1. The Constitution

2.   A Blueprint for Government Section 1

3.   Preamble (Introduction) states WHY it was written  “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”  The Preamble The Preamble

4.   There were 6 goals stated in the Preamble that they wanted the national Government to accomplish:  1. Form a more perfect Union  (Strengthen the relationship among the states )  2. Establish justice  (Laws maintain more order in society)  3. Ensure domestic tranquility  (Ensure Govt. could squash rebellions between states)  4. Provide for the common defense  (Protect the people from other nations)  5. Promote the general welfare  (Make sure the people are alright in daily life)  6. Secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and to generations that would follow.  (Make sure freedom was enjoyed by them and the people to follow) Goals of the Constitution

5.   The United States Constitution is simple and brief compared to other countries  The Constitution is the blueprint for our Government  There is 3 basic parts to it:  The Preamble  The Articles  The Amendments Structure

6.   We the people……..  This refers to Popular Sovereignty meaning that the people have a say in what happens and the Government can not take their rights from them  The Basic Principals of the Government are as follows:  Popular Sovereignty  Limited Government  Separation of Powers  Checks and Balances  Judicial Review  Federalism Base of Constitution

7.   The fact that Government gets it powers from the people and the ultimate political power remains with the people  Our Government is a Republic in which People elect representatives to represent their interests  They did not want ot much power to a King or authority figure nor to the people so they setup Constitutional limits on how the Constitution could be amended Popular Sovereignty

8.   The Government is restricted by the Constitution and other laws allowing the people to exercise freedom in their daily lives within the framework of the Constitution  No one in society be it Government or private citizen is above the law  Limited Government is in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution  Article I, Section 9 states what the Government can not do  The Bill of Rights protects the citizens rights Limited Government

9.   The powers of Government are spread into 3 branches in order to ensure that no one group can gain to much power  Legislative Branch –Congress (Article I)  Create the Laws  Executive Branch – President (Article II)  Enforce the Laws  Judicial Branch – Supreme Court (Article III)  Interpret the Laws Separation of Powers

10.   Checks and Balances- Allows each branch to have some control over the others in order to balance out power in the government (example – Presidential Veto)  Congress can check the President by controlling taxes and spending  The President can check the Congress by Presdiential Veto  Congress can override a Veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses  The Supreme Court can limit both of their powers by declaring their actions unconstitutional by Judicial Review Checks and Balances

11.   Judicial Review is where the Supreme Court determines if the actions of the President or Congress is Constitutional or not  The Constitution is the Nations highest law and trumps everything  Judicial Review is not stated in the Constitution it was established in 1803 with the Court case Marbury v. Madison Judicial Review

12.   This states that the powers of Government are shared with the National and state Governments  Article VI of the Constitution states the Supremacy clause states that the Constitution and all laws passed under it are the supreme law of the land. Federalism

13.   Article I – Establishes the Legislative Branch  Article II – Creates an Executive Branch in order to carry out laws by Congress  Article III – Establishes a Supreme Court to head the Judicial Branch and gives the National Government the power to create lower federal courts.  Article IV- Explains the Relationship of the States to one another and to the National Government Seven Articles

14.   Article V – Spells out ways the Constitution can be ammended, or changed  Article VI – Contains the Supremecy Clause establishing the Constitution, laws passed by Congress, and treaties of the United States “Shall be the supreme Law of the Land”  Article VII – Addresses ratification and declares that the Constitution would take effect after it was ratified by nine states. Seven Articles

15.   An Enduring Document Section 2

16.   Jefferson felt that change to the Constitution throughout time can be good if done through a process by the people and Government  Madison felt change was not good for 2 reasons:  1. The longer laws were in place the more they grew in authority and the more people accept them  2. Changing the Constitution to much could split the country into factions Jefferson and Madison on Amending the Constitution

17.   The Constitution has had very few changes throughout time but some small changes to adapt to the times has been inevitable  This is why the ability to amend the Constitution was put into place A Document for all time

18.   The Amendment process gives the people the ability to change the Constitution  The framers of the Constitution intentionally made it difficult to change though to prevent the ability to change it on the fly out of passion  Article V describes the process for amending the Constitution The Amendment Process

19.   Proposing Amendments- It can be done 2 ways:  1. proposed by a 2/3 vote of each house of Congress.  2. by a national Convention called by Congress at the request of 2/3 the states  The 2/3 vote method is the only method to date that has ever been used.  Ratifying the Amendments- There are 2 ways to Ratify an amendment chosen by Congress  1. legislature ¾ of the states to ratify the amendment  2. for each state to call a special ratifying convention (The amendment becomes part of the Constitution when ¾ of these conventions approve it) Congress sets all the rules on the ratification process The Amendment Process

