Full Download American Government and Politics Deliberation Democracy and Citizenship 2nd Edition Bessette Solutions Manual
Full Download American Government and Politics Deliberation Democracy and Citizenship 2nd Edition Bessette Solutions Manual
Full Download American Government and Politics Deliberation Democracy and Citizenship 2nd Edition Bessette Solutions Manual
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CHAPTER 2
The American Constitution
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Describe the lessons the early Americans learned about establishing effective democratic
government during the first decade of independence.
Explain the key controversies that divided the delegates at the Constitutional Convention.
Contrast the political views of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
Assess the extent to which the addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution served the
goals of both Anti-Federalists and Federalists.
Evaluate whether the original Constitution was pro-slavery or anti-slavery.
SUMMARY OVERVIEW
After independence from Britain, Americans wrote constitutions for eleven of the thirteen states
and for the country as a whole. The Articles of Confederation, with a single government branch
(Congress), very limited powers, and equal state representation, proved too weak to govern
successfully. In the new states, powerful legislatures exceeded their constitutional powers and
often passed unwise or unjust measures. By 1787, the central government was effectively
bankrupt and unable to conduct an effective foreign policy; the states were immersed in
commercial and territorial conflicts; and economic and social distress was spreading throughout
the nation.
The Constitutional Convention, originally called to amend the Articles of Confederation, met
from late May through mid-September of 1787. Early in the deliberations, the most serious
conflict divided the large and small states over the scope of national power and the issue of state
representation in the new national legislature. Most large state delegates supported the Virginia
Plan, which proposed a bicameral legislature based on state population, an independent executive
and judiciary, and substantial new powers. In response, small state delegates lined up behind the
New Jersey Plan, which provided for equal state representation and allowed the Congress to
appoint a national executive and judiciary. The Great Compromise kept the essentials of the
Virginia Plan but gave the states equal representation in the new Senate.
In addition to a bicameral Congress, the proposed Constitution also featured independent
executive and judicial branches. It also gave the federal government substantial new powers—
such as the power to raise its own revenues, to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, to raise
an army and navy, to coin money, to borrow money, to establish lower federal courts—and would
no longer act through the state governments, but deal directly with the citizens. The Constitution
also imposed numerous restrictions on state power.
The debate over ratification between Federalists and Anti-Federalists focused on the absence of a
bill of rights in the new Constitution, whether the new national government was too powerful,
whether national leaders would be sufficiently accountable to the citizenry, whether the
government would degenerate into an aristocracy or monarchy, whether a republic could succeed
in such a large country, and whether the new arrangements did enough to promote civic virtue.
Despite the extensive debate, nine states ratified the Constitution by 1788, and the new
government convened in the spring of 1789. Leaders in the First Congress moved quickly to add
a bill of rights. Although some Anti-Federalists remained unsatisfied with the amendments, the
adoption of the Bill or Rights ended organized opposition to the Constitution.
When the Constitutional Convention met, there were about 700,000 slaves in the United States,
18 percent of the total population. At the Convention, southern delegates insisted that slaves be
counted toward representation in the House of Representatives, that no federal limits be placed on
the importation of slaves, and that escaped slaves be returned to their masters. After heated
debates, the delegates struck compromises that satisfied the pro-slavery delegates but also did not
count slaves as equal to free persons when computing representation in the House, allowed the
federal government to prohibit the importation of slaves by 1808, and avoided any suggestion in
the Constitution that slavery was moral or just. As Madison said about the absence of the words
“slave” and “slavery” from the Constitution, “it [was] wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea
that there could be property in men.”
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. INTRODUCTION
After declaring Independence, a new governmental structure was needed.
o Continental Congress lacked specific authority.
o Former colonies needed new constitutions.
Constitution represents a charter for effective national government.
o Constitution is oldest national charter still in force.
o Constitution was adopted peacefully.
o Content of Constitution reflects lessons learned during “critical period.”
Adoption of the Constitution is an example of deliberative democracy in action.
B. Articles of Confederation
After declaring independence, delegates to the Second Continental
Congress proposed the Articles of Confederation.
The Articles created a weak central authority.
o State sovereignty: states retained all powers not “expressly
delegated” to the national Congress.
o Single governing institution: There was no separate executive or
judicial branch.
o State equality: Each state legislature selected between two and
seven delegates to serve one-year terms in Congress, but each
state had only one vote.
o Limited powers: Congress had limited powers.
o Supermajority requirement: On important matters, 9 of 13 states
had to agree.
o Amendments: Changes to the Articles required
unanimous consent.
o States retained sovereignty in this confederation: A system of
government in which a weak central authority acts on behalf of
powerful independent states.
The purpose of the central government was to secure liberty, common
defense, and the “mutual and general welfare.”
Agreement was in force from 1781–1789.