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Successes Under the Articles

• Developed a grid system of surveying, parceling, and selling land in the Northwest Territory, meant to encourage settlement and raise funds for Congress

• Divided land into 36-square mile townships, which were split into thirty six 640-acre sections that were further divided into half-sections, quarter-sections, and quarter-quarter sections 

• Plots of land were sold for at least one dollar per acre

• Slavery would not have been economically viable, since the plots were too small for plantations

• Encouraged lower to middle-class individuals from northern colonies to move and settle the land

• Land ownership promoted individual self-sufficiency, political, social, and economic independence

• Extended economic opportunities, voting rights, and freedom to poorer white men willing to move

• What makes a man free? → Land ownership helps with economic and social independence & freedom

• One section per township was devoted to public education, which was funded, developed, and governed locally without interference from Congress

• Encourages a heavily agrarian economy

• Northwest Ordinance of 1787

• Created territories of what would eventually become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota

• Implemented a path towards statehood

• The governor and judges of a to-be state would initially be chosen by Congress

• 5,000 freemen were needed to elect a territorial government

• 60,000 freemen were needed for a territory to apply for statehood

• New states would be on equal footing as the other states

• Banned slavery in the Northwest Territory, making the Ohio River the boundary between free and slave states in the west

• Private land ownership was made inheritable, with unlimited power to sell or give it away

• Encourages the settlement of entire families, and incentivizes improving and developing the land

• Earmarked funding from land sales to fund public colleges in the territories

• Encourages self-governance

Problems Under the Articles

• Western Land Claims

• States, citing royal charters, claimed western lands gained from the Treaty of Paris

• States would eventually relinquish their claims on the western lands, allowing the passage of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

• Economic Problems

• Continental currency was inflated; Congress did not have the power to tax, and looked towards the sale of western lands as their only source of revenue

• Renewed trade with Britain resulted in a flood of cheap British goods, threatening to run domestic manufacturers out of business

• States levied protective tariffs, but Britain just sold their goods in states with the lowest tariffs

• Congress had no power to regulate commerce

• Economic recession that was exacerbated by currency issues, debt, and Congress’s inability to make national regulations on economic matters

• Disputes with Britain and Spain

• British forces continued to occupy frontier posts in violation of the Treaty of Paris (1783)

• A border dispute led Spain to close off the port of New Orleans to the Americans

• Essentially closed off the prospect of bringing goods from west of the Appalachian Mountains to the coast 

• Shays’s Rebellion (1786-1787)

• Causes

• Dire postwar economic conditions

• American shipping was crippled

• Exports were limited, and American businesses no longer enjoyed the benefits of the Navigation Acts

• A flood of cheap British goods were now competing with American artisans and manufacturers

• States were in debt from the Revolution, and under pressure by speculators and investors to repay war debt

• In Massachusetts, the eastern mercantile elite held governmental power, as well as the bulk of the state’s war bonds, leading the legislature to increase taxes on land in order to pay off wartime debts (required it be paid in a hard/stable currency)

• This was an incredible burden on all farmers, especially those that had borrowed money during the war to raise crops to meet wartime demand (after the war, demand slumped, bringing hard times for farmers)

• Creditors and speculators threatened lawsuits and farmers, facing debtor prison, used force to close down courthouses

• Events & Response

• Rebels, led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays, marched on county courthouses to stop property seizures and to protest high taxes

• The Massachusetts legislature passed the Riot Act 

• Enabled sheriffs to kill rioters who failed to disperse or resisted capture

• Suspended Habeas Corpus

• The governor, with funding from wealthy Bostonians, raised a private army that eventually defeated the rebels

• A private army was necessary, since Congress didn’t have the funding to raise an army to repress the rebellion

• Put Congress’s lack of power under the Articles of Confederation on full display 

• Was the breaking point for support of the Articles of Confederation, leading to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles

Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Summer 1787

• Constitutional Convention

• Held in Philadelphia, in the summer 1787

• Attended by 55 delegates, mostly merchants and slaveholding planters, who met behind closed doors to try and fix the problems of the Articles of Confederation

• Notable people absent: John Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson

