Chapter 1

 

What is the purpose of government?

 

 

 

1) to bring order to chaos

2) to lead people

3) to protect rights

4) to interpret laws

 

 

 

State - the individual states of U.S.

 

state-  A body of people in a defined territory organized politically and having the power to make and enforce the law without the consent of higher authority.

 

 

 

Characteristics necessary:

a) population

b) territory

c) sovereignty

d) government

 

 

Origins

(most widely accepted theories)

 

1) The Force Theory- a state was born of force. eg. Primal man decided to force his will and rule upon others. 

 

2) Evolutionary Theory- a state gradually developed from primal families - Clans

 

3) Divine Right Theory- the belief that the rule of the king was God-Given and naturally perpetuated by the nobility.

 

 

4) Social Contract Theory- An agreement among individuals to unite and form a society in which members are governed by a set of rules.

 

 

              Democracy

 

        Greek - Demos(people)

      Kratia(rule or authority)

 

   Democracy - rule by the people.

 

 

1. Supreme political authority rests with the people.

 

2. People have sovereign power

 

  

   3. Government is only conducted with the peoples consent

 

 

Direct Democracy / Indirect Democracy

 

Where is the power?

 

 

 

Types of Governments

 

a) unitary- all power in a central authority. eg Parliament

 

b) Federal- a division of power between a central and several local govts. eg. U.S.

 

c) confederate - loose alliance that gives power to a central authority.

eg. the Confederate States of America

the Russian Confederacy

Articles of Confederation

 

 

 

Basic Concepts of Democracy

 

What is necessary?

 

1) A recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity of each person.

 

2) A respect for the equality of all persons.

 

3) Majority rule and Minority rights.

 

4) Necessity of compromise.

 

5) Individual Freedoms.

 

 

"Democracy is a fraud ... a slow tedious type of government.  The only good and decisive government is dictatorship"

 

                  

Chapter 2

 

 

Our English Heritage-

 

 

Magna Charta (1215) - establishes that the power of the King is not absolute.

 

 

Petition of Rights (1628) - Further limited the power of the King over political prisoners(dissenters) without the right to trial.

 

 

English Bill of Rights (1689) - Gave the British Parliament more power than the Monarchy.   The monarchy could not make or suspend laws without the approval of Parliament and could not interfere with Parliamentary elections.

John Locke -  In 1690, published "First and Second Treatises on Government"  - Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and property.

People create government and empower a ruler who retains power as long as he has the consent of the governed. 

 

Jean Rousseau - 1762 The Social Contract  People would give up some freedom in favor of the needs of the majority.  A contract  between each other to vote on all community decisions.

 

Baron de Montesquieu - ensure the rights of all by limiting the power of the government.  Divide the power of the government and create a system of checks and balances to keep any one branch from gaining too much power.  The rights of the people will be protected.

 

 

Representative bodies in America

 

 

The Iroquois Confederation

 

Albany Plan 1754- Ben Franklin's Plan

For the 13 Colonies

a) body would have to raise an army

b) " " would control Indian affairs

c) " " would regulate trade, collect taxes.

 

Stamp Act Congress(1765)- in response to the tax on documents and paper goods.  Organized protest, boycott

 

Boston Massacre (1770) - Sam Adams - Committees of Correspondence   

 

Boston Tea Party (1773) - Organized protest of British Tea Company.

British respond with Coercive Acts

 

First Continental Congress (1774)

a) declaration of rights

b) all taxes be repealed

c) full scale boycotts

 

 

*Second Continental Congress (1775)

a) unicameral representative body that had no written law or basis

1) raised an army and navy

2) created money system bought supplies

3) power to make treaties

 

b) was condemned by Parliament as an unlawful assembly.

 

c) actually served as our first government for 5 years.

Thomas Jefferson

 

- The Declaration of Independence.

 

The American Revolution the creation of the first State Constitutions to replace their Royal Charters

 

 

 

 

 

Articles of Confederation 1781

 

Strong State Governments prohibited the weak central govt. from:

1) regulating foreign and      interstate commerce

2) enforcing acts of the Congress

3) having a national court system

4) the central govt from passing necessary laws

5) unanimity was needed to amend the articles

 

 

 

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as natural in the political world as storms in the Physical".

 

 

--- Thomas Jefferson

 

 

Shays Rebellion

 

 

 

Annapolis Convention

 

George Washington

 

The Constitutional Convention

55 of the most remarkable men ever assembled.  Each represented their State and their own special interest group.  Their common purpose was to:

 

Create a government that could

1) regulate trade

2) coin money

3) enforce acts

 

 

Everyone gave up a little and no one received everything.

 

3 Major Compromises of the Convention

The Great Compromise(Connecticut)

The 3/5ths Compromise

The Slave Trade Compromise

* * *

 

Federalists - Hamilton, Madison, Jay

* stressed and exposed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.  The new government needed:

1) power to control interstate commerce

2) the power to tax

3) a Federal Court system

4) easier amending process

 

* Federalists rationalized that the new Republic would only work if all the States would ratify the new Constitution.

 

 

 

Anti-Federalists - Patrick Henry, Monroe, Richard Henry Lee

Objected to:

1) a strong Executive

2) Federal Taxing

3) diminished state Power

4) the absence of a Bill of Rights in the document

 

 

Also they protested

The absence of any mention of God.  The denial of printing money to the States. 

Increased power of central govt   

The 9/13 Ratification process

 

James Madison would author The Bill of Rights in order to insure that the new Federal Govt would protect the Individual Rights of American Citizens, formally the responsibility of the States.

 

 

By June 21, 1788, 9 States had Ratified the new Constitution.  A majority, but not New York and Virginia.

 

George Washington and James Madison urged a reluctant Thomas Jefferson into supporting the new document.  He agreed and Virginia ratified the Constitution June 25, 1788.

 

The Federalist - Essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay that were published by the New York Press urging the New York State Legislature to adopt the new Constitution.

New York ratified it July 26, 1788.  

***

 

 

@The two Factions eventually grew into political parties.

 

Alexander Hamilton - The Federalists

Government of the rich an well-born Strong Central Government,

organized, having close tie to Great Britain, and opposing the lawlessness of the French Revolution.

 

1) assume all States debts

2) fund a National Debt

3) Excise Tax

4) National Bank

5) Loose or Broad interpretation of the Constitution

 

Republican Party - Thomas Jefferson

A Party of farmers and laborers who advocated keeping the United States a Pastoral Land, God Fearing, relying on the Elements.

 

1) a strict interpretation - protecting the rights of the States.

2) Very sympathetic to the French Revolution