“We the People…”
The Constitution in Review

What is Government?
 We

need government to protect the rights of the people.
 In America we have a Republican form of government –

The people elect leaders to make laws and vote on decisions for them

 In America

we also have a Constitutional government –

A Constitutional government has limits to its power. Opposite of a dictatorial government.

Separation of Powers
 To

avoid the abuse of power, we separate powers into three branches.
–

Legislative, Executive, and Judicial

 These

branches check and balance each other to make sure one does not become too powerful and begin to abuse its power.

What shaped the Founders’
Thinking about Government?
 Life

in colonial times
 Events leading up to the American
Revolution
 Declaration of Independence
 The American Revolution
 Articles of Confederation

What happened at the
Philadelphia Convention?
 Delegates

from 12 of the 13 states met in Convention at Philadelphia in 1787
 Originally came to revise the Articles of
Confederation
 End up starting all over again.
 Spend the summer writing a new
Constitution.
 James Madison, George Washington,
Benjamin Franklin, among others.

Article 1: Legislative Branch
 The

Virginia Plan called for two houses of
Congress with representation based on population--the more people you have, the more votes you get.
 The New Jersey Plan called for one house of
Congress with equal representation--each state gets one vote.
 The Great Compromise = Two houses of
Congress. One house has proportional representation, the other has equal representation. Problems with Representation
 3/5

Compromise: Counted slaves as
3/5 of a person when it came to representation. Slaves were seen as property and were not citizens of the
US.
–

This compromise was voided after the
Civil War amendments made slavery illegal and gave citizenship to Black
Americans.

Powers of the Legislative
Branch
 Enumerated

Powers: Framers who wanted to limit the powers of Congress supported these powers. They laid out specific things
Congress could and could not do.
 General Powers: Framers who wanted to give more power to Congress supported these powers. They generally said
Congress could pass any laws that were
“necessary and proper.” This is known as the
Elastic Clause.

Article II: Executive Branch
 The
–
–

35 years old
Natural born citizen, etc.

 The
–
–

–

Powers of the President

Make treaties
Commander in Chief of Military, etc.

 The
–

qualifications for the President

Responsibilities of the President

State of the Union address
Budget suggestions, etc.

Article III: The Judiciary
 Supreme

Court
 Courts of Appeal
 Very vaguely described branch of government. How did the People approve the new Constitution?
 Ratification

= the process of officially

approving
 Framers wanted the people to vote on approving the new government plan
 9 of the 13 states had to ratify the document
 Federalists were for the Constitution;
Antifederalists were against the Constitution.
 1789--Constitution is ratified after Framers promise to add a Bill of Rights

How was the Constitution used to establish the US government?

Political Parties
 The

first political parties developed naturally due to disagreements over the meaning of the words in the
Constitution
