FAD - The Constitution Lesson

The Constitution

The Articles of Confederation

As you know from US History, the first attempt at government in the US was the Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1777. The Founders' fear of a central government that was too strong left the new United States as merely a "League of Friendship" between the states.   When Daniel Shays led a revolt over taxes in Massachusetts in 1787, it became obvious the Articles needed to be fixed.

Weaknesses of the Articles 

Federal Government had no power to tax
No power of the Federal Government to regulate interstate trade
No Federal court system
No real power was given to the President
Required the consent of all the states to amend the Articles
Congress could not draft troops
Needed 9 of the 13 states had to agree to pass any laws

 You can see from this list above that the federal government had no power to hold the country together. The Founders realized that changes had to be made.

The Constitution is a document based on fear. So, what were the Founders afraid of? The Founders were afraid after the Revolution that the National government would be too strong. They were afraid of replacing a tyrant in England with a tyrant here at home. This is why the Articles of Confederation made the federal government so weak. The problem was that the Articles made the federal government too weak to hold the country together.

The Constitutional Convention

As you review, recall that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was hot, both inside and out. The Founders understood how to bargain and compromise. The results are lasting constitutional compromises that are crucial to an understanding of US government.

Electoral College: Compromise between election of the president by a vote in congress and election of the president by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
Three-Fifths Compromise: The population of slaves would be counted as three-fifths in total when apportioning congressional representatives, presidential electors, and taxation for the federal government.
Compromise on the importation of slaves: No new slaves would be imported after 1808, which was 20 years after the ratification of the Constitution.

Separation of Powers

The French philosopher Montesquieu (1689-1755) argued that the best way to prevent a government from getting too strong was to take the three parts of law, making law, executing law and interpreting law, and separate those powers. This is evident in the first three Articles of the Constitution.

Checks and Balances

The three branches of government are not completely separate from one another. They are bound together through a system of "checks and balances" that are designed to protect against tyranny and irresponsible majorities within the branches. For example, the Legislative Branch, or Congress, has the power to make laws, but the Executive Branch, or the President, may veto or reject an act of Congress.

Article I of the Constitution

Article I developed the bicameral Legislative Branch. The two houses were the House of Representatives and the Senate. For a bill to become a law, it had to pass through both houses of Congress. The role of Congress was to make the law. All bills raising taxes must start in the House. Section 8 of Article I specifically lists the powers of Congress. Notice the last part, it reads

"To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."

This is the Necessary and Proper Clause. It is not a "blank check" for Congress to make any law they want. The Congress must show the law is necessary and proper. This is also called the "elastic clause" because it can stretch to cover many circumstances. The powers listed previously are called expressed powers, powers given specifically to the US Congress.

Article II of the Constitution

This part of the Constitution developed the executive branch. This was a great concern for the Founders because they did not want to create a tyrant. As we will learn later, the executive branch had many "Checks and Balances" built in to prevent the President from becoming too powerful. While the President has to work with Congress in domestic areas of policy, the President can operate with a great amount of independence in foreign policy.

Article III of the Constitution

This part of the Constitution created something unique in the annals of government. A judicial branch that was, at least on paper, equal to the other two branches. The only court mentioned in this Article is the Supreme Court, which was given the power to resolve conflicts between individuals and states. The idea of judicial review (the ability of the Court to strike down a law or act of the President that violates the Constitution) was implied, but would not be defined until the case Marbury v. Madison. Congress was given the power to shape the size, amount and jurisdiction of lower federal courts.

Article IV of the Constitution

This article deals with the idea of full faith and credit. Article IV, Section 1 is known as the Full Faith and Credit Clause. This was the idea that each state would respect the rights of citizens of other states.

Article V of the Constitution

This Article spelled out how to ratify the Constitution, something that has been done 27 times. There are two steps to changing the Constitution. The first step is to propose the amendment and the second step is to ratify it. Proposing an amendment is done at the national level and the ratification is done by the states. There are two possible methods of ratification: by legislatures in three fourths of the states or by conventions in three fourths of the states.

Article VI of the Constitution

This Article explained that all debts and engagements that the U.S. was in before the adoption of the Constitution were still valid. It also stated that the Constitution and all laws and treaties made under the authority of the U.S. would be the supreme law of the land. Article VI, Paragraph 2 is also known as the Supremacy Clause. It goes on to state that members of congress, both at the national and state level would be required to uphold and support the Constitution.

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1887 by Colonel George Balch and then revised in 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy in the hopes that the pledge would be used by citizens of any country. It was not specifically changed to include the "Flag of the United States of America" until 1923. The Pledge of Allegiance was formally adopted by Congress as an expression of allegiance to not only the flag of the United States, but also to the republic of the United States of America in 1945. In 1954, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God" and it became the version we use today.

Article VII of the Constitution

This Article provided the procedures for Amending the Constitution. The formal amendment process requires either two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress or a national constitutional convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislature. The latter method has never been used. The informal methods of Constitutional change include congressional legislation, executive actions, judicial decisions, party practices, and/or unwritten traditions.

The Constitutional Division of Powers

Federalism: The Framers of the Constitution decided to balance the powers of the government by creating a federal system that gave certain powers to the national government and reserved others for the states.

Expressed Powers: These powers are also known as the enumerated powers. They are powers given specifically to the federal government by the Constitution in Article 1, Section 8.

Implied Powers: These are powers that are not specifically stated in the Constitution. These powers are given though the Necessary and Proper Clause, or Elastic Clause in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18.

Inherent Powers: These powers are possible because the United States is a sovereign nation and able to make treaties, wage war, and acquire territory.

Reserved Powers: These powers are left totally up to the states. This is made possible by the Tenth Amendment.

Concurrent Powers: These powers are given to both the national and state government.

Prohibited Powers: These powers are denied to the national government, state governments, or both.

Ratification Time

All the states (except Rhode Island) set up the conventions needed to ratify the document. There was a concern from some that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government. This group, called the Anti-Federalists, was eventually convinced to support the Constitution when it was agreed that a Bill of Rights would be added to the Constitution.

The key state needed for ratification was New York. To this end, three of the key Founders, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote a series of essays, now called the Federalist Papers, designed to convince New Yorkers to support the US Constitution. More importantly, these essays give us insights into what the Founders were thinking when the document was written.

Federalist No. 10: focused on the superiority of a large republic in controlling the "mischiefs of faction," delegating authority to elected representatives and dispersing power between the states and national government.
Federalist No. 51: explains how constitutional provisions of separation of powers and checks and balances control abuses by majorities.

The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Download a copy of the Bill of Rights here Links to an external site., then view the following presentation to learn more about the Bill of Rights.

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