Friday, August 17, 2012

Unit 1 Notes

Unit One

Chapter 2 Notes 5 Founding Ideals
  1. Equality (pg. 16)

  • based on Christian beliefs
  • applied to “freemen” but not to the 500,000 slaves in America or women in American during colonial time because both thought inferior
  • For freemen, however, Americans rejected the unequal social classes of Europe like the idea of nobility, royalty, or masters.

  1. Rights (pg. 17)
    1. John Locke wrote about the idea of “inalienable rights” which were rights that were so basic or essential to being human that no one person or government can take them away.  Locke argued that government’s job was to protect these “rights.”
      1. in 1776 this meant:
        1. trial by jury
        2. taxation by consent
  2. Liberty = freedom (pg. 18)
    1. political freedom - the public’s right to take part in government affairs.
    2. civil liberties - protection from unfair government intrusion.
    3. ⅕ of the American population at the time of the American revolution were slaves.
  3. Opportunity
    1. for Thomas Jefferson this meant the chance for people to persue their hopes and dreams and many came to America in search of this.
  4. Democracy -
    1. Colonialists had run themselves with little to no British assistance since the beginning by working together in local governments like town meetings and colonial assemblies.  
    2. there was a British governor for every colony that was appointed by the King.
    3. Those who “spoke for the governed” were landed white men.

Chapter 4 Notes  Founding Ideals (Book review Pg. 45)
*Mayflower Compact - In 1620 a number of Protestant seperatists and others wanting to own land boarded the ship the Mayflower for America.  On the way over disagreements broke out and many said, “no one could command them” so the group made an agreement (compact) by which they would live.

  1. Land and Liberty - all the colonies were founded for different reasons.  However, a core belief that drove people to America was the ability to own land.  
    1. Owning land gave men:
      1. the right to vote in most colonies
      2. control over their work
  2. American Indians
    1. initially trade was mutually beneficial:
      1. Indians gave:  native crops like potatoes, corn, tomatoes, tobacco, canoes and snowshoes.
      2. White settlers gave: iron tools, guns, metal pots and woven cloth
    2. However, the Indians:
      1. Lost most of their land through purchase, wars, and unfair treaties.
      2. many died from diseases brought over by settlers.
  3. Slavery -
    1. Indentured servants - voluntarily gave up freedom for 3-7 years in exchange for passage to America.  Problem because some indentured servants ran away or did not work well.
    2. 1st slave brought by Dutch in 1619
    3. first African slaves were held like indentured servants who worked and then were granted their freedom, however, this soon changed as many Southern plantations needed more workers and became dependent on the slaves to keep their farms working to make money on cash crops like cotton and tabacco.
  4. Rights of an Englishman
    1. based on Magna Carta of 1215
      1. due process of law - cannot deprive person of life liberty, or property except according to law
      2. King could not make demand for money without the consent of barons (nobility)
      3. This later became (Parliament) legislature chosen to make laws.
      4. these rights grew over time from due process of law -----> Parliment -----> English Bill of RIghts which decreased the King’s power over time.
  5. Right to Self-Government (self=my and government=rules, my rules)
    1. each colony needed to make their own rules through political get togethers because they were 3,000 miles away from King.
    2. House of Burguesses - first legislature form in America in 1619.
      1. not models of democracy because only landed white Christian men allowed to participate
      2. DID believe in self-government
    3. In 1754 war breaks out between France and Britain over claims for land.  Benjermin Franklin drafted Albany Plan of Union to bring all the colonies together (confederation) to defend the land the colonists own.  This is important because it brings the colonists together as a fighting unit.  This would be handy later during the American revolution.
  6. Freedom of Religion -
    1. just because many of the American colonists came to escape religious persecution (being harassed or jailed for their religion) they did not necessarily tolerate other Christians or religions. This divided colonies
    2. Maryland a safe place for Catholics
    3. Pennsylvania a safe place for Quakers
    4. In 1649 Maryland passed the Act of Relgious Toleration which was to end fighting between all forms of Christianity, but did not extend to the Jewish or Muslim people.

