American History Chapter 5

Shaping a New Nation

New Ideas for Government

• Power of Government• Many Americans felt state governments should have more

power than the national government.• Most states did not want to unite under a strong national

government because of bad GB memories.

• New Idea• Republic: Government where citizens rule though elected

representatives.

• Problem• Many states were more concerned with state issues compared

to national issues.• Most early state governments created laws that protected

individuals while limiting the power of the government

Creation of our 1st Government

• Representation Debate• Should representation be based on population (states

with more people have more representation) or equality (every state gets equal representation)

• Articles of Confederation• Our first attempt at a national government w/ shared

powers (national and state level)• Confederation: Alliance of States

Good and Bad of AOC

• Powers of the Articles of Confederations• Declare War and Make Treaties• Borrow and Print Money• Create a Post Office• Native American Relations

• Problems with the Articles of Confederation• No national unity (each state for themselves)• No national taxes• No regulation of trade (foreign or interstate)• Hard to pass a law (needed 2/3 of state approval)• No court system• No executive branch to enforce laws

Articles of Confederation cont..

• Northwest Ordinance• Set up the process for how new states are added to USA

• Northwest Ordinance Process• People move to a new area• 5,000 residents it can become a territory and have a

territorial governor• 60,000 residents, it can apply to become a state• Note: Most every state would go through this process

AOC Government Problems• Shay’s Rebellion

• Farmers in Massachusetts rebel against state government because of high taxes and growing debt

• Problem: Massachusetts government could not stop rebellion and the national government had no right to stop it.

• Trade • Trade had stopped between states because of high tariffs. • Problem: national government did not have right to regulate

taxes between states (or any taxes)

• Result• States realized that they needed to fix the Articles of

Confederation.• Realized it was so messed up that they decided to start over

Representation

• Early Plans for Representation• Virginia Plan: Representation would be based on each

states population (more people = more representatives)• New Jersey Plan: Representation would be based on

equality (each state gets the same number of reps)

• Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)• Created by Roger Sherman• Senate: All states have 2 senators• House of Representatives: States with more people get

more representatives (Iowa has 4, California has 53)

Slavery Debate

• Debate over counting of slaves• Southern states wanted all of their slaves counted

towards a their states population• Northern states did not want any of the slaves counted• Both sides are trying to get more of a say in the new

government

• 3/5 Compromise• A slave would be counted as 3/5 of a total person in the

census (counting of people). • Slave trade in Washington DC would be eliminated in 20

years

Basics of the New Government

• Division of Powers• Federalism: Government power and responsibility

would be divided between state and national level• Delegated Powers: Powers of the national government

– Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Trade Regulation, Currency

• Reserved Powers: Powers of the state governments– Education Standards, Marriage, Trade, State Laws

• Sharing of Powers• Both sides had the power to:

– Tax, Borrow Money, Create Laws

Basics of the New Government

• 3 Branches of Government• Executive Branch: President/Cabinet

– Carry out laws, Make decisions• Legislative Branch: Congress (House/Senate)

– Create and Pass Laws, Listen to constituents • Judicial Branch: Supreme Court and District Courts

– Interpret Laws, Make sure things are following the Constitution

• Checks and Balances• Numerous ways in which each branch makes sure other

branches are not breaking the law• Veto, Appointments, Judicial Review

Branches of Government

Legislative, Executive, Judicial

Legislative Branch

Congress: House of Representative and Senate

Legislative Branch• Congress

• House of Representatives and Senate• House of Representatives

• Number of Representatives from each state is determined by the # of people living there.

• Each state is guaranteed to have at least 1 representative. It is around 1 representative for every 600,000 people in a state

• Iowa has 4, California 53, North Dakota 1• Members of the House Serve 2 year terms…they can serve

as many as they like. • Qualifications: Must be at least 25 years old, live in state,

and be a citizen for 7 years

Legislative Branch

• Senate• 100 members (2 from each state)• Considered the upper house• Elected at large (meaning the whole state votes for

them)• 6-Year Terms• Must be at least 30 years old, live in state, citizen for 9

years

• Congress’s Job Duties (Both House and Senate)• Make Laws, Screen Bills, Represent people from home

state/district, do favors for citizens, follow political party

Legislative Branch

• Congress’s Officers• House of Representatives

– Speaker of the House: Most powerful person in the House and the leader of the majority party

• Senate– President of the Senate: Vice President of the USA, really has

little power• Both House and Senate

– Majority/Minority Floor Leaders: Makes sure laws pass that their party wants

– Assistant Floor Leaders (Whips): Help organize and gather support for legislation

Legislative Branch

• What’s a bill?• Bill: Proposed Law…must pass through both the House and

the Senate before going to President

• Steps (Could Start in either House or Senate)• A Representative or Senator must introduce a bill• A small group of people work on the bill, then give it back to

the whole group• Bill is read/debated and eventually voted on. • If passed it goes to the other House (House of Rep/Senate). If

it passes, it goes to the President• President: Sign bill into law or veto (refuse to sign it). If a bill

is vetoed it goes back to the Congress and can be made into law if 2/3 members of both the House and Senate vote for it.

