American Constitution ratified in 1789
Examines the presidency, Congress, the Supreme Court, federalism, the
election process
Historical setting of the Constitution
13 original British colonies strung out along eastern seaboard of America
Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia
The War of Independence
Colonists obliged to pay tax to Britain but had no other representation in
British Parliament
‘Taxation without representation is tyranny’ – James Otis (Bostonian
patriot)
Revolution became inevitable as Britain tried to tighten its grip on
colonies’ economic affairs in 1770s
1776: 13 colonies signed Declaration of Independence, led to war and
eventual defeat of the British in 1783
Origins of the Constitution
The Confederacy
‘League of friendship’, loose collection of independent states rather than a
national government
Agreed in the Articles of Confederation and ratified in 1781
Feeble affair with no executive branch, no judiciary, and insignificant
legislature
Ex-colonists had succeeded in gaining independence but failed to form a
nation
Philadelphia Convention
Many leaders of the Revolutionary War (George Washington, Alexander
Hamilton) believed strong central government was essential
States were not cooperating on issues such as currency and commerce
and leaders feared reappearance of British if remained divided
1787: 55 delegates representing 12 of 13 states (Rhode Island refused to
send delegates) met for Philadelphia Convention
Concluded that Confederacy was structurally flawed and weak but feared
that stronger forms of government could lead to trampling underfoot
citizens’ rights and liberties
Began process of federal constitution, bill of rights, set of checks and
balances between levels and branches of government
Disagreements over two plans considered:
1. New Jersey Plan (drafted by William Patterson)
Proposed Congress with one chamber based on equal representation of
states
Favoured by states with smaller populations
, 2. Virginia Plan (drafted by James Madison)
Proposed Congress of two chambers where states represented in
proportion to their population
Favoured by states with larger populations
Impasse broken with Connecticut Compromise (The Great Compromise,
The Sherman Compromise) and new constitution born
Proposed by Roger Sherman
Proposed Congress of two chambers:
1. One based on state population (House of Representatives)
2. One based on equal representation (the Senate)
Compromise devised new form of federal government in which some
political power rests with national (federal) government but other equally
important powers rest with state government
Nature of the US Constitution
Written and completed 17th of September 1787
Codification
Collected and authoritative set of rules of American government and
politics
Constitutional framework
Created three branches of the federal government to ensure separation of
power
1. Legislature (make laws)
Congress
House of Representatives
Senate
2. Executive (carry out laws)
President
Vice president
Cabinet
3. Judiciary (enforce and interpret laws)
Supreme Court
Other federal courts
Division of the powers (Articles I-III)
Contain enumerated/delegated powers granted to federal government
Federal government does not possess unlimited power, only that which it
is given by the Constitution
Article I establishes Congress as national legislature
- Defines its membership, qualifications, method of election of members,
powers
,- Article I, Section 8: Congress given specific powers such as those to ‘coin
money’ and ‘declare war’
Article II decides on singular executive by vesting all executive power in
hands of President
- President chosen indirectly by Electoral Collage
Article III establishes US Supreme Court (Congress then added trial and
appeal courts)
- Role not explicitly granted, Court was to be umpire of Constitution,
implied in supremacy clause of Article VI
- Provision in Article III that Court’s judicial power applies to ‘all cases
arising under this Constitution’
- Made more explicit in Marbury v Madison 1803
Vagueness
Vagueness of the Constitution allowed delegates to compromise at
Philadelphia Convention
Vagueness is advantage as it has allowed the Constitution to evolve
without formal amendment
Lack of clarity has also led to significant conflict and disputes over what
should be classed as constitutional
Implied powers: powers of federal government that the Constitution does
not explicitly mention but which are feasibly implied by the enumerated
powers
Absence of comment on slavery in original document sowed seeds of
division for American Civil War in 1860s
Slavery eventually banned under Thirteenth Amendment 1865
Many implied powers are deduced from necessary and proper clause (final
clause of Article I, Section 8) empowering Congress to make all laws
