Constition REVIEW Flashcards
(27 cards)
Powers of the AOC
- Adopted in 1777 by Congress
- 1st system of government
- Established a weak federal government; no national executive/judiciary power
- Each state has a delegation known as Congress
- Congress had the power to declare war, sign treaties, and raise armies
- Congress had no permanent home
- Approval and amending articles require an ominous consent from 13 states
Weaknesses of the AOC
- One vote per state, regardless of population/wealth (equal NOT EQUITABLE, wanted EQUITY)
- No power or tax
- No power to regulate trade
- No national court system
- Lack of power to enforce articles
*A 9/13 majority needed to pass laws - Refused to meet financial requests of Congress
- Made agreements with foreign governments without Congressional approval
- Organized their own military forces
- Taxed or banned goods from other states
- Printed their own money, without backing
Successes of the AOC
- Land Ordinance of 1785 arranged land into townships
- 1787: Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance → new Northwest Territory
sets up the procedure for how an area becomes a state - Guaranteed freedom of religion, property rights, and BANNED slavery
- South Carolina: doesn’t agree b/c they want slavery
Shay’s Rebellion
- Massachusetts RAISED TAXES rather than issue paper
- Poor farmers could NOT pay their debts and faced the loss of their farms
- 1786: Daniel Shays and 1200 farmers shutdown country courthouses to prevent foreclosures
this stopped their foreclosures from being issued → saved their livelihood - The government hired troops to stop the rebellion
- Problems: Government using money their don’t have and government has to personally hire troops(no police); they don’t have a police force no militia to call for help.
- Merchants and artisans began to argue for a stronger central government
Constitutional Convention
- 1787: Delegates met in Philadelphia to revise the AOC at the Convention
- Framers of the Constitution: States decided the size of their own delegation
- Rhode Island DID NOT attend (Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John Adams DIDN’T ATTEND)
- Washington unanimously voted as chairperson
- Meetings kept secret from the public
- Lasts 4 years
- Issues discussed: Slavery and slave trade? Representation? Revise AOC or start over?
Framers
The 55 delegates at the Constitutional Convention for the Constitution
Branches of Government
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Article 1
Creates the legislative branch
Article 2
Creates the executive branch
Article 3
Creates the judicial branch
Virginia Plan
- Said the number of representatives for each state would reflect that state’s population: equitable
- Proposed eliminating the AOC and creating a new national government
- Proposed that the legislature be divided into two houses and the voters in each state elect the member of the first house
- House of Representatives
New Jersey Plan
- Said that Congress would have a single house in which each state was equally represented - equal NOT equitable
- Did not abandon AOC but modified them to make a stronger central government
- Opposed representation based on the population of the state
- The Senate
House of Representatives
- Based on population
- 435 congressmen
- Term of 2 years
The Senate
- 100 senators
- Terms of 6 years
- No limit for how many terms they can serve
NJ Representatives
- Frank Pallone
- Christopher Smith
- Andrew Kim
NJ Senators
- Cory Booker
- Robert Menendez
Electoral College
Votes based on # of Representatives and Senators per state
3/5 Compromise
- Every 5 enslaved people would count as 3 free people for determining representation and taxes
- Increases southern political power in HOR and electoral college in exchange for higher southern taxes
- In 12 of the first 16 presidential elections, a southern slave owner won
The Great Compromise
- Proposed a two house legislature consisting of two houses
- House of Reps : based on population
- The Senate: equal representation between states
- Southern states also want constitutional guarantee that the estates would return escaped slaves(Fugitive Slave Clause)
- Northerners must bring slave runaways back to the Southerners
The Amendment Process
- Must be proposed by ⅔ of both houses of Congress(⅔ of 535)
- Has to be ratified by ¾ of the states to be approved
- Everyone had to agree on the amendments
Federalism
Our government operates with a dual system of both state and national government
EX. the Amendment process(congress → states)
Judicial Review
- Established by Marbury vs. Madison
- Supreme court’s ability to decide constitutionality of law
EX. unconstitutional/constitutional of segregation
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
- Said Congress was unconstitutional
- Established judicial review
- Expanded the Power of the Supreme Court by establishing the right to overturn acts of Congress
Checks and balances
Legislative branch
* ✓ on Jud. branch → Creates lower federal courts, can impeach/remove judges
* ✓ on Exc. branch → Can override presidential veto, ratifies treaties
Executive branch
* ✓ on Leg. branch → Can propose laws, can veto laws
* ✓ on Jud. branch → Appoints federal judges, can grant pardons to federal offenders
Judicial branch
* ✓ on Leg. branch → Can declare acts of Congress unconstitutional
* ✓ on Exc. branch → Can declare executive actions unconstitutional
