History - Unit 4 - New Government is Created

Minimum age to run for senate

30 years old

Minimum age to run for president

35 years old

Length of term for the president

4 years (2 terms maximum)

Authors of the Federalists Papers

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

congress couldn't tax or regulate commerce between states or states and foriegn nations

Accomplishments under the Articles of Confederation

created a method to settle and govern the Northwest territory

Checks and Balances

each branch of government has the power to limit the actions of the other two

typical traits of state constitutions

freedom of religion, republic, male taxpayers/property owners could vote, common people had power

House of Representatives

is the lower house of the United States Congress - makes and passes laws

Why antifederalists criticized the Constitution

it didn't have a Bill of rights

Supremacy Clause

it establishes that the federal constitution and federal law take precedence over state laws

Length of term for a judge

no fixed term — they serve until their death, retirement, or conviction by the Senate

Writ of Habeas Corpus (when can it be suspended?)

shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

John Dickinson

the Articles of Confederation were drafted under him, he was at the Constitutional convention, from Pennsylvania

Northwest territory

the Ohio River valley area

Articles of Confederation

was created by the Continental Congress - This first national constitution created a loose confederation or league of states in 1777 - Congress drafted the Articles under John Dickinson of Pennsylvania - Congress's power was limited to prevent the problems experienced under Britain.

Anti-federalists

were opponents of ratification. - They feared a loss of liberties and distrusted the absence of a bill of rights. - They feared concentration of power in a distant elite, believing instead that power should remain in democratically elected state governments. - Leading Antifederalists included Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Patrick Henry

Executive Branch

President carries out laws

Minimum age to run for House of Representatives

25 years old

Length of term for a representative

2 years

Length of term for senator

6 years

Alexander Hamilton

Advocated a powerful central government - conservitive, feared too much democracy - favored balance or aristocracy, monarchy and republicanism - a politician and lawyer from New york

Constitutional Convention

After Shays' Rebellion, Congress called for a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation - they created an entirely new constitution - the Articles were flawed and needed at least two major changes: The power to regulate interstate and international commerce and the power to tax - In May, delegates from 12 states met in Philadelphia to propose Amendments to the Articles.

Branch who has the power to regulate trade

Congress

Elastic Clause

Congress can make all laws that are "necessary and proper" for carrying out its duties

Branch with the sole power to impeach

House of Representative

The Great Compromise

Roger Sherman proposed - Two Houses in Congress: the lower house was based a state's population. In the upper house, each state had two senators - system of federalism: power is divided between federal government and states.

Why is it significant?

Shays's Rebellion exposed the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation and led many—including George Washington—to call for strengthening the federal government in order to put down future uprisings.

Electoral college

The Founding Fathers established this in the Constitution, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.

How does relate to the Constitution

The constitutional convention was needed to offer more support, more structure, they were worried that rebellions similar to Shays would happen elsewhere.

The circumstances of the rebellion

The farmers who fought in the Revolutionary War had received little compensation, and by the 1780s many were struggling to make ends meet.

Double Jeopardy

You cannot take someone to court for something twice

Bill of Rights

a document of rights that each American is entitled to, originally 10 but more get added, it wasn't originally in the constitution but added later

Preamble

a intro stating its purpose, aims and justification

Who was Shays

an American soldier, revolutionary and farmer famous for being one of the leaders and namesake of Shays' Rebellion, a populist uprising against controversial debt collection and tax policies in Massachusetts in 1786-87

John Jay

an author of the Federalists Papers - from New York

Federalists

favored the Constitution - They stressed the weaknesses of the Articles - They argued that only the proposed Constitution could remedy these weaknesses. - They were led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton who, along with John Jay, published a series of essays called The __________________

Power/Responsibilities of President

implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress

Census

official count or survey of a population

Unicameral legislature

one-house legislature with either a weak governor or none at all

James Madison

proposed the virginia plan - was an author of the Federalists - he favored a large republic with diverse interests to preserve the common good, favored a system of checks and balances, came up with the Virginia plan, wrote the fed papers, assigned to write the Bill of Rights, known as the father of the constitution, from Virginia

Suffrage

right to vote

⅗ Compromise

solution to slavery - A slave counted as _____ of a person in determining representation in Congress and electoral votes for presidential elections - Importation of slaves could not be forbidden for twenty years - Northern states could not pass laws to help runaway slaves.

Federal system

the federal government and state governments share power

Separation of Powers

the government's power is divided among three branches: legislative, executive, judicial

Popular Sovereignty

the people are the only source of the government's power

Ratification process

to be by special conventions in each state, not by state legislatures - required approval of only 9 states

Bicameral

with two houses