1. Chapter 2 Notes
Mrs. Ladson
AP Gov’t

2. Declaration of Independence
Presented in July 1776
Written by Jefferson approved by Continental Congress
Written like a lawyer’s brief
Introduction discusses social compact (contract) theory
List of grievances involve political liberties

3. American Revolution Colonists Uniqueness of the American Revolution
Thought laws should reflect unalienable rights
Most were self-employed and had property
Politically motivated more than economic
Uniqueness of the American Revolution
Focus was on political liberty
Lost confidence in the British government
Collection of laws, charters, and tradition
Colonists considered themselves British citizens and were entitled to same rights as those in Britain

4. Articles of Confederation
First “Constitution”
“League of friendship” between the states
Each state had one vote
- 9 out of 13 votes needed to pass any measure
Unanimous vote to amend
Weak/ Didn’t work because:
No power to tax – couldn’t fund nat’l Gov.
No army to defend states/stop rebellion
No regulation of commerce
Lacked effective national courts and a strong executive
Difficult to make laws because reps wouldn’t show up and hard to get 9/13 votes
Difficult to amend because you needed an unanimous vote
*Refer to additional worksheet on this topic.

5. Other influences on the Current US Constitution
British political documents
Bill of Rights
Various charters & traditions
Political philosophers
John Locke (consent of the governed)
Montesquieu (separation of powers in 3 branches)
State constitutions in the 1770’s and 1780’s
Ex – Virginia’s State Constitution
Failures/Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation
Events such as Shay’s Rebellion (April 1786)
Shay’s Rebellion – Jan 1787

6. State Constitutions 1780’sPA
Most democratic in nature but in practice became too strong
One unicameral Assembly
No governor or president
Weak exec. council
Too tyrannical,
disfranchised Quakers
Ignored trial by juries
Manipulated the judiciary
Assembly - 1 yr terms and no more than 4 years
No Pres or Gov but a weak executive council

7. State Constitutions of 1780’s
Massachusetts
Separation of powers between branches
Directly elected Governor who had veto power over Legislature
Judges served for life
Main officeholders had to be Christian
In practice ended up being too weak by itself (without a national gov’t)
Shay’s Rebellion

8. Virginia Constitution
Written about the same time as the Declaration of Independence
Contained a “Bill of Rights”
Main writers were James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and George Mason

9. Constitutional Convention in 1787 Philadelphia
Originally to revise the Articles of Confederation
Instability motivated delegates from the states to attend (Shay’s Rebellion)
Virginia delegation presented an entirely new government plan to be debated
Arrived first and were able to frame the
debate from the beginning

10. Virginia Plan First one presented at the Const. Convention
James Madison’s ideas
3 branches (judicial, executive, leg.)
Leg. – 2 houses – both based on state pop. (thus favored by larger pop. states)
Executive chosen by nat’l leg. (like a parliamentary system)
Council of Revision (immediate judicial review) could reject laws immediately
First house chosen by the people
Second house chosen by the first house
Council of Revision – made up of exec. & some leg members could veto acts of leg
Leg could override the veto

11. New Jersey Plan Amend Articles of Confederation not replace them
Each state has one vote
Favored by small states

12. Great Compromise Bicameral legislature
Lower house elected by people and based on population (originally one per 30,000 but now is around 700,000 )
Upper house equal rep. per state (2)

13. Federalists Favored the ratification of the new Constitution
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay are among them
Wanted strong national government
Where are differences more likely to be tolerated? In a small town or a large city?

14. Federalist Papers
Written to motivate New Yorkers to ratify the new Constitution in 1787
James Madison, Alexander Hamiliton, John Jay wrote them under the name Publius
Today it serves as an explanation for the Constitution
We will do the following this year: (AP only)
#10 –factions & how a strong nat’l gov’t can control them
# 51- separation of powers in branches
#78 – power of Supreme Court
New York was a swing state in the ratification process. Madison was from Virginia but new to try to influence NY.
Papers probably did little to sway voters at the time.

15. Anti-Federalists “States-righters” afraid of a strong nat’l govt
Felt liberty could only be protected by small gov’t close to the people.
Fears
Heavy taxes
Supreme Court would overrule state courts
President would head a large nat’l army that would get us into many unnecessary wars
* Most of these have come true
If strong nat’l government were to work then
narrow jurisdiction of Supreme Court
a council should review his actions
military should be left in hands of state militias
legislative body should be increased
make it hard for Congress to levy taxes

16. Ratifying the Constitution
Constitutional Convention approved the final draft in Sept 1787 by all 12 states present in Philadelphia
9 out of 13 states had to ratify it in special state conventions voted on by the people
Completed and implemented by 1789
Process was actually illegal because it went against the Art. Of Conder. Rule of unaminous vote in existence at the time.

