How did the Constitution create a federal system?
Life under Britain, 1763-1783
Curse this
monarchy!
You’ll pay your
taxes because it’s
your duty! And
you’ll buy British
tea! And I’ll say
who’s a governor
and who isn’t.
King
George III
13 Colonies
Parliament
Ahh!
VERY STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT (BRITAIN)
WEAK COLONIAL POWER (13 COLONIES)
The people
Life under the Articles of
Confederation
Sorry, Congress, I
gave at the office.
We need money!
Please! We need
soldiers! Don’t do
that, Virginia! Hey,
get along, you two!
Hey!
Shut up, Congress!
13 States
We’ll do what
we like.
Congress (in Philadelphia)
Ahh!
The people
STRONG STATE POWER (13 STATE GOV’TS)
VERY WEAK CENTRAL POWER (CONGRESS)
Federalism:
Striking the right balance
 KEY IDEA: The new Constitution had to strike a
balance between individual state power and national
government power.
 Constitution USA with Peter Sagal: Federalism
Ways to organize government
 Unitary government:
 A strong central government controls the state and local
gov’ts
 Central gov’t can give/take away power at any time

United Kingdom, France, Sweden
 Confederation:
 A weak central gov’t controls only what is of national
concern
 States have most control over their people and territory
 States can withdraw at any time

Switzerland, the South during the Civil War
Ways to organize government
 Federal system (also called federalism):
 The sovereign people decide how to delegate their
authority

