Constitution of the USA: Salient

Features
 The Articles of Confederation
• After 2nd Continental Congress -
• The colonists wanted a constitution--a written
document that defines rights and obligations
and puts limits on government.
• The colonists created a loose league of
friendship under "The Articles of Confederation.“
• The Articles were created predominantly as
reaction to the unitary system used in Britain in
which all of the power and sovereignty is vested
in the central government.
 The Articles of Confederation
• The government created under the Articles saw
the new country through the Revolutionary War.
• However, once the British surrendered in 1781,
the country was no longer united by a common
enemy and quarrels escalated among the states.
• Under the Articles the Congress had trouble
getting a quorum of nine states to conduct
business. Even when quorum was made, the
states did nothing but bicker.
 Problems Under the Articles of
Confederation
• The Congress had no power to tax. States
coined their own money and trade wars
erupted.
• Congress had no power to regulate commerce
among the states or ensure a unified monetary
system.
• States conducted foreign relations without
regard to neighboring states' needs or wants.
Duties, tariffs, and taxes on trade proliferated
with different ones in each state.
 Failure of the Articles
• The economy began to deteriorate. Several years of
bad harvests ensued. Farmers went into ever-deeper
debt.
• Many leaders worried about questions of defense,
trade, and frontier expansion.
• Under the Articles, the central government was not
strong enough to cope with these problems.
• By 1786, several states had called for a convention to
discuss ways of strengthening the national
government.
 Daniel Shays’s Rebellion

• Before that convention could meet, unrest broke out

in America. In Massachusetts, banks were foreclosing
on farms and the Massachusetts legislature enacted a
new law requiring all debts be paid in cash.
• Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran, was
outraged and frustrated with the new law and the
huge debt burden of farmers.
• Shays led a group of 1500 armed and disgruntled
farmers to the capital, Springfield. They forcibly
prevented the state court from foreclosing on their
farms.
 Shays’s Rebellion
• Congress authorized the Secretary of War
to call up a national militia to respond and
appropriated $530,000 for the purpose.
Every state except Virginia refused.
• Finally, a private army put down Shays's
Rebellion.
• This failure of Congress to protect the
citizens and property of Americans was a
glaring example of the weakness of the
Articles.
 Writing the Constitution

• On February 21, 1787, Congress called for a

Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
"for the sole and express purpose of
revising the Articles of Confederation.“
• In May, the convention met and the Virginia
delegation suggested they throw out the
Articles and devise a new system of
government!
• This act could be considered treason, so
they adopted a pledge of secrecy.
 The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

• The delegates submitted plans for a new

government.
• The Virginia Plan proposed that sovereignty
be vested in the people and not the states.
• The New Jersey Plan would have primarily
strengthened the Articles by giving Congress
the ability to raise revenues and would have
kept a unicameral legislature chosen by
state legislatures.
 The Great Compromise
• Connecticut offered a compromise taking
elements of each plan.
• The legislature would be bicameral with
the lower house (House of
Representatives)based on population and
the upper house (Senate) premised on
equal representation for the states.
• Both houses had to pass all legislation so
both small and large states were satisfied.
 Key Principles of the
U.S. Constitution
• Republicanism - not classical democracy, but based on
representation.
• Federalism - power is divided among the states and the
national government.
• Separation of Powers – power was divided vertically
through federalism and horizontally through separation
of powers among the three branches of government.
• Three branches:
– Legislative
– Executive
– Judicial
• Checks and Balances - The power of each branch of
government is checked or limited and balanced by
powers held by other branches.
 The separation of powers
• Ambition should be matched with ambition
(Madison).

• Prevents power accumulation in one branch.

US Constitution: political power divided into three branches
 How checks and balances work?
• If Congress passes a proposed law (“bill”) that the
president considers unwise, he can veto it.
– At least two-thirds of the members of both the House
and the Senate must vote to overthrow it.