• Dominated by “nationalists” who advocated a stronger national government and were spurred on by Shays’s Rebellion

• Virginia Plan

• Proposed by James Madison of Virginia

• Rejected state sovereignty in favor of the supremacy of national authority, including the power to overturn state laws

• Called for a national government established by the people, not the states

• Would have had three Branches of Government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial

• Called for a bicameral national legislature, in which voters would elect the lower house and the lower house would select the upper house— the lower house would be apportioned by state population (the larger a state’s population, the more representatives it gets)

• Forces the two houses to compromise 

• Representation based on state population represents the people better, but also caused fear of a tyranny of the large states 

• The executive and judiciary would be chosen by both houses of the legislature 

• New Jersey Plan

• Proposed by William Paterson of New Jersey

• Kept the Confederation but gave Congress the power to raise revenue, control commerce, and make binding requisitions on the states (Congress’ supremacy over the states), but preserved the states’ control over their own laws

• Represents smaller states better, avoiding a tyranny of the large states

• However, it does not represent the people very well

• 3 Branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial

• Each state would have one vote in a unicameral Congress (inherited from the Articles)

• Called for an executive of multiple people, elected by Congress (an idea that would eventually be abandoned, since the executive may need to make quick decisions that a multi-person executive would struggle at)

• Judiciary chosen by the executive branch 

• Great Compromise

• Developed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut

• After a month of long debate, the Virginia Plan won a small majority, signaling more support for a stronger national government

• Sherman revised the Virginia Plan, adding in elements from the New Jersey plan to produce a final compromise

• Three Branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial

• A bicameral legislature 

• Upper chamber (Senate) — 2 senators per state, chosen by their state legislature and representing the interests of the states

• Lower chamber (House of Representatives) — apportioned by population (determined by the census every 10 years) representing the interests of the people

• An executive (President) chosen by electors from the states (Electoral College) 

• A Judiciary (Supreme Court)

• A powerful federal government was created, with powers to tax, raise an army and navy, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, and the power to make all laws “necessary and proper”

• States would be prohibited from issuing paper money 

• Slavery

• Slavery became an issue that was compromised on, since the southern states feared a tyranny of the northern states

• Slave Trade Compromise

• Congress would not have the power to regulate immigration (including the slave trade) for 20 years, until 1808

• Fugitive Slave Clause

• Allowed slave masters to reclaim slaves or indentured servants who fled to other states

• 3/5 Compromise

• Southern states demanded slaves be counted toward their state’s total population, despite being considered property, to boost their total population, and thus the number of seats they would get in the House of Representatives

• Northern states refused, and a compromise was made to count 3/5 of slaves toward total population 

Constitutional Principles

• Separation of Powers

• The legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government are divided into different branches in order to avoid the concentration of power of any single branch and the power of the federal government as a whole

• Horizontal separation of power

• Checks and Balances

• Each branch is empowered to limit the powers of the other branches and share power

• Is intended to ensure that any one branch of the government does not become too powerful

• Ex: President’s veto on a proposed bill

• Federalism

• The division of governmental power between federal and state governments

• Is designed to ensure that the federal government does not become too powerful

• Vertical separation of power

• Limited Government

• Governmental power is limited by law

• When the government’s power is limited by law, it cannot infringe upon the rights of the people or the states

• Popular Sovereignty

• The government gets its power from the consent of the people

• Republicanism

• The concept of citizens electing representatives to speak for them in government 

• Is also a political philosophy that stresses inalienable individual rights and a rejection of monarchy, aristocracy, and hereditary political power in the United States

• The expectation is that citizens will be virtuous in performing the civic duties; corruption is vilified 

• A good example is Washington’s resignation— putting country before self

Article I – Legislative Branch

• House of Representatives

• Terms, Requirements, Congressional Districts

• Members of the House are reelected every two years, and can be reelected an unlimited number of times

• Short terms hold Representatives more accountable to the people, better representing their congressional district’s needs

• Representatives must be at least 25 years of age, a citizen of the US for 7 years, and must live in the state of their district

• Representatives don’t necessarily have to live in their district itself— Carpetbagging

