The Confederation of States• How did the U.S. operate politically before the

Constitution was created?• Confederation- a voluntary association of

independent sovereign states that meet for mutual needs.

• America’s first written constitution was the Articles of Confederation adopted in 1777.– The Congress was a unicameral legislature made

up of representatives from the states (2-7 per state).

– Each state had only one vote regardless of size.– State sovereignty was a major issue.

The Compromises

• The Connecticut Plan: The Great Compromise– lower house- House of Representatives would be

determined by the number of people in a state.– upper house- the Senate would have two members from

each state elected by legislature.

• The Three-Fifths Compromise– Five slaves for every three free persons would be

counted for both tax and representation purposes.

• The Slavery Question- Banning Export Taxes– Compromise that Congress could limit the number of

slaves imported after 1808. – Trying to ban slavery would have meant no constitution

The Debate Over Ratification• Federalists• Federalist Papers Defended Constitution

(Hamilton, Jay, Madison)– Those who favored a strong central government and

the new constitution.

• Anti-Federalists (Patrick Henry, Sam Adams)– Those who opposed the adoption of the Constitution

did so because of the document’s centralist tendencies and because it also did not include a bill of rights. Tyranny would result.

• Constitution was eventually ratified by all 13 states.

The Constitutional Division of PowersThe Constitutional Division of Powers• The Federalist-Anti-Federalist debate had a major

impact on the division of powers between Federal and State governments.

• Anti-Federalists received some of what they wanted:• State boundaries had to be protected• 10th Amendment (BOR) “reserved to the states all

powers not delegated to the federal government. • Federalists also received some of their desires:

• Delegated Powers (Clearly Stated in Constitution)• Necessary and Proper Clause (Implied Powers)• Supremacy Clause- “Laws of the national

government are the supreme Law of Land”

The Constitution’s Major Principles of Government

• Limited Government and Popular Sovereignty

• Federalism– The central government shares sovereign

powers with several state governments.

• Checks and Balances – no group or branch can have total control

• Madisonian Model- Separation of Powers Among Three Branches

The Constitution’s MajorPrinciples of Government

• The Bill of Rights

• Compromise with the anti-federalists to

secure the ratification of the Constitution.

• Protection of individual liberties against violations by the national government.

The Process of Amending the Constitution

The Politics of Homeland Security• The Constitution and the War on Terrorism• Civil liberties under fire

– Patriot Act allows government agents to conduct search/seizures without warrants or probable cause

– Govt. has right to read your mail, your travel plans, financial records etc.

• Tampering with the System of Checks and Balances– Debate regarding the size and power of DOHS– Compromise is that Congress has oversight

powers

Americans at Odds over the Constitution

• Are the measures of the Patriot Act etc. appropriate despite decreasing some of our civil liberties?

• Do you feel safer as a result of these activities?