Judicial Branch DBQ

Doc A Author: US Supreme Court (Marshall) Place and Time: US, 1803 Prior Knowledge: John Adams gave jobs to his friends a few days before leaving office, Jefferson was getting ready to take office and didn’t like the appointments, political parties begin playing a role,

Doc A Reason: Make Jefferson mad, party politics, government becomes inefficient (divided), limits Jefferson power as President Main Idea: Jefferson refused to commission a justice of the peace Significance: Established JUDICIAL REVIEW, made the judicial branch STRONG, they now could rule laws unconstitutional

Doc B Author: Unknown Place and Time: Unknown Prior Knowledge: Identify the branches and know their roles, the Constitution is the rule book for our government, all branches are equal in power, checks and balances, separation of powers

Doc B Reason: advantage to the legislative branch, executive branch feels overmatched, equal checks and balances??? Main Idea: Checks and balances not occurring, one branch too powerful, US Constitution should decide Significance: Not an example of separation of powers, US Constitution the “supreme law of the land”, judicial branch has final say

Doc C Author: US Supreme Court (Marshall) Place and Time: US, 1819 Prior Knowledge: national government can’t be taxed by the states, national bank is constitutional, expands the power of the federal government at the expense of the states

Doc C Reason: shows the power of the national government, another example of judicial review Main Idea: expanded the power of the national government, states losing power, Congress has implied powers (elastic clause) Significance: Congress can pass laws and do things that are not necessarily in the Constitution, reading between the lines

Doc D Author: US Supreme Court (Warren) Place and Time: US, 1954 Prior Knowledge: Separate-but-equal was ruled constitutional (Plessy v Ferguson, 1896), this decision led to the civil rights movement, some states refused to follow this ruling

Doc D Reason: Declares segregation unconstitutional, power of the Supreme Court Main Idea: Society was changing, people were realizing that the old ways were holding back the country as a whole Significance: Led to civil rights movement, increased freedoms for many Americans, Supreme Court reflecting what society was demanding

Doc E Author: US Supreme Court (Blackmun) Place and Time: US, 1973 Prior Knowledge: Deals with abortion, state of Texas said you could not choose to have one, Bill of Rights protects many individual freedoms

Doc E Reason: US Supreme Court involved in an issue of growing debate, (pro-choice vs pro-life), Court has the final say Main Idea: ruled that no state could deny women the right to choose to have an abortion Significance: Protection of Constitutional freedoms and liberties

Doc F Author: US Supreme Court (Burger) Place and Time: US, 1974 Prior Knowledge: Watergate scandal, Nixon resigns from office due to taping his conversations and refusing to turn over tapes, people began to fear the government (Vietnam, Pentagon Papers)

Doc F Reason: Executive privilege is not above the Constitution, Judicial Branch has power over the President Main Idea: Checks and balances, no one is above the law Significance: Shows that the power of the President is limited by the Supreme Court, limits the power of the President