• Representatives are elected by congressional districts within their state, with the House being reapportioned every 10 years after the national census

• Representation is based on population, but every state must have at least one representative

• Gerrymandering - Drawing congressional districts to try and influence election outcomes

• Results in the House being more radical and partisan compared to the Senate

• Representatives only have to worry about winning reelection in their congressional district (which may or may not be gerrymandered in their favor), resulting in legislation that better reflects the interests of their congressional district

• Senators have to win reelection across their entire state, resulting in more moderate legislation

• Power of the Purse, Impeachment

• All revenue bills (tax bills) must originate in the House— power of the purse

• Tax bills must come from the people

• Senate may propose amendments to revenue bills

• The house has the sole power to impeach (remove and disqualify from holding federal office) the president or other federal officials

• If the House decides to impeach the president or other federal official, the Senate conducts the trial

• Senators then act as jurors in the trial to determine whether the person should be removed from office

• During the trial, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the process, but does not vote

• In order to remove a president, 2/3 of senators must vote in favor

• Speaker of the House

• The House chooses the Speaker of the House to lead the House; the majority party has the upper hand in determining who the speaker will be

• The speaker chooses which bills are debated and voted on by the house, essentially controlling legislation

• Third in the line of succession to the presidency (after the Vice President)

• 3/5 Compromise

• When determining state population and the number of seats a state gets in the House, slaves would count as 3/5 of a free person (3 of every 5 slaves are counted)

• No longer applies after slavery was abolished

• Senate

• Terms, Requirements, Election

• Senators serve six year terms; only 1/3 of Senators can ever be up for election every two years

• Ensures that there will always be experienced Senators in the body

• Senators used to be elected by state legislatures (shows how the founding fathers didn’t trust the people)

• Would be changed so that Senators are elected by the people in the 17th amendment

• Stricter requirements than the House— Senators must be at least 30 years of age, be a US citizen for at least 9 years, and live in the state they represent

• Checks and Balances

• Senate ratifies treaties made by the President and approves of nominations made by the President

• Senate acts as jurors to remove an impeached president or federal official 

• Senate Leaders

• The majority party chooses the Senate Majority Leader, who chooses which bills are debated and voted on (equivalent to the Speaker of the House)

• President of the Senate Pro Tempore (a different position) is the longest-serving senator of the majority party, and is fourth in the line of succession to the presidency (after the Speaker of the House)

• The Vice President serves as the President of the Senate, who gets a vote when the Senate is tied, but cannot debate topics

• Powers of Congress

• Enumerated

• Powers that are explicitly given to Congress

• Include:

1. Collect taxes
2. Borrow money
3. Regulate commerce with foreign nations, between states, and with Native Americans
4. Establish rules of naturalization (citizenship) and laws concerning bankruptcies 
5. Coin money and fix a standard of weights and measures
6. Punish counterfeiting money
7. Establish post offices & post roads
8. Promote the progress of science and useful arts (patent & copyright laws)
9. Create a federal court system
10. Punish piracies
11. Declare war and grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal (privateers)
12. Raise and support an Army
13. Provide and maintain a Navy
14. Make rules for the military
15. Call on the militia when deemed necessary
16. Organize, arm, and train the militia
17. Exercise authority over the capital (District of Columbia) and other federal lands purchased from states

• Implied

• Congress can stretch its powers when necessary in order to carry out the Enumerated Powers

• An example would be the creation of zip codes, which while not a power explicitly given to Congress, helps in the delivery of mail (a power given to Congress— to establish post offices & post roads)

• The degree to which these powers can be stretched is up to interpretation, and is where a lot of the politics comes in

• Necessary and Proper Clause

• Known as the “elastic clause”, from which implied powers of Congress are derived

• Powers Denied to Congress

• Congress cannot ban the importation of slaves until 1808

• Writ of Habeas Corpus (people cannot be held in jail without being charged with a crime) cannot be suspended unless in a time of rebellion, invasion, or when public safety requires

• No Bills of Attainder— Congress cannot legislate to convict somebody of a crime

