Transcript The Constitution - Crawford's World

Chapter Two
The Preamble to the
Constitution
The Preamble to the Constitution
“We the People of the United States, in Order
to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence, promote
the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of
America.”
2|2
ARISTOTLE
Define the Following Terms:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Power
Politics
Legitimacy
Authority
Nation
2|4
POLITICS
is the process by which groups make
decisions. Although the term is generally
applied to behavior within governments, politics
is observed in all human group interactions.
POWER
The ability of one person to get another person
to do act in accordance with the first person’s
wishes and intentions.
NATION
A self-identifying group of people who share
something in common (history, language,
culture, religion)
LEGITIMACY
acceptance by the citizens that their state has
the right to pass and enforce rules.
AUTHORITY
The exclusive right to exercise supreme
political power over a group of people or
geographic region.
GOVERNMENT
is the organization that has the accepted
authority to make laws, adjudicate disputes,
and to issue administrative decisions, and that
has a monopoly of authorized force to enforce
its decisions.
PURPOSES OF GOVERNMENT
• Maintain order
• Provide public services
• Regulate the economy
2 | 11
TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
• Autocracy
–Dictatorship
–Monarchy
• Oligarchy
–Aristocracy
• Republic
• Democracy
2 | 12
TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
• Unitary
–Complete control from the center
• Federal
–Shared power between the center
and the local regions
• Confederal
–Complete control by the local
regions
2 | 13
TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
• Parliamentary
–No separation of powers between
executive, legislative, and judicial
• Presidential
–Separation of powers
2 | 14
The Colonial Mind
1776
Colonists were focused on traditional liberties of
BRITISH CITIZENS:
• The right to bring legal cases before independent
judges
• The right to not have to quarter troops in their
homes
• The right to trade without burdensome restrictions
• The right to pay no taxes which they had not had
direct representation in establishing
They came to see independence as necessary
because they had lost confidence in the British
Government
2 | 15
The Magna Carta
1215
Forced on King John by nobles:
• The right of Habeas Corpus
• No seizure of property without
compensation
• The creation of a Great Council
(Parliament)
2 | 16
The Bill of Rights
1689
Forced on King James II by nobles:
• Free speech
• Free elections without interference
• No taxation without representation
• Freedom to bear arms (for Protestants)
• No quartering of troops in private homes
• No punishment without trial by jury
• No cruel and unusual punishment
2 | 17
Foundation of American Rights
Rights
Sources of Rights
Magna Carta (1215)
English Bill of
Rights (1689)
Virginia Declaration
of Rights (1776)
Bill of Rights (1791)
Trial by Jury
X
X
X
Due Process
X
X
X
Private Property
X
X
No unreasonable
searches and seizures
X
X
X
X
No cruel punishment
X
No excessive bail or
fines
X
X
Right to bear arms
X
X
Right to petition
X
X
Freedom of Speech
X
X
Freedom of Press
X
X
Freedom of religion
X
X
The Colonial Mind
1776
• Believed that men seek power because
they are ambitious, greedy and easily
corrupted.
• Believed in a higher law embodying
inalienable natural rights:
– Life
– Liberty
– Property
2 | 19
Political Philosophy
1588-1776
• Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan, 1651
• John Locke – Two Treatises on
Government, 1689
• Charles Montesquieu – The Spirit of the
Laws, 1748
• Jean Jacques Rousseau – The Social
Contract, 1763
• Adam Smith – The Wealth of Nations, 1776
2 | 20
Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan, 1651
• Individuals have right to life,
liberty, and property
• But life is ‘nasty, brutish, and
short’; violent anarchy
• Social Contract between
Ruler and Ruled
• Citizens Trade liberty and
property for security
• Leviathan creates order in
exchange for obedience
2 | 21
Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan
1651
John Locke
Two Treatises on Government, 1689
• Inalienable right to life, liberty,
property
• Social Contract is between
citizens
• Governments instituted to
protect individual rights
• Not just right, but obligation to
rebel when government
violates
2 | 23
John Locke
Two Treatises on Government
1689
Charles Montesquieu
The Spirit of the Laws, 1748
• Republic is the best form of
government
• Separation of powers
– Legislative
– Judicial
– Executive
• Checks and balances
2 | 25
Jean Jacques Rousseau
The Social Contract, 1763
• Natural rights and Civil
Rights
• Sovereignty
– Delegated
– Limited
– Separated
– Revocable
• General will
• General assembly
2 | 26
Adam Smith
The Wealth of Nations, 1776
• Rational self-interest
• Natural liberty: freedom of
choice
• Respect: Private property
• Responsibility: profit motive
• Laissez faire: government is
generally unnecessary, but if it
exists then it should be limited
2 | 27
The Declaration of Independence
1776
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.--That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the
governed, --That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
it, and to institute new Government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
2 | 28
The Declaration of Independence
1776
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.--That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the
governed, --That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
it, and to institute new Government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
2 | 29
A war of
ideology,
or economics?
2 | 30
The Real Revolution
1776
The “real” revolution was the radical change in
belief about what made authority legitimate
and liberties secure
• Government exists by consent of the governed,
not by royal prerogative or divine right
• Political power exercised by direct grant of power
from the people in a written constitution
• Human rights exists prior to government and
government must respect those rights
• Legislative branch created as superior to
executive branch because the legislature directly
represents the people
2 | 31