Sovereign: Having the highest rank of authority.
 National, state & local gov’ts all share power
 The people keep their own powers
Life under federalism
I’ll look after
state affairs and
my people…
I’ll look after
national affairs
and big issues...
We’ll work
together on
some things…
And I’ll
take care
of me!
State Govt’s
The People
National Gov’t
PEOPLE give power to STATE GOV’TS and
CENTRAL GOV’T, and all work together
Federalism in the U.S.
E Pluribus Unum, basis of federalism
E Pluribus Unum = “Out of many, one.”
What may government do?
 The federal gov’t may—
 Create post offices
 Regulate interstate & foreign trade
 Declare/conduct war
 Create national currency
 State gov’ts may—
 Regulate trade within the state
 Establish public schools
 Create traffic/motor vehicle laws
 Regulate marriage/divorce practices
What may the governments do?
 The federal & state govt’s both may—
 Make their own laws
 Tax the people
 Borrow $$
 Create court systems
 Provide for the people’s health & welfare
What may the people do?
 The people may—
 Believe what we wish
 Form/join organizations
 Choose careers
 Live where we wish
 Choose friends
 Travel inside/outside the country
 Raise a family
What may the gov’t NOT do?
 The federal gov’t may NOT—
 Tax exports
 Spend $$ illegally
 Make laws that favor one state over another
 Exercise powers belonging to the states
 Suspend habeas corpus (except in emergencies)
What may the gov’t NOT do?
 The state gov’ts may NOT—
 Coin/print $$
 Form treaties with other nations
 Tax imports or exports
 Keep an army/navy in peace
 Engage in war unless under invasion or threat of invasion
 Federal & state gov’ts may NOT—
 Deny right to trial by jury
 Pass ex post facto laws or bills of attainder
 Grant titles of nobility
What is the supremacy clause?
 Supremacy Clause: Article VI, Section 2 of the
Const., which states that the Const., Congress’s laws,
and U.S. treaties “shall be the supreme Law of the
Land” and binding on the states.
HOMEWORK
How would our country be
different if we had a unitary
system?
A confederation?
Give many specific examples.
How did the People approve the new Constitution?
Ratification
 Ratify: To confirm/approve
 9 of 13 states needed for ratification of Constitution
 Federalists: Those who supported ratification of the
Constitution
 The Federalist (also called The Federalist Papers): A
series of essays by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton
& John Jay supporting ratification
 Anti-Federalists: Those who opposed ratification of
the Constitution
Why did Anti-Federalists oppose
ratification?
1. The national government might
have too much power
2. The Constitution might
endanger republican government
3. A bill of rights may be needed
HOMEWORK
What specific suspicions or
frustrations do you suppose
the Federalists and the AntiFederalists felt about each
other?
Go beyond the obvious.
How did Congress organize the new government?
Organizing the executive branch
 George Washington = President
 John Adams = Vice-President
 Cabinet: President’s circle of advisors, made up of
the heads of each department
 Thomas Jefferson = Secretary of State
 Alexander Hamilton = Secretary of Treasury
 Henry Knox = Secretary of War
 Edmund Randolph = Attorney General
Organizing the judicial branch
 Judiciary Act of 1789: A law Congress passed to
organize the federal court system; created the
Supreme Court with 5 justices
 It also created lower courts:
 Federal district courts hear cases involving the
Constitution
 Appellate courts hear cases that have been appealed
after being tried in a lower court
 Each state also has its own court system
Bill of rights
 Bill of Rights (proposed 1789, ratified 1791) includes—
 Freedom of religion, press, speech, assembly &
petition
 Right to speedy, public jury trial
 Ninth Amendment says that the first 8
amendments are not the only rights the people have
 Tenth Amendment says that powers not delegated
to the federal government, nor forbidden to the
states or people, belong to the states or people
HOMEWORK
Finish your “I Have
Rights?” packet. It will
be turned in separately
for points.
How did political parties develop?
Political parties
 Political parties: Groups of people who join together
because they have similar views on government
 Hamilton wanted a broad (general) view of the
Constitution
 Jefferson wanted a narrow (strict) view of the
Constitution
 Federalist Party: Those who favored Hamilton’s views
and generally a stronger national government
 (Democratic-)Republican Party: Those who favored
Jefferson’s views and a generally weaker national
government
Economic disagreements
 Currency: The form of $$ a country uses
 Hamilton wanted—
 to encourage manufacturing
 to solve the national debt by creating a
national bank & paper $$
 Jefferson believed—
 agriculture was better for America
 a national bank was unconstitutional
Policy disagreements
 1793: War breaks out again between France
& Britain
 Jefferson wanted a close relationship with
France
 Hamilton wanted a close relationship with
Britain
 President Washington wanted neutrality
Alien & Sedition Acts
 1796: Adams (Federalist) elected
president
 Jefferson (Democratic-Republican)
elected vice-president
 Alien & Sedition Acts: Laws passed
under Adams that threatened
deportation of French immigrants and
made it illegal for writers/editors to
criticize the government
HOMEWORK
If you were alive in the 1790’s, do
you think you would have been a
Hamiltonian or a Jeffersonian?
Why?
Which system do you think best
predicted today’s government?
How does the Supreme Court use the power of
judicial review?
What is judicial review?
 Judicial review: The power of courts to decide
whether laws and actions of government are
constitutional
 Null and void: A law that is null and void is not
enforced and is considered unconstitutional
 The Constitution clearly gave the Supreme Court
judicial review over the states…
 …but does it have power over the federal
government?
Why was Marbury v. Madison
important?
 Opinion of the court: The Court’s
decision and reasoning behind it
 Marbury v. Madison: 1803 Supreme
Court case in which Chief Justice John
Marshall struck down part of a
congressional law (the Judiciary Act of
1789) and established judicial review
over the federal government
HOMEWORK
Do you find a problem with the
idea that unelected judges with
lifetime terms can strike down
laws made by the people’s
representatives?
Why or why not?
How does the U.S. Supreme Court determine the
meaning of the words in the Constitution?
How do we interpret meanings?
 Interpret: To decide what words or phrases actually mean
 http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/academicintegrity/
 What is an “unreasonable search & seizure”? How do we
define “unreasonable”?
 Look it up in the dictionary?
 Try to figure out what the Framers thought?
 Examine how the word relates to natural rights and limited
government?
 Look at what’s reasonable and unreasonable nowadays,
225+ years after the Constitution was written?
 Look at previous court rulings?
How do judges interpret the
Constitution?
 How do we interpret the Constitution?
 1. The plain meaning of the words of the Constitution
 2. The intention of the Framers
 3. The Constitution is based on some fundamental
principles of government
 4. Today’s social values and needs
 Second Amendment: “A well-regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”
HOMEWORK
Which method or methods
of interpreting the
Constitution do you think
are best?
Why?