toward either the ballot or the bullet.” … Malcolm X

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/malcolm_x_ballot.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TKB3IYgEOg

Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom

“... Jefferson wanted to be remembered for, besides writing the Declaration of Independence, was writing the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and founding the University of Virginia, …”

http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/thomas-jefferson?legacy=true

Group Work

Go to your group in an orderly manner Group Assignments: Group 1 – GC.1 Group 2 – GC.2 Group 3 – GC.3 Group 4 – GC.4 Group 5 – GC.5

Group Work Group Reading Assignments:

Group 1 – Magna Carta

Group 2 – Mayflower Compact

Group 3 – English Bill of Rights

Group 4 – Two Treatises of Civil Government

Group 5 – Declaration of Independence

Group Work Group Reading Assignments:

Group 1 – Federalist Paper 1

Group 2 – Federalist Paper 9

Group 3 – Federalist Paper 10

Group 4 – Federalist Paper 39

Group 5 – Federalist Paper 51

Group Work Group Reading Assignments:

Group 1 – Federalist Paper 78

Group 2 – Constitution

Group 3 – Democracy in America

Group 4 – “The Social Contract”

Group 5 – “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

Group Work Group Reading Assignments:

Group 1 – “The Ballot or the Bullet”

Group 2 – Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom

Influence of Ancient Greece and RomeIn the year 507 B.C., the Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced a

system of political reforms that he called demokratia, or “rule by the people.” Although this Athenian democracy would survive for only two centuries, Cleisthenes’ invention was one of ancient Greece’s most enduring contributions to the modern worl

http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece-democracy

At about the same time that popular government was introduced in Greece, it also appeared on the Italian Peninsula in the city of Rome. The Romans called their system a rēspūblica, or republic, from the Latin rēs, meaning thing or affair, and pūblicus or pūblica, meaning public—thus, a republic was the thing that belonged to the Roman people, the populus romanus.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/157129/democracy/233830/The-Roman-Republic

Go to Your Groups

Work on your standard today.