Unit 1 part 2 Flashcards
The Articles of Confederation Pros
-established and controlled armed forces, declare war, make peace
-congress could enter into treaties
-congress could regulate coinage (not paper money)
-congress could borrow money from the people
-congress could create a postal system
The Articles of Confederation Cons
-couldn’t force states to meet military quotas
-couldn’t regulate commerce b/w states and nations
-couldn’t enforce treaties
-couldn’t directly tax the people
-no power to enforce its laws
-amendments required all states to ratify
-no national judiciary system
Constitutional Convention
-goal was to create a strong fiscal and military state while protecting individual liberty (only civil liberties in constitution were the right of detained to know the charges against them)
-banned: guilty without trial, and kaws that would punish people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed
Virginia Plan (for new gov)
-Bicameral congress (2 chamber legislature)
-lower house (based on state pop and directly elected by citizens
-upper house (based on state pop and elected by lower house)
-strong powers including ability to veto state laws
New Jersey Plan
-unicameral (single chamber legislature)
-equal representation regardless of state pop.
-members appointed by states
-similar powers to AoC but could levy taxes and regulate commerce
Great Compromise/ Connecticut Compromise
-bicameral
-house of representatives (based on pop, elected by citizens)
-senate (two from each state, appointed by state legislatures)
-broad powers over commerce and ability to make laws as necessary
Slavery and Consititution
-three fifths compromise (slaves counted as 3/5 of a person) used to calculate how many HoR a state got
Checking Power
power is distributed among the branches so no branch is too powerful on its own, each branch has powers to prevent the other branches from masking policy
Federalism
sharing of power between state and national power (executive and legislative)
