Day 6

How the constitution came to be written
the road to the federal constitution

establishment of the colonies; the colonial era
colony: terrotory claimed as property by the british and exploited by them for raw materials, as well as for prestige and power, so that the raw materials could be converted to goods
1607-1730
jamestown-georgia
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jamestown virginia was the first viable colony
the thirteen colonies of the british empire
these were set up as businesses
there was a government for each of the colonies
a charter was issued by the king, which contained the rules and guidelines and values for each of the values
-king
-the charter represented the king
-governer
-executive council
-legislative assembly
-colonists
the body of the elected assembly passed local laws
this allowed the colonies to learn local administration
the elected council could make laws, and they would be enforced unless vetoed by the governor, who had absolute power
in those days, teh governor's decision could not be overridden

this system continued until the conflict arose in 1764, 65, 67
64 - sugar tax, a tariff on taxes
65 - stamp tax
67 - tax on glass, paint, other processed products

the conflict arose when the money from taxes was not used to improve the lives of the colonists, but instead the english 4000 miles away
trade was an issue because goods had to be carried in british ships
1773 - tea was imported from india, the boston tea party happened, and was considered an act of rebellion
1774 - the passage of the coercive acts, or as the colonists called them the intolerable acts
governers were removed, and the local councils were removed, and the power was given directly to the soldiers
in the first continental congress, all the colonies but georgia convened
1. they agreed to write a petition to the king, an appeal to the king to repeal the acts
2. they advised the colonies to raise troops, an indication that they were getting ready to take their rights by force (turning militia into regular troops)
3. boycott british goods, and instead use only local goods
4. advise the colonists to set up committees in cities and counties to spy on their neighbors, in order to enforce this rule

in 1775
in Massachusetts, the redcoats clashed with the minutemen in concord and lexington
this was the beginning of the war of independence
they were forced by the king to declare independence
when this happened, they called the 2nd continental congresss
2nd continental congress
1. set up an army under george washington (appointed as the commander), turn the militias into regulars
2. committee to write the declaration of independence (set up a committee of 5, jefferson was elected to write the declaration)
3. set up a committee to write the articles of the confederation (the first constitution)
appeals made to other countries for support, dutch first then france

it seems that the colonists found a local government and a constitution useful

england had an unwritten constitution embedded in the culture
has laws all the way back to the magna carta
petition for rights
bill of rights
the statutes of the commonwealth
parliamentary statutes
case laws

articles of the confederation were set up in 1777, but were not ratified until 1781
people were dispatched to collect money and weapons

fighting continued until 1781 when the french soldiers came to help and the british surrendered at yorktown to george washington

in the same year, maryland ratified the articles of confederation

what actually ended the war was a treaty signed by U. S. of A. and britain in paris
the recognition of the colonies as free states
1776 was the official adoption of the declaration of independence, as well as the writing of "common sense" by thomas paine
inspired the people to believe that it was the right of the people to abide by a constitution instead of a monarch
thomas paine was the philosopher of the revolution
1786 - the problem of economic development faced them
the theory of true independence is economic .....
shay's rebellion was a response to the problem of the poor
this shed light on what the whole idea of liberty really is
in the same year they called the annapolis convention
the articles of confederation did not establish successful, effective leadership
because the meeting lacked a quorum (significant numbers of members to set up a binding contract)
only five showed up
1787, after word had been sent to the states, 55 delegates were selected and sent from 12 states
(rhode island did not show up)
RI refused to send delegates because they supposed they were going to overturn the articles of confederation

from may until september, the objectives of the meeting changed drastically from making minor changes to major rewrite
the elite from all the states were sent
they decided not to tell anyone until they were finished

virginia came up with the virginia plan, which favored the states with large populaitons
they wanted representation based on population
(this was the core of their plan)
however, this would threaten the small states
New Jersey came up with a plan, one that favored equal representation
connecticut came up with the compromise, the agreement in which both sides win
they said, why don;t we put the two together
the established the bicameral system
they would establish a legislature that has two houses
1. house of representatives, based on population
2. senate will have 2 senators from each state, and they are equal
what is passed in the house is passed in the senate, both have to agree before a law can be put in front of the president
this idea is horizontal federalism HR and S
in the same way that the states are all equal

how do we count the people living in the states?
it was an issue because of the slaves
they decided that the census would be done every 10 years for purposes of re-apportionment (or re-allocation, of the members of the house of representatives)

for the first census, how would they count the slaves
those who had plenty of slaves wanted to count slaves as part of the population so they could have lots of representatives
those without slaves said that if they did, they would have to pay a head tax
in the constitution, they recognized the slaves as persons instead of property
the second compromise was the counting of slaves would be as 3/5s of a person, or white man
for purposes of representation and taxation
deciding on the issue of whether or not to keep slaves
the argument was that we;d look like hypocrites, and that our legitimacy of our republic
the second part was a phasing-out of the slavery
they could only be bought for 20 years
they needed slaves to open up the country
in 1808, they passed the slave trade act, which ended the slave trade
they could not enforce this, and they could still smuggle the slaves in from cuba and get around the law
then others would set up slave farms to produce slaves like cattle

then they had to agree on the qualifications of membership
originally the membership qualification would be an age of 25 in the HR
in the senate, you had to be at least 30 years
if you aren't natural born or born by blood, then you must have been a citizen for 7 years to be a representative, 9 to be a senator
you must also be a resident of the state in which you represent
the terms: two years for the house of representatives, and 6 years for the senate, with no term limit
you can run and be re-elected as many times as they elect you

in 1789, there were staggered elections, so that one third of the senate is replaced every 2 years

three types
natural born - born here
born by blood - born by a native parent
naturalized - citizen, sworn in and familiar with the constitution

once done with the legislature, they had to establish the office of the president (the executive)
they decided on a single executive, instead of dual executive
they have the head of state and the head of government
they have the queen in the uk, who has a social role, as well as a prime minister who is the head of the government

they decided on a single executive with two functions who has the role of both head of state and head of government
qualifications of the president:
age: minimum 35 years
citizenship: must be natural born
residency: have to be continuously a resident of any part of the U.S. territory for 14 years directly before you become president
the line of succession act in 1947 established the line of command if the president dies

pres
VC
speaker of the house
president pro-tem of the senate

result of the cold war, it was decided that their should always be a commander in cheif

term of office: 4 years, and has a term limit of 2 terms according to the 22nd amendment
how can the president be removed?
by impeachment, trial by senate and conviction by 2/3rds of the senate

the judiciary - federal court system
supreme court is the one mentioned in the 3rd article
congress is authorized to set up inferior courts
lifetime employment for the supreme court judges to protect their impartiality

who were the delegates - pg 37
33 were in the legal profession
three were physicians
almost 50 percent were college graduates
seven were former cheif executives of their respective states
six were owners of large plantations
eight were important businesspeople

pg 35 figure 2-1
pg 36 table 2-1
pg 43 figure 2-2

there are 2 kinds of treaties

the president negotiates treaties, which are agreements, whose terms are talked over and signed by the president then sent to congress to be ratified

an executive agreement is an agreement that the president negotiates and is signed by the president, but there is no approval by the senate, but now the president is required to report all executive agreements to congress

power has the power of the purse and provides funds from the treasury to be spent