20.   Ammendments pertains to changes made in the Constitution  There have been more than 10,000 attempts to amend the Constitution.  Congress has approved 33 amendments in total  Only 27 of those have actually passed the entire process and made it into the Constitution The Ammendments

21.   The Bill ofRights limits the powers of Government  1 st Amendment-  Right to worship as they please or to have no religion at all  Freedom of speech  Freedom of the press  While the freedom of speech and press are not limited slander and libel is prohibited  Slander – false speech intended to damage a person’s reputation  Libel- similar to slander except it refers to written or published statements Bill of Rights

22.   2 nd Amendment -  Gives the citizens and the nation the right to security  The right to bear arms  Intended to keep the federal government from repeating the actions the British had taken against them Bill of Rights

23.   The 3 rd Amendment-  Prohibits the government from forcing people to provide shelter for soldiers in their homes  The 4th Amendment-  Protects Americans right to Privacy  The 5 th Amendment-  No one can be tried for a serious crime unless a grand jury decides there is enough evidence to have a trial  A person found innocent of a crime cannot be tried twice for that crime (double jeopardy)  No one may be forced to testify against themselves  Governments right to eminent domain (the power of government to take private property for public use.) Bill of Rights

24.   The 6 th Amendment -  Right to protect ones self in court when charged with federal crimes  Right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury  A person may request to be tried a judge alone  The right to know what charges are brought against you  The 7 th Amendment -  Right to a jury trial on all property disputes worth more than $20 Bill of Rights

25.   8 th Amendment-  Prohibits excessive bail  Prohibits a judge from ordering someone to pay an excessive fine if convicted of a crime  Bans “cruel and unusual punishment”  9 th Amendment-  All other rights not spelled out in the Constitution are “retained by the people”  10 th Amendment-  Reaffirmed the relationship between the national and state governments  The people and states have rights the national government may not assume Bill of Rights

26.   These gave the federal courts jurisdiction in cases arising judiciary  11 th amendment -  gave limits to jurisdiction of federal powers  12 th amendment-  Provided the Electoral College in order to elect the president and vice president 11 th and 12 th Amendments

27.   13 th Amendment -(1865)  Outlawed slavery  14 th Amendment- (1868)  Intended to protect the legal rights of freed slaves and their descendants  15 th Amendments- (1870)  Prohibits the government from denying a persons right to vote based on race Civil War Amendments

28.   16 th Amendment- (1913)  Congress gained the right to levy individual income taxes  17 th Amendment- (1913)  People instead of state legislatures elect United States Senators  18 th Amendment- (1919)  Prohibition (prohibits sale or transportation of alcohol) Later Amendments

29.   19 th Amendment- (1920)  Guarunteed women the right to vote  20 th Amendment- (1933)  Set new dates for Congress to begin it’s terms and for the inauguration of the president and vice president  21 st Amendment- (1933)  Repealed the 18 th amendment  22 nd Amendment- (1951)  Limits the presidents to a maximum of 2 terms Later Amendments

30.   23 rd Amendment- (1961)  Allowed citizens to vote in presidential elections  24 th Amendment- (1964)  Prohibits poll taxes in federal elections  25 th Amendment- (1967)  Established a vice president to take over the US if a president is disabled  26 th Amendment- (1971)  Lowered voting age from 21 to 18 years of age  27 th Amendment- (1992)  Makes congressional pay raises effective the term AFTER they are passed Later Amendments

31.   Applying the Constitution Section 3

32.   Legislative Action is where Congress can put details into the Constitution  One example of this is creating new agencies in the Government  The Supreme Court can apply the Constitution to modern day cases by the use of Judicial interpretation or translating the Constitution into modern scenarios  Executive agreements are arrangements with foreign countries  The President has the right to make executive agreements that do not have to be ratified by the Senate The Federal Government Applies the Constitution

33.   Political Parties have an impact on how the Constitution is applied based on the candidates they pick and their beliefs  A political party is an organized group of people that seeks to win elections in order to influence the activities of Government  Progressives influenced Congress in to giving women the right to vote  Populists supported bank regulation in the late 1800’s Political Parties, Customs, and Traditions

34.   Great Britain had no written Constitution and still does not today  George Washington created a cabinet according to Article II which is a group of advisors to the President  Traditions become custom the 2 term President was a tradition until FDR. This worried Americans and caused them to put in the 22 nd Amendment that limited Presidents to 2 terms Political Parties, Customs, and Traditions

35.   1 issues is due to our system of checks and balances gridlock can occur causing stuff to not get done  Representation issues in the Senate giving each state equal say no matter their population  Electoral College where candidates can win the Presidency without winning the popular vote  Winner take all elections in Senate. Sometimes less quality candidates from certain areas get in because of where they run as opposed to more qualified candidates from other areas Criticisms of the Constitution