The“VirtuousRepublic”

The“VirtuousRepublic”

Classical view of

a model republic

Classical view of

a model republic

“City on a hill”

[John W

inthrop]

“City on a hill”

[John W

inthrop]Ideal citizen

[Cincinnatus]

Ideal citizen

[Cincinnatus]

1. Govt. gets its authority from the citizens.

2. A selfless, educated citizenry.

3. Elections should be frequent.

4. Govt. should guarantee individual rights & freedoms.

5. Govt.’s power should be limited [checks & balances].

6. The need for a written Constitution.

7. “E Pluribus Unum.” [“Out of many, one”]

8. An important role for women raise good, virtuous citizens.[“Republican Womanhood”].

Enlightenment

Thinking

Enlightenment

Thinking

1775-1783: American Rev. being fought

1776: Continental Congress adopts Declaration of Independence

1777: Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation

1786: Shays Rebellion

1787: Constitutional Convention adopts Constitution

1789: Constitution is ratified by 9 of the 13 states

1789: GW is elected President

Articles of Confederation

1777-1789

Purpose

To bring all 13 Colonies into a “Loose” Confederation (Union) while at the same time allowing 13 individual States to keep their own Sovereignty

Sovereignty =

Articles of Confederation

1. Centralized Gov’t

2. Established NW Ordinance 1787

3. Legislative Powers

1. Conduct war

2. Carry on Foreign Relations

3. Borrow Issue Money

4. Establish a Post Office

Strengths/Accomplishments

AofCPolitical Challenge Articles of Confederation Weakness?

Mode of Verification or Amendment:

Number of houses in the Legislature:

Mode of Representation:

Mode of Election & Term of Office:

Executive:

Judiciary:

Taxation:

Regulation of Commerce:

9/13 laws/13/13 Amend

Unicameral

Appt. by St. Leg 3yr. 2 terms

States Tax Power. Cong request $ from States.

No Sep. Branch. Comm. Of States. No Veto, No appt. power

= Rep

No Intra or Inter, only international

Conduct war Carry on Foreign Relations Borrow Issue Money Establish a Post Office

State Courts, No Fed

Legislative powers

QofD: 9/9/10

Match the 3 terms used to describe different places in which political sovereignty can be located with their definitions

A. Unitary B. Confederation C. Federalism:

3. Sovereignty is wholly in the hands of the national government

•States and localities are dependent on its (national govt) will

• States and localities can be altered or abolished at will

1. Sovereignty rest with the states, and the national government is allowed to do only that with the states permit

2. A constitutional division of power between the national government and state governments.

•Both get their powers from a Constitution, not each other.

Problems?Debt, Trade Disputes, Economic Depression, Territorial disputes, Foreign Commerce, Pirates and impressments…

1. Shays Rebellion (Mass)

1. Debt Relief from Natl. Gov.

2. More soft $

3. Moratorium by Creditors

4. End imprisonment

2. State Economic Disputes

Virginia and Maryland

1785 Mt. Vernon Conf

1786 Annapolis Conv.

1787 meeting of all 13 to fix AofC.

Were the changes in government Were the changes in government proposed in the Constitution a proposed in the Constitution a counter revolution from the counter revolution from the ideas of the American ideas of the American Revolution, or were they Revolution, or were they essential for the survival of the essential for the survival of the nation?nation?

What was the Purpose of the Constitution?

Constitutional Convention

Original purpose vs. Ultimate Outcome

We the people of the We the people of the United States, in order to United States, in order to form a more perfect union, form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, domestic tranquility, provide for the common provide for the common defense, promote the defense, promote the general welfare, and general welfare, and secure the blessings of secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain our posterity, do ordain and establish this and establish this Constitution for the United Constitution for the United States of America. States of America.

Constitutional Convention

3 Main Compromises/(Proposed Changes)1. Type of Government (Virginia, N.J. Great Comp)

2. Chief Executive. (Term and Electoral College)

3. Slaves (3/5 Comp.)

Roger Sherman and committee of 11

• Type of Gov’t?

• Legislative Branch?

• Appointment of Delegates?

• Representation?

• Any changes today?

The Great (Connecticut) Compromise

Political Challenge Constitution

Mode of Verification or Amendment:

Number of houses in the Legislature:

Mode of Representation:

Mode of Election & Term of Office:

Executive:

Judiciary:

Taxation:

Regulation of Commerce:

9/13 States/ ¾ States or State Leg Conventions Amend

Bicameral

House Population Senate =

Article 1. Sec 8 Concurrent Powers

Sep. Branch, Elec College, 4yr term, Powers; veto, appt. power

House = Pop vote 2yrs Senate = St. Leg

Article 1 Sec. 8 = Foreign + Inter

Sep. Branch, S.C. + inferior courts est. by congress

Slavery and Representation

• North vs. South

• Compromise

• Slave trade

• Representation

3/5 Compromise

Framers Dilemma & Electoral College

Electoral College Quiz

1) Who are the people who count in the popular vote?

2) How many electoral votes are there in a presidential election? How is this decided?

3) If a candidate claims eighty percent of the popular vote in a state then how many electoral votes will he/she receive?

4) How many electoral votes does a presidential candidate have to receive in order to win an election?

5) What happens if no candidate wins a majority?

In order to appreciate the reasons for the Electoral College, it is essential to understand its historical context and the problem that the Founding Fathers were trying to solve. They faced the difficult question of how to elect a president in a

nation that:

1. was composed of thirteen large and small States jealous of their own rights and powers and suspicious of any central national government

2. contained only 4,000,000 people spread up and down a thousand miles of Atlantic seaboard barely connected by transportation or communication (so that national campaigns were impractical even if they had been thought desirable)

3. believed that political parties were mischievous if not downright evil.

4. felt that gentlemen should not campaign for public office (The saying was "The office should seek the man, the man should not seek the office.").

Dilemma: How to choose a president without political parties, without national campaigns, and without upsetting the carefully designed balance between the presidency and the Congress on one hand and between the States and the federal government on the other?

THE THE CONSTITUTIONCONSTITUTION

Key Constitutional Principles

Separation of Separation of PowersPowers

Checks/BalanChecks/Balancesces

FederalismFederalism

Limited Gov’tLimited Gov’t

Popular Popular SovereigntySovereignty

Judicial Judicial ReviewReview

Has the EC failed us?

http://www.presidentelect.org/art_evpvdisagree.html

Ratification DebateArticle VII

Federalist Papers (Publis)vs.

Anti-federalist Papers (Brutus)

Federalist Papers

Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804 )

James Madison (1751- 1836)

John Jay (1745- 1829)

Debate on Ratification

• Who?

• Arguments?

•Strategy?

• Advantages?

• Disadvantages?

Bill of Rights

• Antifederlist argument?

• Federalist argument?

Limitations on Government• Separation of Powers

• Federalism

• Checks and Balances

• Article 1 Section 9• Writ of habeas corpus

• Bill of Attainder

• Ex post facto law