• No Ex Post Facto Laws— Congress cannot pass legislation that retroactively criminalizes conduct that was legal when originally performed 

• No duties on exports

• Congress cannot favor one port over another; duties cannot be collected through interstate commerce

• Federal money can only be spent through Congress by way of an appropriations bill (a budget); the executive and judicial branch cannot spend unless Congress votes to approve it

• No titles of nobility will be granted by the US

• People holding public office cannot accept gifts or titles from foreign nations (anti-corruption measure)

• Powers Denied to the States

• States cannot engage in foreign policy, grant letters of marque for privateers, or coin money

• No bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, or laws negating contracts

• No titles of nobility

• Cannot impose duties on exports

• Without Congress’s approval, states cannot impose taxes on cargo, keep standing armies (militias are okay), enter into agreements with other states or a foreign power, or engage in war unless invaded

• How a Bill Becomes a Law

• A bill is first proposed in Congress

• Revenue bills must originate in the House, but all other bills can come from either house of Congress

• All bills must be approved by both houses of Congress before it is sent to the President for approval (approved bills must be identical)

• If the President vetoes the bill, it is returned to the house in which it originated for reconsideration

• A veto can be overridden by a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress

• The President has 10 days to decide on a bill— if he or she waits longer than 10, it automatically becomes law (prevents the President from indefinitely tabling a law)

• The president can pocket veto (not do anything) a bill if the congressional session runs out before the 10 days 

• Miscellaneous Facts

• Each house of Congress decides to accept the results of elections and determines the qualifications of their members

• A majority of the body is required to be present to do business (Quorum)— members may compel absent members to be present and punish those that do not comply

• States conduct elections of their Representatives and Senators

• Following an election, a new congressional session begins on January 3rd (Twentieth Amendment)

• Period between the elections and the start of the new session is known as the “Lame Duck” session, where not much gets done— Representatives and Senators that lost their seats don’t have the support to pass legislation

• The record of the House and Senate must be made publicly available

• While Congress is meeting, neither house can leave for more than three days unless the other house agrees to leave as well (forces compromise and limits stalling)

• No representative or senator shall hold another federal office during the time they are elected (ensures the separation of powers)

• Each house of Congress determines its own rules, punish members for bad behavior (censure, reprimand, fine) or expel a member with 2/3 majority (expulsion)

• The House tends to have stricter rules than the Senate, due to its large size (435 Representatives v. 100 Senators)— Representatives are limited to talking for 5 minutes at a time each

• Senators can talk for however long they want, resulting in the creation of the filibuster

• Filibruster - When a senator keeps talking about something to stall a bill

• Rules are that if you stop talking, you have to stop, or that 60 votes are needed to stop it (practically sets 60 votes as the threshold to pass legislation— protects minority party rights, but nothing really can get done)

Article II – Executive Branch

• Requirements & Terms

• Presidents must be natural-born citizens (born on American soil or to at least one American parent), or a citizen at the time of the Constitution’s adoption (none of the founding fathers and early presidents would have been born American citizens)

• President must be at least 35 years of age and a resident of the US for 14 years

• President serves four-year terms

• In the original Constitution, there was no limit to the number of times a president could be re-elected

• George Washington set the precedent for all future presidents to only serve for two terms, until FDR won a third term in 1940 and a fourth in 1944

• The 22nd Amendment, passed in 1951, limited presidents to serving a maximum of two terms

• President’s role in Federal Government

• Head of State

• The “face of the nation”

• Receive foreign ambassadors and dignitaries 

• Head of Government

• Can recommend legislation to Congress, but cannot make any bills

• Commander in Chief

• Commander in Chief of the armed forces

• Powers

• Serves as the Commander in Chief of the Military

• As executive, the President is the head of each of the departments, such as the Treasury Department, or the Department of Defense

• Can offer pardons or reprieves for Federal offenses 

• The President is the nation’s chief diplomat, and can make treaties with other nations (treaties must be ratified by a 2/3 vote in the Senate)

• The President has the power to nominate:

• Ambassadors and Foreign Consuls

• Federal judges, including Supreme Court Justices

• Cabinet Secretaries

• Other offices like US Attorneys, heads of regulatory commissions, and independent agencies

