Lesson 3 Flashcards
The constitution is grounded in the concept of…
Natural rights
English political theorist
John Locke
What does John Locke say?
Natural rights are inalienable
What does protecting natural rights require?
Limited government and the consent of the governed
What do the framers believe in?
Using human reason to uncover the laws of nature
When was the enlightenment ?
1740-1820
According to the Framers, the ______ are created by______. Any…..
Laws of nature
God
Government that does not align with the laws of nature is contrary to the will of God
What form of government aligns with the laws of nature?
Democracy
Why did the framers create a republic?
They did not believe in the “mob rule” they associated with pure democracy
Who are the framers?
Enlightenment rationalists
How did the Framers regard a republic?
As a self-governed polity in which society’s “natural leaders” are chosen to represent the interests of all
Two main features of the constitution revealing the framers’ wariness towards democracy
1) the electoral college
2) indirect selection of senators
How did the constitution grow?
Out of the failure of the Articles of Confederation
Why did the Articles fail?
The national government could not…
1) collect taxes
2) regulate trade
3) organize a military
Following Shay’s Rebellion in 1786…
Delegates from 5 states attended the Annapolis to discuss problems with the Articles
In Philadelphia in 1787…
Delegates from all states except RI met to revise the Articles, whereupon they actually started drafting a new government
Important Features of the Constitution (4)
1) Bicameral Legislature
2) Checks and Balances
3) Federalism
4) Republicanism
What is a bicameral legislature?
- a legislature with two houses
- designed for delay and inefficiency
What is Checks and Balances
1) built in limitations on the power of any single branch of government
2) designed to limit the reach of faction
What is faction ?
- a self-interested minority
- what in federalist #10 Madison invoked to plead the need for an extended republic
What is federalism
-separation of powers among different levels of government(local, state, national)
What is republicanism?
-philosophical commitment to self-government overseen by those with the greatest civic virtue
Civic virtue
The ability to discern the public interest and to act on behalf of it
Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?
To appease those who feared the threat centralized power might pose to individual liberties
What individual rights are protected in the constitution proper?
1) writ of habeus corpus cannot be suspended
2) bills of attainder cannot be passed into law
3) ex post facto laws are prohibited
4) religious qualifications cannot be applied to anyone seeking elected office
5) all citizens are entitled to a trial by jury in criminal cases
Writ of Habeus Corpus
Cannot be unlawfully imprisoned
Bills of attainder
Gov. cannot arbitrarily search private property
Ex post facto laws
Getting punished for breaking a law that was made after u broke it
Final important note about the constitution
Through the debate over its creation, America’s first political parties cohered
What did anti-federalists think about the constitution?
It is amounted to a hazardous centralization of power and the creation of death of liberty
What did the federalists believe about the constitution
That it would unleash America’s economic potential and prevent excessive decentralization from ruining the democratic experiment
What does federalist #10 mean
Warned against political parties, created by james madison
