Chapter 2 Flashcards
3 key principles among the founders:
- Popular control of government through a republican democracy. (Government in which elected leaders represent the views of the people).
- Rejection of monarchy. (Thomas Paine: “monarchy is the most bare-faced falsity ever imposed upon mankind”).
- Limits on government power that would protect individual rights and personal property.
Agricultural context of early America.
South: largely agricultural, with cotton and tobacco plantations that depended on slave labor. South favored free trade because of the export of cotton and tobacco and the slave trade.
North: smaller farms than the south, manufacturing, fishing, and trade. North favored government managed trade and commercial development.
5 points of political compromise at the Constitutional Convention:
- Majority rule versus minority rights
- Large states versus small states
- Legislative versus executive power
- National versus state and local power
- Slave states versus non-slave states
Majority rule vs. Minority rights
James Madison argued that it is beneficial to put the interests of one group in competition with the interests of other groups, so that no one group can dominate government.
Central problem for any representative democracy is protecting minority rights within a system ruled by the will of the majority.
Ensured that one faction did not dominate others by faction against faction to force compromise.
Set up Separation of Powers in federal government with checks and balances; power divided between federal government, the states, and local government.
Small states vs. Large states
Large states proposed the Virginia Plan: a plan proposed by the larger states during the Constitutional Convention, in which representation in the national legislature was based on population. The plan also included a variety of other proposals to strengthen the national government.
Small states proposed the New Jersey Plan: in response to the Virginia Plan, smaller states at the Constitutional Convention proposed that each state should receive equal representation in the national legislature, regardless of size.
The Great Compromise: a compromise between the large and small states, proposed by Connecticut, in which Congress would have two houses: a Senate with two legislators per state and a House of Representatives in which each state’s representation would be based on population (also known as the Connecticut Compromise).
Legislative vs. Executive Power
Federalists wanted a single, strong president who could work faster and immediately help the people with any of their needs.
The Anti-Federalists feared having one man hold all that power.
The compromise was a single executive - to better counteract the legislature - while specifically enumerating all powers in the Constitution.
Regarding how the president would be elected, the electoral college was created: each state’s vote is based on its number of representatives and senators.
National power vs. State power
National government was still too weak under Articles of Confederation, and many still feared a tyrannical national government. The compromise was federalism: the American system of divided power between autonomous levels of government that control different areas of policy.
2 key terms in the Constitution that delegate state and national power: national supremacy clause and Bill of Rights.
The national supremacy clause of the Constitution is part of Article VI, Section 2, which states that the Constitution is “the supreme Law of the Land.” This means that national laws take precedence over state laws if the two conflict.
The Bill of Rights is the first ten Amendments of Constitution, and the Tenth Amendment states that all powers not delegated by the Constitution are reserved to the states and to the people.
Slave states vs. Non-slave states
3 points of contention:
1. Restriction of slavery in future: no slave laws would be passed until after 1808.
2. Treatment of runaway slaves: non-slave states had to return slaves to rightful owners.
3. How to count slave population: 3/5 compromise where each slave was counted as 3/5 of a person.
The northern states logrolled with the south for these compromises: the South got its way with slavery and the North won support for a change on a different issue: congressional power to regulate commerce and tax imports.
Areas of conflict and the resulting ratification:
- Apportionment in Congress by population or state equality: the Great Compromise created the Senate and House.
- Method of election to Congress by the people or states: House elected by people, Senate elected by state legislatures.
- Electing the president by Congress or the states: elected by the Electoral College.
- Who decides federal-state conflicts: state courts decided until the Judiciary Act of 1789, which allowed for appeals.
- Control over commerce by the states or Congress: by Congress but with an exemption on slaves.
- Protection for individual rights secured by states or a national Bill of Rights: Bill of Rights was passed and ratified.
The 3 kinds of power given out by the Constitution:
- Exclusive powers: powers given specifically to one branch.
- Shared powers: powers shared between branches.
- Checking powers: powers of one branch over another.
How checks and balances work
Executive: the president can veto congressional legislation and nominate judges to judiciary.
Legislative: the Senate and Congress can approve presidential nominations and pass laws over president’s veto and impeach and remove judges from office.
Judicial: the Court interprets the laws passed by Congress and the actions by the executive branch.
The process of amending the Constitution:
- Congress proposes amendment by at least a 2/3 vote.
- It is ratified by at least 3/4 of the state legislatures.
Only once did the ratification require 3/4 of state conventions.
The Constitution as a Living Document
Ways to interpret the Constitution:
1. Original Intent: what did the writers mean back then.
2. Original Meaning: what did the words mean back then.
3. Textualism: everything is taken literal with no room for change.
Conservatives generally take one of the stances above. Liberals generally believe the Constitution is a living document and therefore words and meanings change from one generation to the next.