Executive Branch

President and Cabinet

Executive Branch

• Executive Branch: • President (National) or Governors (State)• Cabinet: Advisors/Heads of Departments to Presidents or

Governors

• Cabinet Positions (People that help President)• Sec of State, Sec of Treasury, Sec of Defense, Attorney

General, Sec of Interior, Sec of Agriculture, Sec of Commerce, Sec of Labor, Sec of Health and Human Services, Sec of Housing and Urban Development, Sec of Transportation, Sec of Energy, Sec of Education, Sec of Veterans Affairs, Sec of Homeland Security

• Executive Office (Other people that help)• White House Office (Aides), National Security Council (Vice

President, Sec of State and Defense), etc

Responsibilities of the President• Chief of State

• Head of the government; symbolic• Chief Executive

• Carries out laws, policies, and programs• Chief Administrator

• In charge of most of the government employees• Chief Diplomat

• Sets the US policies towards other countries• Commander and Chief

• Head of all US military forces• Chief Legislator

• President can suggest new laws to Congress• Chief of Party

• Unofficial leader of his/her political party• Chief Citizen

• Expected to do what is best for the people of America

Presidential Items

• Qualifications• Natural born citizen• At least 35 years old• Lived in the United States for at least 14 years• Only allowed 2 terms (term is 4 years)….22nd Amendment

• Presidential Succession• Vice President, Speaker of the House, Sec of State, etc

• Vice President• President of the Senate, Participate in Cabinet Meetings

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court

Judicial Branch

• Supreme Court• 9 Judges• Judicial Review: Court decides if laws or policies violate the

Constitution• Court listens to arguments and then makes a decision• Presidents appoint Supreme Court Justices…Congress has to

approve them.

• Federal Courts– Variety of lower courts throughout the country.

Decisions from these courts can be appealed to higher courts

Political Parties

Political Parties• Political Party

• A group of people who join together to try to control the government…usually believe the same things

• Republicans and Democrats are the major parties today• History

• Federalists and Anti Federalist were the first two political parties (argued over passing the constitution)

• Democratic Republics, Whigs, Free Soilers, Know-Nothing Party all were prominent.

• Democrats began with Andrew Jackson in 1824.• Republic Party began with Abraham Lincoln in 1860

• Beliefs• Republicans: Smaller government control, more conservative,

popular among white males• Democrats: More government control, more liberal, popular

among females and minorities

Checks and Balances

Checks and Balances

• Executive Branch• Veto laws from Congress, Appoint Supreme Court

Judges, Enforces Laws, Recommends Bills to Congress

• Judicial Branch• Settles legal disputes between states, can declare laws

unconstitutional

• Legislative• Override Presidential Vetoes, Approves Presidential

Appointments, Impeach President, Declare War, Select President if no majority

Presidential Elections• Electoral College

• Method we use to elect the President• How it works

• Each state has a point total based on the number of Senators and Representatives

• Iowa (2 + 4)=6 points• California (2 + 53)= 55 points• If a candidate gets the most votes in the state, they get the states

points.• First candidate to get a majority wins the election (270)• If no candidate gets the majority, then it goes to the House of

Representatives to choose the President.• Controversy

• It is possible to win an election without having the majority of popular votes (total number of votes in the country

Ratifying the Constitution

• Constitution• Set of laws and principles that explain how our

government works.

• Passing the Constitution• Ratify: To approve the Constitution (needed 9 of 13

original states to pass it)• Not everyone was in favor of the new government• Main Issue: People were scared of the new power of

the government because there were no basic individual rights included.

Differing Views

• Anti-Federalists• People that opposed ratifying the Constitution• Thought the National Government had too much power

and the citizens would be threatened (like GB)• Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams

• Federalists• People that wanted to ratify the Constitution• Liked the balance of power between State and National

Levels• George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton

How we got the Constitution Passed

• Process• Amendments and Bill of Rights changed made people

ready to accept the new government.• Delaware became the first state to ratify.• New York and Virginia were the last two states to

ratify.

• Ratification• June 1788, the Constitution was ratified.

Early Changes to the Constitution

• Amendments• How we change the Constitution• Bill of Rights: First 10 amendments of the Constitution

that protected the rights of the people• An amendment must be approved by 2/3 of both the

House of Representatives and Senate.• An amendment must then be approved by 3/4 of the

States.• We have had a total of 27 amendments that have been

ratified.

Notable Bill of Rights• First Amendment: Personal Freedoms

• Freedom of Speech– Does not give people the option to say or write something that is

false and hateful. • Freedom of Press

– Government can censor things that are “obscene”• Freedom of Religion

– Separation of Church and State…government can not favor one religion over another

– People can also worship any religion that they want• Freedom of Assembly

– Meeting to share opinions• Freedom of Petition

Notable Bill of Rights• 2nd Amendment: Right to Keep and Bear Arms

• Meant to protect state militia’s (armies)• Does not mean that American’s can own weapons without any

restrictions from the government.• Each state creates its own laws on how to deal with gun

ownership

• 4th Amendment: Unreasonable Search/Seizure• For police to search you they need to have a search warrant.

To get a search warrant they have to have probable cause. • Police can seize things that are in plain view without a search

warrant.• A person can be arrested without a warrant if the police have

probable cause.• Police must get a warrant before they spy on people

Notable Bill of Rights

• 5th Amendment: Due Process• Government can not take away anyone’s life, liberty, or

property without due process• Due Process: government must follow procedures and

act fairly when dealing with crimes.• Flow Chart on Page 129• Miranda Rule: Read the rights of the accused person• Pleading the 5th: Don’t say anything to incriminate

Other Notable Amendments

• 13th Amendment• Outlawed Slavery in the USA

• 14th Amendment: Civil Rights Amendment• Guaranteed freedoms from state governments• All people born or naturalized in the USA become citizens

and are protected by the laws

• 15th Amendment: • No one can be kept from voting because of race

• 19th Amendment• Allowed women the right to vote