We the People, Unit 4

Warmup, 11/13-14

1. Get Unit 4 Outline

2. Organize your binder, start Unit 4

3. Get out your homework so I can see it

4. Answer these questions:1. What did the framers do about slavery when

they wrote the Constitution (in 1787)? Why?

2. What other Constitutional issues led to the Civil War?

Slavery in the Constitution

• Framers did not abolish slavery– Because Southern states would not have ratified

Constitution if it abolished slavery.– Main goal in 1787: create stronger nat’l govt.

• Congress can’t ban importation of slaves until 1808

• Fugitive slave clause: free states had to return runaway slaves to their owners

• 3/5ths Compromise

Secession

• Southern States:• States have a right

to secede from the Union because…– Constitution– History– Philosophy

• Northern States:• States do NOT have

a right to secede from the Union because…– Constitution– History– Declaration of

Independence

Secession

• Was the U.S. a “perpetual Union” or a “confederation of sovereign states”?

• Did the people or the states create the union?

9/28 Class Starter1. Does the 14th Amendment give states more

power, or place more limits on state power? How?

2. Would each of these examples violate the Fourteenth Amendment? If so, which part? Explain.

• Arizona passes a law that babies born to illegal immigrants in Arizona are not U.S. citizens.

• Kansas law requires black and white children to go to different schools.

• A poor man in Florida is convicted of burglary and sent to prison, but did not have a lawyer because he could not afford one.

Dred Scott case

• Supreme Court ruled (1857) that– African Americans are not U.S.

citizens– Congress cannot prohibit slavery

in new U.S. territories– Constitutional Amendment was

required to grant citizenship to blacks

Civil War Amendments

• 13th: (1865): freed all slaves, outlawed slavery permanently in the U.S.

• 14th (1868): all persons born in U.S. are citizens; states cannot violate citizens’ rights; “equal protection of the laws”

• 15th (1870): right to vote cannot be denied based on race

Failure of Civil War Amendments

• Executive Branch did not enforce them• Congress passed civil rights laws, but

President refused to enforce• Withdrew federal troops from South in 1877• Southern states passed “black codes” to

prevent blacks from gaining power or equality• Former slaves and free blacks were not

treated equally for another 100 years

14th Amendment

• Original purpose: protect the rights of former slaves and free blacks

• Made state govts protect citizens’ Constitutional rights

• Limited the power of state govt’s after the Civil War

14th Amendment

“No state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”

• Applies only to state governments– Unless other laws exist (“Equal Opportunity Employment

laws”)

• Does it require “equality of condition”?• Does it require “equal opportunity”?• When can people be treated differently by the law?

– “rational basis”– “compelling” social interest

Equality of Condition

• Authors of the 14th Amendment did not intend to protect a right to equality of condition.

• That would mean that govt. was responsible for guaranteeing that all citizens were equal in the amount of property they owned, their living standards, education, medical care, and working conditions.

Equal Protection of the Laws

• The framers (authors) of the 14th Amendment wanted to create a society in which all people were treated equally before the law.

• “Equal protection of the laws” Does not prevent legislatures from passing laws that treat some people differently when there is a reasonable basis for doing so. Ex. NC driver’s license law that grants the privilege of a driver’s license only to people 16 or older, or law that denies anyone younger than 21 from purchasing alcoholic beverages.

Do these laws violate the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment? Why/ why not?

• Adults under 21 can’t drink alcohol• Gays can’t join the military• Women can’t be firefighters• Physically handicapped people can’t be

firefighters• 15% of all University of Michigan students

must be minority races• Women can’t be guards at all-male prisons• Only men have to register for the draft

“Equal Protection” cases• Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

– Segregation by race does not violate the equal protection clause as long as the separate facilities were equal

• “separate but equal” doctrine• Allowed states to continue racial segregation

• Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)– “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”– Overturned Plessy decision– Outlawed segregation in every state– Not followed in some southern states until forced by federal

troops

Civil Rights Movement• African Americans fought to have the 14th

Amendment enforced in the 1950’s• Wanted to “fulfill the promise of the

Constitution”• Court cases (Brown vs. Board)• Used 1st Amendment rights

– Speech– Religion– Press– Assembly

• Civil Rights Act passed in 1964• Voting Rights Act passed in 1965

Due Process of Law

• One of the oldest constitutional principles• Appears in Magna Carta, D.O.I. and the 5th

and 14th amendments in the Constitution• The term due process refers to the

requirement that the actions of government be conducted according to the rule of law.

• No govt. can be above the law.• Principle of due process of law is one of the

most important protections against arbitrary rule.

• The 5th Amendment prevents the federal government from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property w/o due process of law.

• The 14th Amendment requires state govts. To respect due process of law and gives the federal govt. the power to enforce this requirement.

• What is procedural due process?Ans. Means that the govt. must use fair

procedures in fulfilling its responsibilities.• What is substantive due process?Ans. Means govt. cannot make laws that apply

to situations in which the govt. has no business interfering. It requires the “substance” or the purpose laws to be constitutional.

• After the Civil War the idea of substantive due process became widely used by the Supreme Court.

14TH AMENDMENT (1868): PRIVILEGES OR IMMUNITIES CLAUSE:“NO STATE SHALL MAKE OR ENFORCE ANY LAW WHICH SHALL ABRIDGE THE PRIVILEGES OR IMMUNITIES OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES;”

DUE PROCESS CLAUSE:“NOR SHALL ANY STATE DEPRIVE ANY PERSON OF LIFE, LIBERTY OR PROPERTY WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW . . . .”

WHICH PROVISION DO YOU THINK WOULD INCORPORATE THE BILL OF RIGHTS (APPLY THE BILL OF RIGHTS TO THE STATES)?

IF IT’S THE PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES CLAUSE, WHICH PROVISIONS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS WOULD APPLY THE STATES?

WHICH IF IT’S THE DUE PROCESS CLAUSE?

Homework• In each category below, place the groups in order,

based on how much POWER you think they have in our country today.

• What is the reason some groups have more power than others in our country?

AGES• 18-24 year-olds• 25-44 year-olds• 45 and older

RACE•White•Black•Hispanic

EDUCATION•Less than high school•High School graduates•1-3 years of college•College graduates

Voting: Key Questions

• What percentage of Americans vote?• How is voting related to power? What happens to a

group of people that does not vote?• Does your vote matter? What evidence do you have? • What is the history of voting rights in the United

States?• What are the current issues and problems with voting

rights?• Would our country be better if everyone voted?

Suffrage (the right to vote)

1776: White male property owners 21+– Each state allowed to set voting requirements

1870: 15th Amendment- right to vote can’t be denied based on race

1920: 19th Amendment- women1924: Native Americans are citizens of the U.S.1965: Voting Rights Act- helps blacks and

Native Americans1971: 26th Amendment- 18 year-olds

Video “ 14th Amendment”• What inscription is carved above the

entrance of the Supreme Court building?• Which amendment expresses this idea?

How is it worded?• What enduring idea did Thomas Jefferson

express in the D.O.I? Was it mentioned in the Constitution of 1787?

• What did the 14th Amendment do for Blacks?

• Which part of the 14th amendment was specifically directed at the states?

• Why does the children’s grandmother need a job? What job does she apply for? In your opinion is she qualified?