required foundational documents

Question 1

declaration of independence

Answer 1

• written by thomas jefferson
• life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (unalienable rights)
• when a government violated those rights, it was imperative for the people to overthrow that a government and put a just one in it’s place
• king george and britain had destroyed their property and taxed them without representation
• delegates from colonies signed at the bottom

Question 2

Articles of Confederation

Answer 2

• delegates to the colonies realized that they needed a government to actually govern
• at 2nd continental congress they wrote and ratified the Articles of Confederation to give them a government structure
• written at a time when colonies were rebelling against a tyranny
• congress could regulate foreign affairs, war, and the postal service, control Indian affairs, borrow money, determine value of coin, and issue bills of credit
• states didn’t want to impose taxes and give money to the federal government
• congress couldn’t pay back wartime debt, and made countries reluctant to lending money to the U.S
• congress couldn’t draft troops, impose tariffs, or regulate interstate commerce
• states started imposing tariffs on each other
• congress couldn’t really do anything because it took 9 out of 13 states to pass laws or amendments

Question 3

Federalist 10

Answer 3

• James Madison
• explained factions are inherent to human nature
• he worried that factions could incite violence and cause political instability
• Madison argued for a representative government to ensure that the rights of the minority were protected, because the alternative was a popular government where everyone could vote to make a legislative decision
• representative government would also cause factional passion to be spread across states and not concentrated in one area

Question 4

Federalist 51

Answer 4

• James Madison
• worried that one branch would dominate the others, which would lead to tyranny
• didn’t want a government dominated by the majority and wanted to protect minority rights
• division of power among branches was necessary and that power would be further divided among state governments
• legislative branch the true voice of the people, officeholders elected and power divided internally between two chambers

Question 5

Brutus 1

Answer 5

• argued that the constitution would turn the “league of friendship” that the 13 states had into a government that gave ultimate authority to federal government, which would lead to tyranny
• federal power was bad, and the constitution gives too much power to the federal government (necessary and proper clause and supremacy clause are examples)
• Brutus said representative government would only create an elite group of people that lead the country because they would concentrate power
• representative government wouldn’t work in a large country and people’s views would be inaccurately represented

Question 6

Federalist 70

Answer 6

• Alexander Hamilton
• advocate for an “energetic executive”
• some argued that having a council of 3 executives was the best course of action
• Hamilton disagreed, he said that 3 executives would naturally argue, cause people to lose respect for executive branch, and weaken it’s authority
• a single executive would be more closely scrutinized by the people and it’s easier to watch one person than several

Question 7

Federalist 78

Answer 7

• Alexander Hamilton
• lot of people worried that having a branch composed of people that were not elected and couldn’t be voted out of office was dangerous
• explained that judiciary branch didn’t have “influence over either the sword or purse” (can’t enforce laws or take away funding)
• the judicial branch would have to rely on congress and the president to have any real power and the people could just choose to ignore their rulings
• Hamilton emphasized the importance of judicial review, saying that it was critical in preventing congress from abusing power and would check the legislative branch when reviewing laws for constitutionality

Question 8

Constitution and Bill of Rights

Answer 8

• U.S constitution was ratified after federalists agreed to add a bill of rights
• constitution established that federal government: Congress (legislative), the president and bureaucracy (executive), and courts (judicial)
• constitution had amendments added, the first ten are the bill of rights
• bill of rights guarantee Americans certain rights that cannot be taken away or violated

Question 9

Letter From Birmingham Jail

Answer 9

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was sent to jail for protesting segregation in Birmingham
• he explains direct action (peaceful protest) is necessary to force white people to confront racism and would open up an opportunity for dialogue
• civil disobedience is a patriotic response to laws that are unjust
• King says that white moderates who claim to oppose racism but reject direct action are more detrimental to the cause of equality than the KKK because they passively allow injustice to continue
• ends by saying that African Americans will achieve equality and their fight for freedom and desegregation will be successful