17. Main Concepts of the Constitution
Separation of powers
3 main branches
Checks and balances for each branch
Federalism
Separation of power among state and national power
Limited Government
Compared to European countries which centralize power in a strong natl legislature
Framers knew that people seek their own self interests first. Unchecked this could lead some to exploit others.
How to keep this in check? Aristotle said cultivate virtue amon governed.
Sam Adams wanted US to become a Christian Sparta
James Madison thought if a govt did this it would become overbearing too strong & too dangerous to liberty. Separtion of powers and federalism would allow people to serve self interest without becoming overbearing. Pluralist idea

18. Structure of the Constitution
Preamble
Article I – Legislative branch
Article II – Executive
Article III – Judicial
Article IV – state issues such as protection of national gov’t to each state
Article V – Amending the Constitution
Article VI – Supremacy of Federal law over state law, no religious test for officials, etc.
Article VII – Ratification procedure

19. Structure of the Constitution
Amendments 1-10 Bill of Rights added in 1791
Amendments added over course of US History

20. Powers of Congress (enumerated in Article I, section 8)
Creation of laws and policies
Collection of taxes (improved with Amend 16)
Regulation of commerce
Coining of money
Declare war
Create courts
Create army and navy
Necessary and proper Clause

21. Power to Regulate Interstate Commerce
This clause has expanded the power of the national government more than any other words in the US Constitution
Virtually all commerce is interstate these days
Used to control states in their reserved powers
Example – Civil Rights amendment controlled education due to education’s connection to the workforce

22. Necessary and Proper Clause
Art. 1, section 8
Also called the “elastic clause”
Gives Congress power to do other things that are tied to their enumerated powers
Examples –
Congress can have a draft because they have the power to “raise an army”
Congress can create a bank and effect monetary policy due to its powers to print money and regulate commerce

23. Other Legal Terms/Rights in the Articles of the Constitution
Writ of Habeas Corpus
Bill of Attainder
Ex post facto
Trial by jury
Equality of rights throughout country
No religious test for office
No law impairing obligation to contracts may be passed.
Habeas corpus is to prevent illegal arrests and imprisonment. Must be brought before a judge with sufficient cause before being placed in jail
Bill of Attainder – a law that declares a person guilty of a crime without a trial to be guilty of a crime
Ex post facto – A retro Active criminal law - a law that makes an act illegal that was legal when is was done, inreases the punishment for a crime at a later date, or changes the rules of evidence to make a convicton easier

24. Habeas Corpus – Latin for “we have the body”
If you are thrown in jail/detained indefinitely by police, military or other government agency without a trial, your family or lawyer can issue a writ of habeas corpus to force you to be brought before an independent judge who reviews your case to see if your detention is lawful
Basically it is a check on executive power and forces police, etc to bring accused before a judge to see if the police action/detention is lawful.

25. Habeas Corpus Cont’d Does this apply to non-citizens too?
Can be suspended during times of rebellion or invasion according to US Constitution
Recent legal Questions that have arisen from this:
Does this apply to non-citizens too?
What is a rebellion or invasion? Does 9/11 count?
Examples when habeas corpus was suspended:
Lincoln during Civil War
Bush administration just after 9/11 and Guantanamo Bay (although the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration and ordered Gitmo detainees to have habeas corpus rights too)

26. Ex Post Facto – You can’t be charged for a crime after the fact
Ex Post Facto – You can’t be charged for a crime after the fact. Meaning if your actions were not illegal at the time of your actions, police can’t go back and arrest you for your past actions.
Examples:
Drinking age change
Texting while driving

27. Bill of Attainder – declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial
Limits trials by executive or legislative branches and is a protection of trial by jury rights in a judicial setting.
Limits abuse of executive and legislative branches.

