The Constitution

Chapter 2

Early America• 1607- Jamestown, VA• 1620- Mayflower Plymouth, MA• 1732- GA- last colony• 1760s- Britain decides to tax colonies• 1765- Stamp act- “taxation without representation”• 1773- Boston Tea Party• 1774- 1st continental congress• 1775- 2nd Continental Congress• 1776- Payne’s common sense• 1776- July 4, Declaration of Independence• 1781- Articles of Confederation• 1783- Yorktown• 1786- Shay’s rebellion• 1787- Constitutional Convention (Philadelphia)

The first colonies in America• First English settlement in America

• Jamestown, Virginia (1607)

- struggle to survive

- between 1607 & 1623 (4,800k of 6k)

• Rolfe’s “tobacco” cash crop

- Jamestown survives

Mayflower

• Mayflower sets sail (1620)

- religion disputes

- Plymouth, Mass

- Mayflower Compact- agreement to live under rule of law

- harsh winter / famine

- first thanksgiving (1621)

13 colonies

• Other colonies followed suit

• By 1732, Georgia, the last of 13 colonies was set up

• London governed colonies indirectly

Pre-Revolutionary War• 1760- British decision to tax colonies

- defense & debt

- 1765: Stamp Act

- taxation without representation

- Colonist respond with 1st & 2nd Continental Congress (1774-5)

• Thomas Payne’s Common Sense (1776)

Declaration of Independence• Continental Congress adopts resolution of

Independence (4th of July 1776)

- Jefferson & Franklin

Path to Independence

• American Revolution (1775-1783)

- Yorktown (1781)

Formation of a new gov’t• Articles of Confederation (1781) (pg 27)

Constitutional Convention

• Shay’s rebellion (1786)

• Constitutional Convention (1787)

- 55 delegates met to revise Articles

U.S. Constitution

• Who were the framers?

• Makeup of Constitution / 3 branches

• Executive Branch

- Electoral College

• Legislative Branch

- Virginia & New Jersey Plan/ Great Compromise

• Judicial Branch / courts & justices

Ideas of Constitution

• Final agreements / prevention of tyranny

- Separation of Powers - checks & balances (p 34)

• Ideas of Montequieu- Spirit of laws-1748

The struggle to ratify the constitution

• Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists - Federalists papers- 85 essays in defense

of constitution (p 389)

• Promise of Bill of rights

- limited powers of Nat’l gov’t over liberties of individuals

• Constitution ratified- June 21, 1788

• Bill of Rights adopted- Dec. 15, 1791

Bill of Rights

Amending the Constitution

• Constitution as a framework / 7,000 words

• Why so limited?

Constitutional Amendments

• The Usual Process:

- 2/3 Congress

- ¾ state legislatures

• difficult?

The Changing Constitution• Interpretations

- Supreme Court

1. Judicial Review (1803)

2. changes in interpretation:

- Plessy v Ferguson & Brown v board

Conclusion

• Longest lived written constitution

• Most imitated in world

• Constantly changing and open to interpretation

• Discussion• If the framers believed all men were

created equal, why was slavery not abolished in the constitution? (p 32)