The Constitution

Chapter 2

You think you know…but do you really?

Ancient Greece

• First civilization to break away from totalitarian rule and embrace democracy.

• “Demos” means people and “kratos” means rule or authority.

• Athenian men voted in the Assembly; they used the secret ballot, served on committees and juries, and performed military service.

• This form of “direct democracy” has never been practiced to such a full extent since.

Roman Empire

• Stretching from England to the Persian Gulf at its peak, Rome evolved from a monarchy to a limited representative democracy, to totalitarian state.

• Patricians (“fathers”) controlled the Roman Senate and the lower classes had their own less powerful representatives.

• The Romans contributed two major achievements to the story of democracy: a system of Codified Laws and a focus on Citizenship.

Roman Code of Laws

• The Laws of the Twelve Tables governed the Roman Empire.

• It was broken down into two parts: Public Law and Private Law.

• Public Law focused on the Roman state.

• Private Law focused on the behavior of the individual.

• The test of any law was “what a person of common sense and good faith would know to be right.”

Roman Citizenship

• Roman citizens were free subjects who could vote, hold office, and be subject to the Roman code of justice.

• Many groups willingly allowed themselves to be subject to Roman rule in order to be citizens and enjoy those rights.

Feudalism• After the collapse of the Roman Empire around 450 A.D., a

period of chaos reigned only to be soothed by the rise of the Catholic church in Europe.

• Feudalism emerged out of this, as well as the Crusades, in which Christians fought to gain back the Holy Land in the Middle East.

• The Lord of the Manor would rule over the lives of the serfs, who worked to make each manor as self-sufficient as possible.

• Knights served the Lord and fought to maintain prestige and to protect the manor and the castle.

• Serfs were bound to the soil and unable to gain any higher social standing. They were not educated and religious life was on the manor was controlled by the priest.

Renaissance

• The Feudal period gave way to the Renaissance. Several achievements led to the development of intellect and curiosity:

• The printing press and use of the vernacular (native language instead of Latin) encouraged more people to want to learn to read.

• Sea exploration to Asia and America led to exposure of new ideas and cultures, as well as financial benefit (ownership of colonies and Mercantilist Theory).

• Curiosity beget more curiosity and people begin to question authority, especially that of the Pope, hence the Protestant Reformation.

• “Divine Right of Kings” was questioned by Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire.

British Colonial Rule

Powerful British Government

Political Subunits (Colonies)

Unitary System – all power flows from one central government

Declaration of Independence

• Written by Thomas Jefferson

• Inspired by John Locke

• D of I opens with Jefferson invoking Locke philosophy… “Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness”

• Jefferson continues by listing grievances against George III for violating inalienable rights

• declares US independence

Articles of Confederation

1781 – 1789 – RIP

Confederate System – power concentrated in political subunits (states) with a weak central government (typically unite for a common goal)

Constitution

Central US government

State governments

Federal System – powers are divided and/or shared between state and central governments (Current gov’t designed by framers)

Articles of Confederation

• 1781-1789

• Original American gov’t system

• Weak central gov’t

• Individual and state liberties not threatened

• No executive (they hated kings)

• Confederacies are usually unstable

A of C – Weaknesses

• Article II – “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.” Gov’t has no control

• Unicameral Congress (one house) with one vote per state– Supermajority (9 of 13) to pass a law– Supermajority (13 of 13) to amend

• No Executive (No President), no central authority• No Federal Judiciary (No Supreme Court), no

central law• No control of taxation, commerce between states or

with foreign nations, money system

Shays’s Rebellion

• Colonies were in debt after the war, central gov’t tried to raise taxes

• Farmers in western Massachusetts rebelled against tax they could not afford

• Rebelled against foreclosures, forced judges out of court, freed debtors from jail

• Showed that national gov’t was weak, needed to seek a stronger national gov’t

The Constitutional Convention

• 1787• Revising the A of C• Demographics of Delegates

-55 delegates (none from RI)-33 Lawyers-half were college graduates-7 former governors-7 plantation owners-8 business leaders-age 26-81 (avg. age 42)-all male, all white

Two “Revision” Plans

• Virginia Plan– Favored large states– Strong central government– Bicameral (two house) legislature – larger

house elected by the people (House of Representatives, and a smaller house that was selected by larger house (Senate)

• (This would change in the 17th Amendment)

Two “Revision” Plans

• New Jersey Plan– Agreed with strong central government…BUT– Congress would be unicameral (one house)

with states having equal votes– Did not want large population states to

dominate the legislature

Great Compromise

• A bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives membership apportioned according to the state populations, plus 3/5 the slave population

• An upper house, the Senate, which would have two members from each state, elected by the state legislature (popularly elected today)

Three-fifths Compromise

• Agree to allow the South to count 3/5 the population in each state to balance the power of North and South

Madisonian Principles of Gov’t in the Constitution

• Popular Sovereignty – power to govern belongs to the people, gov’t based on the consent of governed

• Separation of Powers – division of gov’t between branches: executive, legislative and judicial

• Checks and Balances – a system where branches have some authority over others

• Limited Government – gov’t is not all-powerful, and it does only what citizens allow

• Federalism – division of power between central government and individual states

Separation of Powers

• Prevents an all-powerful ruling body

1. Legislature – passes law (Congress)

2. Executive – enforces law (President)

3. Judiciary – interprets law (Supreme Court)

Amending the Constitution

• Meant to be difficult

• Require action from national and state gov

• Amendment proposed by 2/3 vote in each house of Congress and ratified (accepted) in at least ¾ of state legislatures

Fed vs. Anti-Fed

• Ratification – formal approval

• Federalist – in favor of adoption of US Constitution creating a federal union and strong central government

• Anti-Federalist – opposed to ratification in 1787, opposed to strong central government

Federalist Papers

• Annoyingly hard to read

• Best political theory ever written in US

• Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

• Publius

• Convince public for ratification

Federalist #10

• Madison addresses biggest fear of gov’t

• Faction – a group in a legislature or political party acting together in pursuit of some special interest (think fraction – ½, 1/3, etc)

• Founding fathers were concerned that our government would be ripped apart

• Madison defends our national Constitution

Federalist #10

• Separation of Powers check the growth of tyranny

• Each branch of government keeps the other two from gaining too much power

• A republic guards against irresponsible direct democracy or “common passions”

• Factions will always exist, but must be managed to not destroy the system.

Anti-Fed Response

• Central gov’t would threaten liberty

• Aristocratic tyranny could happen

• Demanded a guarantee of individual rights and liberty

• States power was too limited

Bill of Rights

• 10 amendments to the Constitution

• guaranteed individual freedoms and rights

• limited power of national government, guaranteed rights to states

• Ratified in 1789, Bill of Rights added 1791