Constition REVIEW Flashcards
Powers of the AOC
- Adopted in 1777 by Congress
- 1st system of government
- Established a weak federal government; no national executive/judiciary power
- Each state has a delegation known as Congress
- Congress had the power to declare war, sign treaties, and raise armies
- Congress had no permanent home
- Approval and amending articles require an ominous consent from 13 states
Weaknesses of the AOC
- One vote per state, regardless of population/wealth (equal NOT EQUITABLE, wanted EQUITY)
- No power or tax
- No power to regulate trade
- No national court system
- Lack of power to enforce articles
*A 9/13 majority needed to pass laws - Refused to meet financial requests of Congress
- Made agreements with foreign governments without Congressional approval
- Organized their own military forces
- Taxed or banned goods from other states
- Printed their own money, without backing
Successes of the AOC
- Land Ordinance of 1785 arranged land into townships
- 1787: Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance → new Northwest Territory
sets up the procedure for how an area becomes a state - Guaranteed freedom of religion, property rights, and BANNED slavery
- South Carolina: doesn’t agree b/c they want slavery
Shay’s Rebellion
- Massachusetts RAISED TAXES rather than issue paper
- Poor farmers could NOT pay their debts and faced the loss of their farms
- 1786: Daniel Shays and 1200 farmers shutdown country courthouses to prevent foreclosures
this stopped their foreclosures from being issued → saved their livelihood - The government hired troops to stop the rebellion
- Problems: Government using money their don’t have and government has to personally hire troops(no police); they don’t have a police force no militia to call for help.
- Merchants and artisans began to argue for a stronger central government
Constitutional Convention
- 1787: Delegates met in Philadelphia to revise the AOC at the Convention
- Framers of the Constitution: States decided the size of their own delegation
- Rhode Island DID NOT attend (Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John Adams DIDN’T ATTEND)
- Washington unanimously voted as chairperson
- Meetings kept secret from the public
- Lasts 4 years
- Issues discussed: Slavery and slave trade? Representation? Revise AOC or start over?
Framers
The 55 delegates at the Constitutional Convention for the Constitution
Branches of Government
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Article 1
Creates the legislative branch
Article 2
Creates the executive branch
Article 3
Creates the judicial branch
Virginia Plan
- Said the number of representatives for each state would reflect that state’s population: equitable
- Proposed eliminating the AOC and creating a new national government
- Proposed that the legislature be divided into two houses and the voters in each state elect the member of the first house
- House of Representatives
New Jersey Plan
- Said that Congress would have a single house in which each state was equally represented - equal NOT equitable
- Did not abandon AOC but modified them to make a stronger central government
- Opposed representation based on the population of the state
- The Senate
House of Representatives
- Based on population
- 435 congressmen
- Term of 2 years
The Senate
- 100 senators
- Terms of 6 years
- No limit for how many terms they can serve
NJ Representatives
- Frank Pallone
- Christopher Smith
- Andrew Kim
NJ Senators
- Cory Booker
- Robert Menendez
Electoral College
Votes based on # of Representatives and Senators per state
3/5 Compromise
- Every 5 enslaved people would count as 3 free people for determining representation and taxes
- Increases southern political power in HOR and electoral college in exchange for higher southern taxes
- In 12 of the first 16 presidential elections, a southern slave owner won
The Great Compromise
- Proposed a two house legislature consisting of two houses
- House of Reps : based on population
- The Senate: equal representation between states
- Southern states also want constitutional guarantee that the estates would return escaped slaves(Fugitive Slave Clause)
- Northerners must bring slave runaways back to the Southerners
The Amendment Process
- Must be proposed by ⅔ of both houses of Congress(⅔ of 535)
- Has to be ratified by ¾ of the states to be approved
- Everyone had to agree on the amendments
Federalism
Our government operates with a dual system of both state and national government
EX. the Amendment process(congress → states)
Judicial Review
- Established by Marbury vs. Madison
- Supreme court’s ability to decide constitutionality of law
EX. unconstitutional/constitutional of segregation
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
- Said Congress was unconstitutional
- Established judicial review
- Expanded the Power of the Supreme Court by establishing the right to overturn acts of Congress
Checks and balances
Legislative branch
* ✓ on Jud. branch → Creates lower federal courts, can impeach/remove judges
* ✓ on Exc. branch → Can override presidential veto, ratifies treaties
Executive branch
* ✓ on Leg. branch → Can propose laws, can veto laws
* ✓ on Jud. branch → Appoints federal judges, can grant pardons to federal offenders
Judicial branch
* ✓ on Leg. branch → Can declare acts of Congress unconstitutional
* ✓ on Exc. branch → Can declare executive actions unconstitutional
Limited Government
The government only has the powers the people give it.
EX. the government can’t tell us what clothes to wear or what pictures to hang in our homes
Popular Sovereignty
Power derives from consent of the government
EX. voting
Separation of Powers
- 3 branches with separate and distinct powers, framework of LIMITED GOVERN.
- The Legislative, executive, and judicial branches
