Origins of American Government: Influences and Political Beginnings

1. Chapter 2 Origins of American Government

2. What do we know about our American government? • Influenced by early philosophers from the Enlightenment Era • We understood the form of government we were under was not pleasing to the people and infringed upon our natural rights. • We understood that we needed a government to protect and allow us to maintain individual rights.

3. Section 1 Our Political Beginnings • Basic concepts of government • Ordered (rules) • Man could not contain himself • Limited (restrictions) • Unhappy with complete control of monarchy • Representative (serve the people) • Voices of the nation should be heard and carried out in government issues

4. Influential English documents • Magna Carta – 1215 • King no longer have total power • Must have protected rights (trial by jury, due process) • Originally intended for elite

5. Petition of Right – 1628 • King can’t force citizens to house soldiers • King can’t punish without fair judgement from others

6. English Bill of Rights – 1689 • No more army in peacetime • No more cruel and unusual punishment • Fair and speedy trials • Free elections

7. Constitution Magna Carta Tryanny Divine Right of King’s

8. The English Colonies • Royal • Ruled by the crown • Chief executive, law’s passed (under king’s authority • Proprietary • Someone granted by king formed the colony • Governor picked by this person • Charter • Given to colonists themselves • Self-governing (no King’s approval)

9. The Coming of Independence Chapter 2 Section 2

10. What started it all…….1760’s • England tries to impose new taxes and laws • “No taxation without representation” • Motivated colonists toward independence and new types of government • Colonies formed a confederation (a union of states for a common purpose) • Benjamin Franklin – Albany Plan of Union • Congress of delegates, rejected on both sides

11. First Continental Congress - 1774 • 12 of 13 states joined • Met to oppose policies/punishments from the monarchy • Delegates urged colonies to refuse trade (boycott) with Britain until hated policies were recalled (repealed) • FINALLY got mad enough and resulted in American Revolution in 1775

12. Second Continental Congress – 1775 • First U.S. government (1776-1781) and was produced in the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) • Made the Constitution – basic set of laws to create government • Popular sovereignty – has to have consent of the people!!!!

13. Common Features of State Constitutions Popular Sovereignty Limited Government Civil Rights and Liberties Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances The principle of popular sovereignty was the basis for every new State constitution. That principle says that government can exist and function only with the consent of the governed. The people hold power and the people are sovereign. Know thischart!!!!!!! The concept of limited government was a major feature of each State constitution. The powers delegated to government were granted reluctantly and hedged with many restrictions. In every State it was made clear that the sovereign people held certain rights that the government must respect at all times. Seven of the new constitutions contained a bill of rights, setting out the “unalienable rights” held by the people. The powers granted to the new State governments were purposely divided among three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch was given powers with which to check (restrain the actions of) the other branches of the government.

14. “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

15. The Critical Period Chapter 2 Section 3

16. What a bunch of squabbling children!! • First and Second Continental Congresses – no legal base, temporary ‘emergency’ fix • Second Continental Congress determined the need for unification among colonies • …thus, the Articles of Confederation (or a “firm league of friendship”)

17. So….let’s make a government! • 13 states ratified (formally approved) the Articles of Confederation – 1781 FINALLY! • Created a union and government (unicameral), but lacked power (states didn’t have to obey) SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE • Massachusetts – (those rebels!) proved a new form of government was needed

18. I got the power!!!.....Uhhh – NOT!!!! • Let’s make war, peace, treaties, play with money, create a post office, an army and a navy and figure out how much things weigh! • Tell the states what to do, but they don’t have to listen • Not a single Amendment (you try and get 13 kids to agree on something!)

19. One vote per state Congress couldn’t collect taxes or duties Congress couldn’t regulate foreign trade or interstate commerce No executive to enforce acts of Congress No national court system Amendments only with unanimous consent of States 9/13 majority to pass laws “firm league of friendship” Weakness of the Articles

20. This is Critical!! (1780’s) • War is over, but the government can’t do anything to help. • States are bickering, debts are growing, economy is in chaos – let’s fight!! • Massachusetts (those REBELS!!) • So….let’s have some more meetings and fix this!

21. They may actually get it right this time! • Maryland and Virginia worked it out together (at buddy George Washington’s home – Mount Vernon) • That was a success! Let’s get everyone on board! • Annapolis – where is everybody? • One more time – Philly – Constitutional Convention…..let’s roll!

22. Creating the Constitution Chapter 2 Section 4

23. Like a house under construction The Framers had a huge task ahead of them when writing the U.S. Constitution. How do you meet the needs of the large and small states? This was a true test of the democratic principle “necessity of compromise”.

24. Framers of the Constitution

25. Different Plans at the Convention The Virginia Plan The New Jersey Plan Unicameral Congress Equal representation for States of different sizes More than one federal executive • Three branches of government • Bicameral legislature • “National Executive” and “National Judiciary”

26. Other Constitutional Compromises • The Connecticut Compromise • Delegates agreed on a bicameral Congress, one segment with equal representation for States, and the other with representation proportionate to the States’ populations. • The Three-Fifths Compromise • The Framers decided to count a slave as three-fifths of a person when determining the population of a State. • The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise • Congress was forbidden from taxing exported goods, and was not allowed to act on the slave trade for 20 years.

27. The Constitution was very controversial at first, with some groups supporting it, and others attacking it. Anti-Federalists Objected to the Constitution for many reasons, including the strong central government and the lack of a bill of rights. Federalists Thought that the Articles of Confederation were weak, and argued for the ratification of the Constitution.

28. Ratification • Nine States ratified the Constitution by June 21, 1788, but the new government needed the ratification of the large States of New York and Virginia. • Great debates were held in both States, with Virginia ratifying the Constitution June 25, 1788. • New York’s ratification was hard fought. Supporters of the Constitution published a series of essays known as The Federalist.

29. Inaugurating the new government • The new Congress met for the first time on March 4, 1789. • Congress finally attained a quorum (majority) on April 6 and counted the electoral votes. Congress found that George Washington had been unanimously elected President. He was inaugurated on April 30.