• They do not take their positions unless the Senate approves of the nominations

• Power to make recess appointments in order to fill vacancies when the Senate is not in session (these appointments expire at the end of the next Senate session)

• Duties

• Give a State of the Union (which doesn’t actually have to be a speech— Jefferson ended up just writing a letter)

• Recommend legislation to Congress, but cannot make any bills (head of government)

• Convene and adjourn both houses of Congress 

• Carry out and enforce federal laws

• Receive foreign ambassadors and dignitaries (head of state)

• Commission military officers 

• Electoral College

• The President is elected by receiving the majority of the Electoral Vote, not the national popular vote

• There are 538 total electoral votes available; 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidency

• The number of electoral votes a state gets is the number of seats the state gets in the House of Representatives + 2 (the number of seats they get in the Senate)

• This minimum of 3 votes per state forces candidates to take the concerns of people living in more rural states into account, as it props up the voice of these less populated states 

• Most states operate on a “winner takes all” basis, where if a candidate wins the majority of the state popular vote, they gain all of the state’s electoral votes  

• Maine and Nebraska split their electoral votes, taking account of the relatively large demographic divide in their states 

• If no candidate gains a majority of the electoral vote, the House of Representatives will choose the president

• The original constitution, the candidate that received the second most electoral votes became the Vice President— this was changed in the 12th amendment, which made the President and Vice President a package deal

• Arguments in favor and against the Electoral College

• Props up the voice of less populated states, forcing candidates to take their concerns into consideration

• Electoral College system was put in place to guard against the people electing someone unfit to be president

• If the people end up hypothetically electing someone too off the rails, electors could decide themselves not to follow the state’s popular vote (faithless electors)

• Shows how the Founding Fathers did not trust the people

• However, does not properly represent the entire population

• Vice President (Role in Executive Branch and Senate)

• Backup to the President in case the President dies or is unable to carry out the duties of the presidency 

• Serves as the President of the Senate

• Not allowed to debate

• Only function is to vote in the case of a tie

• The Cabinet

• The executive advisors of the President, appointed by the President

• Help carry out laws as secretaries of their respective departments (treasury, defense, etc.)

• Presidential Succession

• Order of Presidential Succession:

1. President
2. Vice President
3. Speaker of the House
4. President of the Senate Pro Tempore
5. Secretary of State
6. Secretary of Defense
7. Secretary of the Treasury 
8. Attorney General
9. Continuing through the cabinet in the order of the creation of the departments, the last being the Secretary of Homeland Security 

• When the entire federal government meets once a year at the State of Union address, one successor acts as the Designated Survivor, and does not attend the meeting in case something were to happen

Article III – Judicial Branch

• Requirements

• No requirements (as Brus notoriously mentioned, as long as the President appointed his 2-year-old as a Supreme Judge and the Senate approves, his 2-year-old can be a Supreme Court Judge)

• Independent judiciary - no need for bias to keep position

• Scope of Judicial Power

• Involving the US Constitution

• Federal laws

• Treaties of the United States

• Cases involving ambassadors and other federal officials

• The Supreme Court is allowed to grant lower courts jurisdiction to determine these cases

• Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction

• Cases involving the United States

• Cases between two or more states

• Cases between citizens of two or more states

• Cases involving citizens of one state and land claims in another state

• Cases between a state or citizen and foreign states

• **Technically, any case that has been appealed up to the Supreme Court & the Supreme Court agrees to hear it can be judged/determined by the Supreme Court

• Usually a small number of cases around 20 per year

• Federal Court System

• Congress can create federal lower courts

• Supreme Court - highest

• Court of Appeals - mid level, regions

• District Court - lowest level, small areas

• Any case can be appealed to a higher court (district → court of appeals, court of appeals → supreme court)

• Cases involving ambassadors and other republic officials, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction but can grant lower courts jurisdiction

• Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction, meaning cases can start at lower federal courts and rise to the Supreme Court upon appeal

• Judicial Review

• The Supreme Court has the power to declare an Executive or Legislative act to be in violation of the Constitution