necessary and proper to carry out the federal government’s duties
Elastic clause: allows powers of federal governments to be stretched
beyond enumerated powers
- Cause of controversy where has been used to expand power of federal
government
- McCulloch v Maryland 1819: Supreme Court ruled that Congress had
power to create national bank despite power of creating a bank not being
enumerated power of Congress under the Constitution
Power of judicial review is also implied
Supreme Court can declare the following unconstitutional: Acts of
Congress, actions of the executive, Acts, or actions of state governments
Power of Supreme Court not enumerated in the Constitution but found in
1803 case of Marbury v Madison
, Congress’s enumerated powers
Legislation: exclusive powers to legislate for the country, specific powers
held by House of Representatives and Senate
Economic: tax and duty collection, borrowing money on behalf od US
government, establishing currency and coin, setting weights and
measures, establishing Post Offices, regulation of commerce (nationally
and internationally)
Defence: declaration of war, maintenance of army and navy, organisation,
and training of militia
Judicial/constitutional: amendment of the Constitution (shared with
states), establishing courts that are subordinate to Supreme Court
Congress’s implied powers
Economic: Interstate Commerce Clause
Economic/defence: power to ‘provide for the common defence and
general welfare of the US’, power to levy and collect taxes to provide for
the defence of the USA
Defence: power to draft citizens into armed forces may be implied from
Congress’s enumerated powers to raise an army and navy
President’s enumerated powers
Executive: head of executive branch, nominates Cabinet
members/ambassadors/judges, grants pardons
Defence: commander-in-chief of army and navy
Legislative: proposes measures to Congress, vetoes legislation
President’s implied powers
Defence: commander-in-chief of US Air Force
Judiciary’s enumerated powers
Rule on cases arising under the Constitution
Judiciary’s implied powers
Judicial review: declare Acts of Congress or actions of the executive or
acts or actions of state governments unconstitutional
Reserved powers
Powers that are reserved to the states alone or to the people
Provision held in Tenth Amendment which was added to original
Constitutional in 1791: ‘the powers not delegated to the United States by
Examines the presidency, Congress, the Supreme Court, federalism, the
election process
Historical setting of the Constitution
13 original British colonies strung out along eastern seaboard of America
Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia
The War of Independence
Colonists obliged to pay tax to Britain but had no other representation in
British Parliament
‘Taxation without representation is tyranny’ – James Otis (Bostonian
patriot)
Revolution became inevitable as Britain tried to tighten its grip on
colonies’ economic affairs in 1770s
1776: 13 colonies signed Declaration of Independence, led to war and
eventual defeat of the British in 1783
Origins of the Constitution
The Confederacy
‘League of friendship’, loose collection of independent states rather than a
national government
Agreed in the Articles of Confederation and ratified in 1781
Feeble affair with no executive branch, no judiciary, and insignificant
legislature
Ex-colonists had succeeded in gaining independence but failed to form a
nation
Philadelphia Convention
Many leaders of the Revolutionary War (George Washington, Alexander
Hamilton) believed strong central government was essential
States were not cooperating on issues such as currency and commerce
and leaders feared reappearance of British if remained divided
1787: 55 delegates representing 12 of 13 states (Rhode Island refused to
send delegates) met for Philadelphia Convention
Concluded that Confederacy was structurally flawed and weak but feared
that stronger forms of government could lead to trampling underfoot
citizens’ rights and liberties
Began process of federal constitution, bill of rights, set of checks and
balances between levels and branches of government
Disagreements over two plans considered:
1. New Jersey Plan (drafted by William Patterson)
Proposed Congress with one chamber based on equal representation of
states
Favoured by states with smaller populations
, 2. Virginia Plan (drafted by James Madison)
Proposed Congress of two chambers where states represented in
proportion to their population
Favoured by states with larger populations
Impasse broken with Connecticut Compromise (The Great Compromise,
The Sherman Compromise) and new constitution born
Proposed by Roger Sherman
Proposed Congress of two chambers:
1. One based on state population (House of Representatives)
2. One based on equal representation (the Senate)
