Lesson 3: Ideas that Influenced the Constitution

Question 1

Dictatorship Definition

Answer 1

a government in which one person or a small group holds complete authority

Question 2

English Bill of Rights Definition

Answer 2

a 1689 document that guaranteed the rights of English citizens

Question 3

Habeas Corpus Definition

Answer 3

the right not to be held in prison without first being charged with a specific crime

Question 4

Magna Carta Definition

Answer 4

a 1215 British document that contained two basic ideas: monarchs themselves have to obey the laws, and citizens have basic rights

Question 5

Republic Definition

Answer 5

a system of government in which citizens choose representatives to govern them

Question 6

Separation of Powers Definition

Answer 6

a principle by which the powers of government are divided among separate branches

Question 7

What type of government did the delegates want? Which ancient societies did they look to for this to happen?

Answer 7

The delegates wanted to create a republic, a government in which citizens rule themselves through elected representatives. Few republics in the history of the world survived very long. In order to create one that would last, American leaders looked first to the ancient examples of Greece and, especially, Rome.

Question 8

Which republic did the Americans admire the most?

Answer 8

Americans greatly admired the Roman Republic. General Charles Lee, one of George Washington’s commanders, commented, “I used to regret not being thrown into the World in the glorious [era] of the Romans.”

Question 9

What Roman principles did the delegates hope the American citizens would adopt?

Answer 9

Independence and public service were virtues that the Founding Fathers saw in the citizens of Rome. Roman citizens were willing to serve in public office, not for money, but because they were devoted to their republic. The founders wrote the Constitution with these same civic virtues in mind and hoped Americans would live by the same principles.

Question 10

What did Americans do in newspaper debates that showed their love for Rome?

Answer 10

Many American colonists admired Rome so much that when they debated politics in the newspapers, they often signed their opinions with Roman names such as Cincinnatus or Cicero.

Question 11

How did Rome serve as a warning for the Founding Fathers? What is the only way a republic would survive? What did Americans believe was the reason why the Roman Republic fell?

Answer 11

At the same time, the Founding Fathers saw the collapse of Rome’s republic as a warning to the United States. No republic could survive unless its citizens remained independent and devoted to public service without the desire for personal or financial gains. Under the ruler Caesar Augustus, Rome eventually became a dictatorship, a government in which one person or a small group holds complete authority. The leaders of the American Revolution believed that Romans stumbled once they allowed corruption to take over.

Question 12

What have historians identified about the Founding Fathers’ view on Rome? What is a way a Republic could fall from the outside? How about the inside?

Answer 12

Historians today admit that the Founding Fathers somewhat exaggerated the virtues of Rome’s republic. Yet, the lessons they learned still have force. Republics do not always die because they are invaded from outside. Without educated and dedicated citizens who put the nation’s needs above their own, republics can decay from within due to corruption.

Question 13

Despite their problems with Britain, what did the Americans value about their rule?

Answer 13

Greece and Rome were not the only examples of democratic government. Despite their quarrel with Britain, leaders of the Revolution valued British traditions of freedom.

Question 14

What did the Magna Carta state? How did this influence American and British government?

Answer 14

King John of England signed the Magna Carta in 1215. The Magna Carta contained two basic ideas that helped to shape both British and American government. First, it made it clear that English monarchs themselves had to obey the law. King John agreed not to raise taxes without first consulting the Great Council of nobles and church officials. Eventually, the Great Council grew into the British Parliament. Just as important, the Magna Carta stated that English nobles had certain rights—rights that were later extended to other classes of people as well. These included rights to trial by jury and the right to private property. The idea of private property rights strongly influenced the beliefs of early Americans, which partly explains the development of a free-enterprise system throughout the nation.

Question 15

What did the English Bill of Rights do? How did it influence American and British law?

Answer 15

In 1689, the English Bill of Rights went further in protecting the rights of citizens. The document said that parliamentary elections should be held regularly.
It upheld the right to a trial by jury and allowed citizens to bear arms. It also affirmed the right of habeas corpus, the idea that no person could be held in prison without first being charged with a specific crime.

Question 16

What type of government system did the early Virginia colonists set up? How did this influence the Americans?

Answer 16

Americans enjoyed a long tradition of representative government. The Virginia colonists set up the House of Burgesses. Eventually, each colony elected its own legislature.

Question 17

How did the Mayflower Compact influence Americans?

Answer 17

Americans were also used to relying on written documents that clearly identified the powers and limits of government. The Mayflower Compact, written in 1620, was the first document of self-government in North America. Each of the 13 colonies had a written charter granted by the monarch or by Parliament.

Question 18

How did the framers’ own experiences influence the Constitution?

Answer 18

The framers of the Constitution also drew on their own experiences. The Founding Fathers bitterly remembered their grievances against the English king. In writing the Constitution, they sought to prevent such abuses.
For example, the Declaration of Independence accused the king of placing military power above civilian authority. The Constitution made the elected President “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy … and of the militia of the several states.” The Declaration protested that the king had made judges “dependent on his will alone.” The Constitution set up a court system independent of the President and legislature. The framers were very familiar with the workings of the Second Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation, and their own state governments. Much that went into the Constitution came either from the Articles or from the state constitutions.

Question 19

How did the Enlightenment influence the Constitution?

Answer 19

The Constitution was also based on the ideas of the European Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers believed that people could improve society through the use of reason. Many of the Constitution’s framers had read the works of Enlightenment thinkers. John Locke The English writer John Locke published Two Treatises of Government in 1690. In it, he stated two important ideas. First, Locke declared that all people had natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Second, he suggested that government is an agreement between the ruler and the ruled. The ruler must enforce the laws and protect the people. If a ruler violates the people’s natural rights, the people have a right to rebel. Locke’s ideas were popular among Americans. The framers of the Constitution wanted to protect people’s natural rights and limit the power of government. They saw the Constitution as a contract between the people and their government. Locke’s principle of a natural right to property was established in the Constitution. Certain guarantees in the Constitution protect the rights of people to own private property, enforce contracts, and engage freely in business activities. These freedoms are essential to a market economy. Article I of the Constitution also gave Congress the power to regulate commerce and encourage the free flow of goods between states, creating an environment in which business could thrive.

Question 20

How did Baron de Montesquieu influence the Constitution?

Answer 20

The French Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu (MAHN tus kyoo) influenced American ideas of how a government should be constructed. In his 1748 book The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu stressed the importance of the rule of law. The powers of government, he said, should be clearly defined and divided up. He suggested that three separate branches be created: the legislative, executive, and judicial. This idea, known as the separation of powers, was designed to keep any person or group from gaining too much power.

Question 21

True or False: The Founding Fathers drew on many traditions. In the end, though, the new system of government was not quite like anything that came before it.

Answer 21

True

Question 22

What did John Adams do when he got the news the Constitution was passed?

Answer 22

When John Adams received the news from Philadelphia while serving as an ambassador to Great Britain, he wrote, “As we say at sea, huzza for the new world and farewell to the old one!” He called the Constitution “the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen.”