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U.S. Constitution. Establishing a Form of Democracy. Historical Periods in Western Civilization. Birth of the United States. The Intellectual Roots of America The Age of Enlightenment 1600s-1700s. The Status Quo Tradition Orthodoxy Faith Religious Dogma Monarchy/Aristocracy
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U.S. Constitution Establishing a Form of Democracy
Historical Periods in Western Civilization Birth of the United States
The Intellectual Roots of AmericaThe Age of Enlightenment1600s-1700s The Status Quo • Tradition • Orthodoxy • Faith • Religious Dogma • Monarchy/Aristocracy • Inequality • Obedience to Authority The New Age • Innovation/Exploration • Reason • Science • Religious Toleration • Democracy • Equality • Liberty/Freedom
Some Enlightenment Ideas • Okay to reject traditions like kings, aristocracy, state religion • Okay for people to reason to their own conclusions about laws, taxes, etc. • Government should have the consent of the governed • Human beings have natural rights that cannot legitimately be denied them • People should be free to choose their own religion or no religion • Government power should be restricted so it cannot infringe on individual liberties.
Just a FewEnlightenment Thinkers In Europe In the Americas Francisco Javier Clavigero Simón Bolívar Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Thomas Paine Judith Sargent Murray Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklin James Madison Phillis Wheatley Benjamin Banneker Frederick Douglass • John Locke • Isaac Newton • Adam Smith • David Hume • Mary Wollstonecraft • Catherine Macaulay • Immanuel Kant • Voltaire • Jean-Jacques Rousseau • Montesquieu • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe • Johann Sebastian Bach • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
From Ideas to Action Englishman John Locke American Thomas Jefferson 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.” Two Treatises of Government 1690 “Man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom, and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man, or number of men in the world, hath by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and estate…”
John LockeTwo Treatises of Government1690The Second Treatise of Civil Government Chapter II, sections 4-5 To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man. A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection, unless the lord and master of them all should, by any manifest declaration of his will, set one above another, and confer on him, by an evident and clear appointment, an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty.
John LockeTwo Treatises of Government1690The Second Treatise of Civil Government … equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection, unless the lord and master of them all should, by any manifest declaration of his will, set one above another, and confer on him, by an evident and clear appointment, an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty.
Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) ConfederacyFirst Democracy of the Americas The Great Law of Peace
1776-1830 The Americas rebel against 300+ years of European colonial control ! 1776
Birth of the U.S.Timeline 1776Declaration of Independence • "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...." 1777/89 Articles of Confederation (1st U.S. Constitution)
Birth of the U.S.Timeline 1776 Declaration of Independence 1777/89 Articles of Confederation (1st U.S. Constitution)
Weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation 1 The national government could not force the states to obey its laws. 2 It did not have the power to tax 3 It did not have the power to enforce laws 4 Congress lacked strong and steady leadership 5 There was no standing national army or navy 6 There was no system of national courts 7 Each state could issue its own paper money 8 Each state could put tariffs on trade between states. (A tariff is a tax on goods coming in from another state or country.)
Birth of the U.S.Timeline 1776 Declaration of Independence 1777/89 Articles of Confederation (1st U.S. Constitution) 1783 Treaty of Paris • U.S. granted independence by England • England gives US land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River 1787 New Constitution Written 1789 U.S. Constitution Ratified • Article VII Ratification
Birth of the U.S.Timeline 1776 Declaration of Independence 1777/89 Articles of Confederation (1st U.S. Constitution) 1783 Treaty of Paris • U.S. granted independence by England • England gives US land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River 1787 New Constitution Written 1789 U.S. Constitution Ratified • Article VII Ratification 1791 Bill of Rights Added (Amendments 1-10) Article V
Article V The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Contents of the U.S. Constitution The Preamble • Article 1: The Congress (Senate and House of Rep) • Article 2: The Executive (President) • Article 3: The Judiciary (Supreme Ct. and Lower Cts.) • Article 4: The States • Article 5: Process to Amend the Constitution • Article 6: Constitution is Supreme Law of the Land • Article 7: Process to Ratify this Constitution • Amendments 1-10 (Bill of Rights) • Amendments 11-27 10 Pages 27 Amendments in 226 Years Read the Constitution
Good & Badin the Original US Constitution • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________ • __________________
Almost immediately…Amendments 1-10…in 1791Bill of Rights • Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition • Right of people to bear arms • Soldiers shall not be quartered in private homes • Right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, etc., and against unreasonable searches • Right to notice of charges, protection from double jeopardy, testifying against oneself, and punishment without due process of law • Right to speedy trial by jury, to confront witnesses, to counsel • Right to trial by jury • Protection against excessive bail, and cruel and unusual punishment • These stated rights do not mean that people could not have other rights, as well • Powers not given to the US in the Constitution are reserved for the States
Native Americans Native Americans in the Original US Constitution Indian Tribes were ‘independent, sovereign nations’ before Europeans arrived, and they still were after the United States was created.
US ConstitutionArticle I, Section 2, Clause 3 “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 “Congress shall have Power . . . To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes.”
Slavery • Numeration Clause (Art 1, Sec 2) counted slaves as 3/5 of a person • Census Example • Importation Clause(Art 1, Sec 9) said importing slaves could not be prohibited prior to 1808 • Fugitive Slave Clause (Art 4, Sec 2) said escaped slaves captured in a non-slave state must be returned to the slave owner
Sample Kentucky Slave Census Form from 1850
Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eight, it shall not be lawful to import or bring into the United States or the territories thereof from any foreign kingdom, place, or country, any negro, mulatto, or person of colour, with intent to hold, sell, or dispose of such negro, mulatto, or person of colour, as a slave, or to be held to service or labour…” Article I, Sec. 9 The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight . . .
Voting Rightsleft up to each state Most States In the first presidential election of 1789, only 1.5-6.0 % of the population in the States voted for Electors, and those Electors chose George Washington as the first President of the U.S.A. Who Could Vote? • Citizen • White • Male • 21 • Property Owner and/or Tax Payer
Founding Father Alexander Hamilton wasn’t actually that big on democracy . . . "All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and the well-born; the other the mass of the people ... turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class [the wealthy] a distinct, permanent share in the Government ... Nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence [lack of wisdom] of democracy."
Abigail Adams writing to her husband VP John Adams “if particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”