Compromise devised new form of federal government in which some
political power rests with national (federal) government but other equally
important powers rest with state government
Nature of the US Constitution
Written and completed 17th of September 1787
Codification
Collected and authoritative set of rules of American government and
politics
Constitutional framework
Created three branches of the federal government to ensure separation of
power
1. Legislature (make laws)
Congress
House of Representatives
Senate
2. Executive (carry out laws)
President
Vice president
Cabinet
3. Judiciary (enforce and interpret laws)
Supreme Court
Other federal courts
Division of the powers (Articles I-III)
Contain enumerated/delegated powers granted to federal government
Federal government does not possess unlimited power, only that which it
is given by the Constitution
Article I establishes Congress as national legislature
- Defines its membership, qualifications, method of election of members,
powers
,- Article I, Section 8: Congress given specific powers such as those to ‘coin
money’ and ‘declare war’
Article II decides on singular executive by vesting all executive power in
hands of President
- President chosen indirectly by Electoral Collage
Article III establishes US Supreme Court (Congress then added trial and
appeal courts)
- Role not explicitly granted, Court was to be umpire of Constitution,
implied in supremacy clause of Article VI
- Provision in Article III that Court’s judicial power applies to ‘all cases
arising under this Constitution’
- Made more explicit in Marbury v Madison 1803
Vagueness
Vagueness of the Constitution allowed delegates to compromise at
Philadelphia Convention
Vagueness is advantage as it has allowed the Constitution to evolve
without formal amendment
Lack of clarity has also led to significant conflict and disputes over what
should be classed as constitutional
Implied powers: powers of federal government that the Constitution does
not explicitly mention but which are feasibly implied by the enumerated
powers
Absence of comment on slavery in original document sowed seeds of
division for American Civil War in 1860s
Slavery eventually banned under Thirteenth Amendment 1865
Many implied powers are deduced from necessary and proper clause (final
clause of Article I, Section 8) empowering Congress to make all laws
necessary and proper to carry out the federal government’s duties
Elastic clause: allows powers of federal governments to be stretched
beyond enumerated powers
- Cause of controversy where has been used to expand power of federal
government
- McCulloch v Maryland 1819: Supreme Court ruled that Congress had
power to create national bank despite power of creating a bank not being
enumerated power of Congress under the Constitution
Power of judicial review is also implied
Supreme Court can declare the following unconstitutional: Acts of
Congress, actions of the executive, Acts, or actions of state governments
Power of Supreme Court not enumerated in the Constitution but found in
1803 case of Marbury v Madison
, Congress’s enumerated powers
Legislation: exclusive powers to legislate for the country, specific powers
held by House of Representatives and Senate
Economic: tax and duty collection, borrowing money on behalf od US
government, establishing currency and coin, setting weights and
measures, establishing Post Offices, regulation of commerce (nationally
and internationally)
Defence: declaration of war, maintenance of army and navy, organisation,
and training of militia
Judicial/constitutional: amendment of the Constitution (shared with
states), establishing courts that are subordinate to Supreme Court
Congress’s implied powers
Economic: Interstate Commerce Clause
Economic/defence: power to ‘provide for the common defence and
general welfare of the US’, power to levy and collect taxes to provide for
the defence of the USA
Defence: power to draft citizens into armed forces may be implied from
Congress’s enumerated powers to raise an army and navy
President’s enumerated powers
Executive: head of executive branch, nominates Cabinet
members/ambassadors/judges, grants pardons
Defence: commander-in-chief of army and navy
Legislative: proposes measures to Congress, vetoes legislation
President’s implied powers
Defence: commander-in-chief of US Air Force
Judiciary’s enumerated powers
Rule on cases arising under the Constitution
Judiciary’s implied powers
Judicial review: declare Acts of Congress or actions of the executive or
acts or actions of state governments unconstitutional
Reserved powers
Powers that are reserved to the states alone or to the people
Provision held in Tenth Amendment which was added to original
Constitutional in 1791: ‘the powers not delegated to the United States by
