Foundational Documents Flashcards
Declaration of Independence
Declared independence from Britain; listed grievances against the King; stated that the colonists had attempted to reason with him; focused on the natural rights of life, liberty, and property; was influenced by Enlightenment ideas; and supported the idea of popular sovereignty.
Articles of Confederation
First attempt at US Government; created a weak central government and gave most of the power to the states; no executive, judiciary, or currency; unicameral legislature; Congress had no authority to levy taxes, raise an army, or regulate trade between states.
US Constitution
Created after the failure of the Articles; advocated for the separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and national supremacy; consists of 7 articles and 27 amendments, the first 10 of which are the Bill of Rights; contains the supremacy, commerce, necessary and proper, war power, establishment, free exercise, equal protection, due process, full faith and credit, and privileges and immunities clauses.
Federalist 10
Factions are a danger; cannot remove the causes of factions, liberty and differing opinions, so must control the effects through a large republic; representatives will not sacrifice the republic for their own self-interests, they will be voted out if they betray the trust of the people; need a large number of representatives and a large number of voters as a large republic leads to plurality of interests.
Federalist 51
Advocates for separation of powers: give power to a central government, but divide the power several times; each branch must have its own will; each branch must be given the constitutional means to avoid encroachment of the others.
Federalist 70
Advocates for a single, strong executive to avoid blame shifting, separation, or confusion over who to follow; energy is the most important quality of an executive; executive has the ability to unify, but unity can be destroyed by power in more than one executive or too much power in one executive; ego may get in the way of the executive.
Federalist 78
Weakest branch, as it has neither the power of the purse nor sword; argues that while judicial review is not in the Constitution, it is implied; the judiciary is bound to the Constitution alone and must serve for life to not be swayed by political whims; judicial power comes from the people, as people are superior to all and it’s the people’s constitution, and the judiciary carries out the will of the people by striking down unconstitutional laws; states appoint judges in the same way the federal government does.
Brutus I
Anti-federalist; too much power is given to the federal government because of the supremacy and necessary proper clauses, power to tax, and ability of federal courts to invalidate state courts; too large a state to have a free republic because people are naturally self-interested and central government would be too removed from the common good; representative government gives sovereignty to the few; standing armies are the destruction of liberty.
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Response to white Southern religious leaders claiming nonviolent demonstrations against segregation were “unwise and untimely;” there are four steps in a nonviolent campaign: collection of facts, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action; direct action was well thought out, creates tension in a community that will force negotiations, and is the only thing that will lead to policy change.
