Exam 2 Lecture Material Flashcards
Problems with Articles of Confederation (1777-1778)
Weak government
-no ability to tax, no supreme judiciary, no executive
Inefficient structure
-unanimity required for amendment
-9/13 rule privileged obstructive minorities
No sovereignty over states
-states competed with national government in foreign policy and trade
-no national trade regulation; state-to-state tariffs, no national import market
Elements of American Constitutional Government
Autocracy
Classical Republicanism
Liberalism
Libertarianism
The Virginia Plan
Strong, central government
Bicameral legislature
proportional legislature (based on representation)
New Jersey Plan
Single-house congress
all states equally represented
The “Great Compromise”
By: Roger Sherman Bicameral legislature Both proportional and equal representation -House: population -Senate: equality
Federalism
Sovereignty divided between state and national government (not 50/50)
the “most brilliant achievement” of the Constitutional Convention
The Compromise on Slavery
- 3/5 compromise on representation and taxation
- delay in ending slave trade until 1808
- fugitive slave clause
Structural solutions to prevent abuse of power in government
Structural devices:
-Bicameral legislature
-indirect election
~filters of consent
-enumerated powers
Separation of powers
Checks and BalancesWhy did anti-federalists oppose the Constitution?
Too much centralized power Contrary to classical republic model -republics needed to be small Too similar to monarchy and aristocracy Congress had potentially unlimited power -necessary and proper clause Infringed on state sovereignty Lacked a Bill of Rights
Marbury v. Madison
1803, began judicial review
Federalists
-strong central government
-broad interpretation of the Constitution
-pro-market and business (Hamilton’s Plan)
-pro-Britain
John Adams and Alexander Hamilton
Democratic Republicans
“That government is best that governs least”
- strict interpretation of Constitution
- pro-agrarianism (Jefferson)
- pro-France
- Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
Sources of party bitterness
- Jay’s Treaty with Britain
- Alien and Sedition Acts
- Partisan newspapers
Jay’s Treaty (1795)
Britain agreed to withdraw from forts in US territory, but exacted humiliating economic and trade concessions
Alien and Sedition Acts
1) harder for immigrants to become a citizen
2) President can imprison and deport non-citizens that are deemed dangerous
3) President can imprison and deport non-citizens that are from a hostile country
4) criminalized making false statements about the government
Role of Free Press in a democracy
Near v. Minnesota (strengthened freedom of the press)
Chilling Effect
-> don’t say something for fear of a lawsuit
necessity of consent
rule of law
Elitist Principles: Filters of Consent
- more time between elections (periodic consent) (long=elitist short=democratic)
- larger population represented
- indirectness of selection
- > judicial: executive appointment
- > executive: electoral college
- > legislative: indirect election of senators (until 17th amendment in 1913)
Amendments that expounded upon voting
15: cannot deny slaves the vote
17: direct election of senators by popular vote
19: women can vote
24: no poll tax to vote
27: Changing the salary doesn’t take effect until the next election of representatives
Judicial Review
Chisholm v. Georgia (1793): Georgia is under the jurisdiction of the United States
Marbury v. Madison: Judicial Review was seized for the Supreme Court
Know Amendments 1-10
1: religion, speech, petition, press, and assembly
2: bear arms
3: no quartering
4: search and seizure need a warrant
5: Double Jeopardy, Witness against self, Due process, Indictment (by grand jury, usually for federal offense), Eminent Domain
6: speedy trial
7: trial by jury
8: no cruel and unusual punishment
9: people keep rights not listed
10: give powers to states and people
Know Amendments 13-15
13: abolished slavery
14: defines citizenship; privileges and immunities clause, due process clause, equal protection clause.
15: black men can vote
North v. South: Labor
North: -industrial -shift from artisan to mass production -huge influx of immigrant labors -built on rivers for power South: -agricultural -> plantation agriculture based on slave labor
North vs. South: Ideology
North:
-abolitionism
-> anti-slave movement
South:
-pro-slavery
-> Paternalism: slavery as a positive good (slave master is a father figure to his slaves)
-> critique of northern wage labor as “slavery”