• Not found in the actual Constitution itself, but was established in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803)

• Trial by Jury

• Except in impeachment trials (where the Senate acts as jurors), all criminal trials are jury trials

• Criminal trials are held in the state in which the crime was committed (the Supreme Court does not hear criminal cases)

• Extradition: Executives (governors) of states will send fugitives back to the state in which the crime was committed 

• If the case is not in a particular state, Congress legislates where it will occur

• Treason

• Defined as levying war against the US, adhering to the enemies of the US, or giving support to the enemies of the US

• You can only be convicted of treason if you confess in open court or have two witnesses testify against you (with evidence of course)

• Congress determines the punishment of treason but cannot declare a person guilty of treason

Article IV – Relations Among the States

• Full Faith and Credit Clause

• States must respect the records, court decisions, etc. of other states

• Examples:

• If you got married in NJ, then you are still married in California

• States must respect the drivers licenses issued by other states

• If you get a drivers license in Florida where driving starts at age 16 and go to NJ, you still have the license and can drive (unless you move your residence to NJ, then you lose your Florida license)

• Privileges and Immunities Clause

• States cannot discriminate against the citizens of other states

• You cannot be excluded from something or persecuted in a state just because you come from a different state

• Fugitive Slave Clause

• Slave owners can go into other states to catch their escaped slaves

• Was a compromise to please the southern states, who owned lots of slaves

• Eventually removed from the Constitution after the Civil War

• Admission of New States

• Congress admits new states to the union

• New states cannot be formed out of old states unless the legislatures of the old states and Congress agrees (such as in West Virginia’s case— Virginia had seceded from the US, so they didn’t get a say)

• Congress governs territories and property belonging to the US

• Guarantee to the States

• Federal governments guarantees each state a republican form of government

• States can ask the federal government for help in quelling violence or unrest

Article V – Amendment Process

• Federal and State Route

• Federal Route 

• 2/3 of both houses of Congress need to approve

• 3/4 of state legislatures need to approve

• This route has been how all amendments has been made

• State Route

• 2/3 of state legislatures need to call for a convention

• At the convention 3/4 of state legislatures have to approve the amendment

• Probably the easier way to make an amendment even though it has not happened yet

Article VI – National Supremacy

• Debts

• The United States will honor and pay off all debts incurred prior to the adoption of the Constitution 

• Meant to improve the United States’ credit score and reliability with borrowing from other countries

• US wants other countries to keep lending money and be able to borrow from these countries

• Supremacy Clause

• The Constitution is the supreme law of the land

• Federal law, treaties, and judicial decisions are supreme

• Hierarchy of laws: Constitution, Federal, State, Local  

• Oath of Office

• Elected officials are bound by oath to support this constitution

• This includes all levels of government - federal and state governments

• No Religious Test

• Those running for public office are not allowed to be disqualified due to their religious beliefs

Article VII - Ratification 

• 9 out of 13 states are required to ratify the Constitution

Separation of Powers	Republicanism	Checks and Balances	Federalism	Limited Government
Senate is the jury for impeachment trials	People elect electors for presidential elections	Senate is the jury for impeachment trials	National government cannot overrule laws passed by state governments	National government cannot impose duties on exports or interstate trade
Chief Justice presides over the impeachment trial	Virginia Plan - Bicameral legislature	House can call for the impeachment of a president	National government cannot impose duties on state trade	State government cannot impose duties on exports
Virginia Plan (Judicial, Executive, Legislative Branches)	Representatives represent the district that they are elected for	The House has the power of the purse	States can have a militia	State government cannot be involved with foreign affairs
New Jersey Plan (Judicial, Executive, Legislative Branches)	Senators used to be elected by state legislature	Congress must approve foreign treaties made by President	State legislatures create congressional districts	State government cannot coin money
The House has the power of the purse	Any vote in Congress for impeachment, amendment, passing of legislation, or any other general assembly vote	Congress must approve nominations by President	Amendment process gives states power and takes from the national government
		President can veto any bill within 10 days	States conduct elections of Senators & Representatives
		Congress can overrule a veto by the President
		Judicial Review