Chapter 1 - 1+2/6 - The history and nature of the Constitution Flashcards
What did James Otis declare?
‘Taxation without representation is tyranny!’
When was the American War of Independence?
1775-1783
When was the Declaration of Independence signed?
1776
When were the Articles of Confederation signed?
March 1781
What did the confederation not have?
An executive or a judiciary.
When was the Philadelphia Convention held?
1787
What was the Philadelphia Convention?
Where 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states met to create a new constitution.
Who drafted the New Jersey Plan?
William Patterson
Who drafted the Virginia Plan?
James Madison
What did the New Jersey Plan propose?
A congress of one chamber based on equal representation.
What did the Virginia Plan propose?
A congress of two chambers with proportional representation.
Who drafted the Connecticut Compromise?
Roger Sherman
What did the Connecticut Compromise propose?
Two chambers of congress with both proportional and equal representation.
When was the new constitution finished?
17 September 1787
Which article is the legislature?
Article I
Which article is the executive?
Article II
Which article is the judiciary?
Article III
Where is the supremacy clause found?
Article VI: ‘the supreme law of the land’
What are enumerated powers?
Powers given to the federal government under the Constitution.
What is the elastic clause?
Article I, Section 8, that allows Congress to make all laws ‘necessary and proper’.
Give an example of the elastic clause in action?
McCulloch v Maryland 1819, when the Supreme Court ruled Congress had the power to create a national bank.
When was the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review found?
Marbury v Madison 1803
What are the enumerated powers of the president?
- Head of the executive branch.
- Nominate officers to the executive branch.
- Grant pardons.
- Commander-in-chief.
- Propose legislation.
- Veto legislation.
What are reserved powers?
Powers not delegated to the federal government that are reserved for the states or the people.
Where can the reserved powers be found?
Tenth Amendment
What are concurrent powers?
Powers possessed by the federal and state governments.
What does entrenchment mean?
The Constitution is difficult to amend.
What is Article V?
Amendment process
What does the vagueness of the Constitution allow?
For it to evolve over time and adapt to an ever changing world.
Why is the Constitution hard to amend?
To prevent it being changed frequently on the whim of circumstance.
How many amendments have their been?
27
How can constitutional amendments be proposed?
- By 2/3 of both chambers of Congress.
- By a national constitutional convention called at the request of 2/3 of state legislatures.
How many national constitutional conventions have been called?
None have ever been called, all amendments have been proposed by Congress.
Once an amendment has been proposed, what happens next?
It must be ratified by 3/4 of state legislatures or state constitutional conventions.
Have many amendments have been passed to the states for ratification?
33
When was the last amendment made to the Constitution?
1992
When was the Bill of Rights ratified?
1791
What is the first amendment?
Freedom of religion, speech, the press, and assembly
Second amendment?
Right to keep and bear arms
Sixth amendment?
Rights of trial
Eighth amendment?
Prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment
Tenth amendment?
Reserved powers
Thirteenth - Fifteenth amendment?
Abolition of slavery - “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States”
Sixteenth amendment?
Allowed the federal government to impose income tax
Seventeenth amendment?
Made the Senate an elected chamber
Nineteenth amendment?
Gave women the right to vote
When was the nineteenth amendment passed?
1920
Twenty-Second Amendment?
Limited the president to two terms in office
Twenty-First amendment?
Repealed the eighteenth amendment
What are the four reason why the Constitution has rarely been amended?
- Founding Fathers made it so to prevent ill-thought-out amendments.
- Emergence of parties and polarisation.
- Vagueness has allowed it to evolve.
- Supreme Court’s power of judicial review, making interpretive amendments.
How many amendments have been proposed overall?
Over 12,000
What are the advantages of the amendment process?
- Protects the Constitution.
- Upholds federalism.
- Requires broad support.
- Prevents ill-thought-out amendments.
What are the disadvantages of the amendment process?
- Difficult to change outdated provisions.
- Goes against majoritarian democracy.
- Enhances the power of the unelected Supreme Court.
When was the Equal Rights Amendment passed to the states for ratification?
1972
When was a woman’s right to an abortion decided?
Roe v Wade 1973
What is unique about the Sixteenth Amendment?
It is the only time an amendment has been passed to overturn a Supreme Court ruling.
When was the Sixteenth Amendment passed?
1913