• If Congress passes, and the president signs, a law

that is challenged in the federal courts as contrary
to the Constitution, the courts can nullify that law.

• The president has the power to make treaties with

other nations and to make appointments to federal
positions. The Senate, however, must approve all
treaties and confirm the appointments before they
can go into effect.
Legislative Branch
Powers
1. Make Laws
2. Can override presidential veto
with a two-thirds majority in
each house of congress.
3. Approves appointments of
federal court judges.

In 2005, Harriet Miers was

nominated to the U.S.
Supreme Court by
President Bush.
Congress did not approve.
Checks on Legislative Powers
1.President can veto bills.
2.The Supreme Court can rule that
a law is unconstitutional.

U.S. Supreme Court

Building
Executive Branch
Powers
1.Can approve or veto laws
2.Carries out the laws
3.Appoints federal court
judges
4.Commander and Chief of
military
Checks on Executive Powers
1. Congress can override
presidential veto with a
two-thirds majority in
each house.
2. Congress can impeach
and remove the
president for high crimes
and misdemeanors.
3. Senate approves or Andrew Johnson and
denies the president’s Bill Clinton have been
appointments to federal the only two
presidents who have
courts. ever been impeached.
However, they were
not removed from
office.
Judicial Branch
Powers
1.Interprets the meaning
of law
2.Can rule that laws
passed by Congress or
action taken by the
executive branch as
unconstitutional
Checks on Judicial Powers
1. Congress or the states can
propose an amendment to
the Constitution to make a
law constitutional.
2. Senate can refuse to
approve appointments to
the federal courts.
3. Congress can impeach and
remove a federal judge
from office. Supreme Court Justice Clarence
Thomas was almost refused
appointment by the Senate
because of sexual harassment
allegations.
 The Basic Principles of the
U.S. Constitution

The Supremacy Clause - Article VI says

that federal law is supreme. So if the
states and federal government argue,
the feds win.
 The Articles of the Constitution
• Article I - establishes the legislative branch.
• Article II - establishes the executive branch headed by
the president.
• Article III - establishes the judicial branch.
• Articles IV – establishes the "full faith and credit
clause" that mandates that states honor the laws and
proceedings of another state.
• Articles IV through VII - also include rules on the
admission of new states to the union, how
amendments can be added to the Constitution,
prohibits religious tests for holding office, and set out
procedures for the ratification of the document.
 Methods of Amending the
U.S. Constitution
• Formal Method –
Article V creates a two-stage process for amending the
Constitution: proposal and ratification.
• An amendment can be proposed by two-thirds of both houses of
Congress or
• by two-thirds of state legislatures requesting Congress to call a
national convention to propose amendments.
• An amendment can be ratified by a favorable vote in three-fourths
of all state legislatures or by such a vote in specially called ratifying
conventions called in three-fourths of the states.
• Informal Method – The Constitution also changes
informally through judicial interpretation and through
cultural and social change.
 Constitution: interesting facts
• The constitution represents “the supreme
law of the land”
– When state constitutions or laws are in
conflict with the federal Constitution – these
laws have no force
• The oldest in the world still in force
(Polish “May” Constitution 1791)
• Model for constitutions in other countries
• Only 27 amendments to date
 George Washington

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention sign the Constitution

in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
 Building support for the
Constitution
• Hamilton, Jay, and Madison undertook a
propaganda campaign for the Constitution in
The Federalist Papers.
• These initiatives were enormously successful.
• By July1788, the necessary number of states
had ratified.
• Resistance was pacified by the promise of ten
amendments to the Constitution, which would
act as a Bill of Rights.
US Capitol
Built on a hill popularly called Capitol
Hill in Washington, D.C., the U.S.
Capitol has been the home of the
House of Representatives and the
Senate since 1800.
This is where Congress meets and
conducts business. It is located on the
east end of the National Mall.
The White House
• Located at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue in
Washington, D.C
• built in 1800
• Oval Office – where the
President Works