28.
Letter of Marque and Reprisal – basically it is when the government gives permission to people/s to go after enemies of the state legally.
States can’t issue these according to the US Constitution

29. Important Clauses - Federalism
Article IV
Full faith and Credit
Privileges and Immunities
Extradition
Fugitive slave
Article VI
Supremacy
No religious tests but all elected officials (local, state, and national must swear an oath to uphold the US Constitution

30. Amending the Constitution (Formal) from Article V
Propose
2/3 of both houses of Congress
2/3 of state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments
Ratifying
¾ of state legislatures approve it
Ratifying conventions in ¾ of the states approve it
Proposal method 1 has been mostly used
2nd method of proposal used to repeal prohibition (21)
Congress can limit time for amendment to be ratified (7 years)
1,000 of proposals have been made but only 27 have passed

31. Bill of Rights Added shortly after original ratification in 1791
Not originally added
Legal rights were already in Articles of the US Constitution
Most states had bill of rights in state constitutions
Framers thought they were creating a gov’t with specific limited powers
Framers were afraid if they did list rights, then rights left out would be forbidden

32. Slavery in the Constitution
Did not abolish slavery in order to keep southern state support
3/5 of slaves were counted in US Census
Gave South more reps (and votes) in House
Gave South more Electoral Votes in Presidential Elections
Escaped slaves had to be returned to owners
Slave trade would become illegal after 1808 but slavery would be allowed to continue

33. Women in the Constitution
Left out – yes!
Article I states that only people allowed to vote in state legislative elections were allowed to participate in elections of the House of Representatives. (No state allowed women to voted for state legislatures)
Left out – no!
The non-gender specific words citizen, persons, people were used throughout the Constitution
When “he” was used it always referred back to a non-gender specific word such as person or citizen
The word HE legally meant male and female at the time.

34. Checks and Balances in US Constitution
Examples
President checks on Congress
presidential veto of legislation.
Commander-in-chief of the military
Congress can check the President
Veto override vote (2/3 of Congress)
Approval of treaties
Approval of nominees for executive leaders such as cabinet members and heads of executive agencies such as the EPA, FCC, Federal Reserve board
Approval of ambassadors
Controls military budget
Review page 29 in gray text for full details

35. How the original Constitution has been changed …
Electoral College Procedures (12th)
Method of counting people for House of Rep. (ending with 13 amendment which abolished slavery)
Beg. of federal terms moved form March to January (20th amendment)
Election of Senators (17th amendment)
Federal income tax system (16th amendment)
Line of succession for president (25th amendment)
Method of counting people for House of Rep.
-3/5 of slave went to whole count with the 14th amendment
Women were counted after amendment 19
Electoral College method changed – from 1st 2 nd place to ticket process (12th amend)
Timing of beginning of federal terms moved form March to January – (20)
Election of Senators – from state legislatures to direct popular vote
Federal tax system – (16)
Line of succession for president – (25) Pres – VP

36. Line of succession for president
Vice President (Joe Biden)
Speaker of the House of Representatives (will be John Boehner (R)- OH)
President pro tempore of the Senate (Daniel Inouye (D)-HI)
Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton)
Secretary of the Treasury (Timothy Geitner)
Clarified by Amendment 25 and law passed by Congress.
Article 2, Section 1 provided that the Vice President was first in the line of succession and also provided that if neither the President nor Vice President can serve, the Congress shall provide law stating who is next in line. Currently that law exists as 3 USC 19, a section of the U.S. Code. The current succession law was established as part of the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, reiterates what is stated in Article 2, Section 1: that the Vice President is the direct successor of the President. He or she becomes President if the President cannot serve for whatever reason. The 25th also provides for the situation where the President is temporarily disabled, such as if the President has a surgical procedure or if he or she become mentally unstable. It also required Vice Presidential vacancies to be filled by the President. Previously, when a Vice President had ascended to the Presidency or otherwise left the office empty (through death, resignation, or removal from office), the Vice Presidency remained vacated.

37. Modern Constitutional Reform Movements
Proposals to reduce separation of powers
Examples:
allow president to select a member of congress to also be in the cabinet
have the president to serve one six year term with the thought they will lead without worrying about re-election.
giving more power to the executive to handle crisis situations
allow the president to dissolve Congress and call for a special election.
Congress can call a special vote on the president prior to end of term (recall)
Lengthen the terms of members of the House from 2 to 4 years elected the same year as the president
1970’s a new Constitution was written by a group

38. Modern Constitutional Reform Movements
Government Should Do Less
Current federal gov’t does too much for too many interest groups
“Adding machine” analogy that never looks at the total spent
Balanced Budget should be mandatory
Limit on taxes collected
Line-item veto given to president to reduce federal spending
1996 line-item veto (such as given to 43 out 50 state gov) – gave president selective eliminations on some large app bills but not a true line –item veto.
1998 Supreme Court ruling struck this down and is now not in use. (President can’t select out portions of law created by COngress

39. Other ideas Remove presidential pardon power
Term limits for congress members
Term limits for federal judges
Your ideas?????????????????