Chapter 5 - American Revolt (chapter summary Pg. 59)
  1. Three main groups - (Pg. 53)
    1. Loyalists - supported British government
    2. Patriots - opposed British rule, separate from Britain immediately
    3. Moderates - unhappy with some parts of British rule, but unsure of what would happen if left British rule.
  2. Series of Events that Lead to Revolution
    1. Taxation - after war with France British did not want more settlers moving West and creating more disagreements over land, so the British built forts, which they wanted the colonists to pay for through taxes.
    2. Colonists had representation in local government, but not in England were taxation and other laws that were placed on colonists were made. The founding fathers believed taxing people without letting them be represented in government was tyranny (oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of any ruler.).
      1. Sugar Act (1764) -  1st act (law) enforced in history of the colonies.  Placed tax on non-British goods and sugar.
      2. Stamp Act (1765) - placed tax on paper.  Colonists had to buy a stamp to use paper.  This made the colonists VERY ANGRY because it was on all paper from playing cards to newspapers and documents.
      3. Townshend Acts (1767) - placed tax on British glass, lead, paints and tea.  Tax was repealed on all of the goods EXEPT TEA.
        1. March 5, 1770 - Boston Massacre happened with colonists got into a fight with British soldiers.  British soldiers opened fire on the colonists and five died.
        2. Samuel Adams forms the Committee of Correspondence which is a group of people who write letters and publications to inform the people and support colonial rights.
      4. Tea Act (1773) - British Parliment gives British East India Company the sole right to sell tea in America.  The colonists were further enraged and dressed as Mohawk Indians and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea in Boston Harbor.  This was the Boston Tea Party.  The British got very angry and passed what the colonists called “the Intolerable Acts.”
      5. Intolerable Acts (1774)
        1. Closed Boston Harbor
        2. shut down civilian courts
        3. more British troops sent to Boston.
        4. First meeting of Continental Congress suggests boycotting Intolerable Acts.
  3. Lexington and Concord - Fighting begins
    1. April 18, 1775 - 70-80 Minutemen (organized militias made up of colonialists) fought 700 British soldiers marching to Boston via the towns of Lexington, Virginia and Concord, Massachusetts. The British lost and gave Americans hope they could defeat the British at war.
    2. Second Continental Congress - After battle of Lexington and Concord:  
      1. Made George Washington leader of Virginia militia
      2. formed Continental Army
      3. Olive Branch Petition - attempt to end things peacefully but King George III would not even consider it.
      4. Common Sense - book by Thomas Paine rejected all monarchy, “monarchy and succession have laid...the world in blood and ashes.”
      5. Enlightment influenced American Revolution
  4. Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776  
    1. Americans lost many of the beginning battles.
    2. December 25 @ Princeton, New Jersey the Continental Army’s first win against German mercinaries hired by England.
    3. Battle of Saratoga - October 17, 1777
      1. Defeated British and convinced the French to support American (colonists) in war again England.
    4. Battle shifts south after draw in battle between British and Continental Army in Monmouth, New Jersey.
    5. Continential Army (colonialists) used guerilla warfare to win in the South.
    6. Battle of Yorktown, Virginia - last battle of war, combined forces of French and the American army and naval forces.
    7. British recognized American independence with Treaty of Paris in September 1783.

Chapter 6 - Creating the Constitution (book review pg. 71)
*avoiding an elected king

  1. Articles of Confederation - gave states more power than the federal government
    1. this was a problem:
      1. army had a hard time maintaining men, money and supplies
      2. individual states would make their own agreements with country
      3. federal government did not have power to settle arguments between states
  2. The Northwest Ordinance - established rules for creation of state governmeent in the Northwest Territory (pg. 63) and it also BANNED slavery.
  3. Constitution of the United States (pg. 64-65) - because the Articles of Confederation were too weak Americans decided to completely rewrite government and create the Constitution.
    1. separation of powers - between executive, legislative, and judicial no make sure none is too powerful.
    2. checks and balances - each branch limits the power of the other.
  4. GREAT COMPROMISE -
    1. bicameral (two houses)
    2. House of Representatives based on population
    3. Senate has 2 Senators per state.
  5. Slavery - representation in the House of Representatives every 5 slaves - 3 white men called Three-Fifths Compromise.
  6. Electoral College - The U.S. Electoral College is the assembly of elected representatives who choose the president and vice president of the United States. The process is an example of an indirect election, as the president is not elected directly by voters. Citizens vote for electors by state, who then participate in the election. Officially, electors may vote for any eligible candidate. In practice, however, they pledge support and vote for specific candidates. Critics have argued that the system yields undue influence to swing states, and there have been instances, such as the 2000 election of George W. Bush, where the result of the popular vote was the opposite of the Electoral College results. However, no proposal to change the system has ever passed in Congress.
  7. Ratifying the Constitution
    1. Federalists - supported Constitution
    2. Anti-federalists - did not support Constitution
    3. Concerns from Anti-Federalists lead to the creation of the Bill of Rights.

