Required Documents

Question 1

Declaration of Independence

Answer 1

DATE: 1776
AUTHOR: Thomas Jefferson

CONTEXT:
- Response to misrepresentation and taxation and tyranny of the British government
- List of grievances

IMPORTANT:
- Influences the Constitution by introducing natural rights

Question 2

Articles of Confederation

Answer 2

DATE: 1781-1789
AUTHOR: Continental Congress

CONTEXT:
- Created in order to establish a centralized government, a “perpetual union” and explain its functions following the Revolutionary War

ISSUES:
- Weak, Ineffective, Central Government
- Favored State Sovereignty of Federal Power
- Needed 9/13 States to Pass Legislation
- Couldn’t Tax
- Couldn’t Regulate Interstate Commerce
- Inability to Respond to Uprisings (ex. Shays’ Rebellion)

IMPORTANT:
- Led directly to the Constitutional Convention of 1787
- The first governing document of the U.S.

Question 3

Brutus No.1

Answer 3

DATE: 1787
AUTHOR: Robert Yates

CONTEXT:
- Anti-Federalists
- Argues against the new Constitution
- Leads to a series of Anti-Federalist papers and arguments

CONCERNS:
- Feared a lack of protection over natural rights
- Felt that the Necessary and Proper Clause would give Congress authority to pass any laws to carry out its enumerated powers
- Worried that the Supremacy Clause would override state legislation conflicting with federal laws, leading to the dominance of national authority
- Large republics lead to corruption, distant government, and loss of liberty (factions)

IMPORTANT:
- Encouraged the Federalists to add the Bill of Rights into the Constitution
- Advocated for a decentralized democracy (small republics where leaders stay closely accountable to their constituents)

Question 4

Federalist No. 10

Answer 4

DATE: 1787
AUTHOR: James Madison

CONTEXT:
- Federalist response to Brutus No. 1
- A strong, large republic is the best way to control negative effects of factions
- Supports the constitutional structure (federalism + bicameral legislature)
- Justifies pluralism and a large federal system

PROBLEM:
- Factions are inevitable in a free society, and dangerous

SOLUTION:
- Don’t suppress liberty, instead control the effects of factions
- A representative democracy refines and enlarges public views
- A large republic dilutes factional influence across many interests and regions

IMPORTANT:
- Influences the 10th Amendment which defines the boundaries of federal power and the relationship between federal and the states
- Recognized and solved fears of an all-powerful central government

Question 5

Federalist No. 51

Answer 5

DATE: 1788
AUTHOR: James Madison

CONTEXT:
- Focused on structural protections against tyranny, emphasizing how the Constitution’s system of checks and balances preserves liberty

PROBLEM:
- How do you prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful?

SOLUTION:
- Separation of Powers
- Checks and Balances
- Humans are flawed (“if men were angels…”), so power must check power
- Encourages Federalism (power further divided between state and national governments)

IMPORTANT:
- Directly supports ideas like judicial review, bicameralism, veto power, and impeachment