Chapter 7 Constitution (Chp. Review Notes Pg. 87)
The greatness of the Constitution and Bill of Rights is its promise or dream of an effective government that serves the people under the founding ideals of democracy, equality, opportunity, rights and liberty.  America has always been in a race to push these ideals into reality.  The founding fathers knew that these ideals did not exist yet even though they had put them on paper in the Declaration of Independence, but their hope was to make the race to attain them permanent by creating a US government with a checks and balances system and formalizing “inalienable rights” in the Bill of Rights.  

*checks and balances - a way for each branch (Congress, President or Supreme Court) to “check” or limit the powers of the other branch to prevent too much power in any branch.

  1. The Supreme Law of the Land - The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.  It is the final word and has three parts: the preamble (explains the purpose of the Constitution), the articles (the structure of the government) and the amendments (changes we have made over time)
  2. Three Branches of government - by dividing up the government into three branches it creates a strong central government but also distributes power so one branch cannot overpower another.  This is important because the founding fathers did not want an elected king i.e. another situation where one person or group of people had control of all the power. Examples: (see Pg. 75 too)
    1. Legislative checks on Executive:  Can override presidential vetoes, approve or reject presidential appointments and treaties, and impeach and try the president.
    2. Executive checks on judicial branch - Can nominate Supreme Court justices and federal judges.
    3. Judicial checks on Legislative - can declare laws unconstitutional.
    4. Legislative checks on Judicial - Can approve or reject nomination of federal judges, create lower courts, and remove judges through impeachment.
    5. Judicial checks on Executive branch - Can declare treaties and executive acts unconstitutional.  Appointments are for life and judges are free from executive control.
    6. Executive check on Legislative - Can approve or veto bills, call special sessions of Congress and recommend legislation.
  3. The legislative branch (aka Congress) pg. 77 - is bicameral (two houses).
To balance power between small and large states they made the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate is based on equal numbers for each state i.e. every state has 2 Senators.

  1. House of Representatives (435 members)
    1. Each member represents a district
    2. two year terms
    3. HAVE TO: be 25 years old and a citizen for 7 years
    4. Powers:  propose tax laws and can impeach the president
  2. Senate:
    1. each member represents a state
    2. six year terms
    3. HAVE TO: be 30 years old and a citizen for 9 years
    4. Powers:  Approves presidential appointments, ratifies treaties, conducts trial of the president after impeachment
  3. BOTH SENATE AND HOUSE:  Propose and pass laws, declare war, override the president’s veto with two-thirds vote, propose amendments to the Constitution with two-thirds vote.
**elastic clause - in Article 1 grants Congress certain powers to “make all laws wh-ch shall be necessary and proper” in order to fulfill its duties like in 1791 created a national bank, maintain an army or collect taxes.  Some feel that Congress can go too far sometimes.

  1. The executive branch - (Pg. 79)
    1. Four year term
    2. Have to be 35 years old and born in America
    3. Powers:  Approves or vetoes laws, conducts U.S. foreign relations and makes treaties with foreign governments, nominates cabinet members, ambassadors, and federal judges, serves as commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, prepares the federal government’s budget
  2. the judicial branch THE SUPREME COURT - “the guardians of the Constitution”  (Pg. 81)
    1. Nine judges
    2. job for life
    3. salaries cannot be lowered
    4. writers of the Constitution wanted to ensure they were a independent of influence
    5. judicial review is what allows the court to review any law or action by the Congress or Executive (President)
  3. Federalism - division of power between the federal and state governments.   Some powers are “concurrant powers” where both state and federal government can exercise powers independently like taxes. After the Civil War though federal powers trump state as supreme law of the land

**Supremecy Clause - makes the Constitution and federal laws the supreme law of the land and that judges are bound to them.

  1. The amendment process (see diagram on Pg.84)  - The genius of the constitution is that it is a “living document” because the founding fathers allowed for change through amendments.  Even more brilliantly, they allowed for change but in a process slow enough that it would not give too much power, too quickly.  
    1. The first 10 are, of course, The Bill of Rights.
    2. while thousands have been proposed ONLY 17 have been ratified, bring the total number of amendments to 27.
The Constitution can be amended in four ways.  All the successful amendments but one - the 21st amendment - were proposed in Congress and ratified by the state legislatures.  

  1. Political participation - Citizens can participate in government in various ways.
    1. VOTE!
    2. join a political party
    3. run for office
    4. exert political influence through public meetings
    5. interest groups (like American Civil Liberties Union)
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