Introduction to the U.S. Constitution

• Written in Philadelphia• Original intent was to

revise the Articles • James Madison was

the “Father” of the Constitution

• 39 men signed it in 1787

Federalism

Delegated powers: powers granted to the federal government

Reserved powers: powers retained by the state government

Concurrent powers: powers shared by the state and federal government

Article I---Legislative Branch

• Section One—What is a Congress?

1. Bicameral Legislature---There are two houses, a Senate and House of Representatives.

APPORTIONMENT

• How representatives will be apportioned for the House of Representatives is determined by a census taken every 10 years

• The votes follow the population

2. Clause Two---What are the Qualifications for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives?

•25 years old

•7 year citizen of the United States

•Resident of the state one is elected in

The leader of the Speaker of the House is usually from theMajority party since the House elects the Speaker. The Political party with the most members is considered the Majority party and the least the minority party.

5. Clause Five---Where does the impeachment process start?

The House of Reps. will start the impeachment process

Andrew Johnson---First U.S. President to be impeached, but fell one vote shy of the Senate’s conviction

Richard Nixon---Resigned before official impeachment could take place

Bill Clinton---Impeachment articles were passed by the U.S. House of Reps, but the Senate found him NOT guilty of those articles

6. Trial of Impeachments - Does the Senate actually serve as the Jury in impeachment proceedings? (Yes)

Senate tries impeachments (acts as a jury)

House of Reps. introduces the Articles of Impeachment

House needs a majority (218) vote to bring up charges

Senate needs 2/3s majority (67) to convict

Section Three---The Senate

1. Clause One - How is a Senator different from a member of the House of Representatives?

Senators term is 6 years 1 voter per Senator 2 Senators per state (all states get the same

amount) Originally Senators were chosen by state

legislatures Today chosen by direct election (17th Amendment)

3. Clause Three - What are the qualifications for a Senator?

30 years old

9 year citizen of the United States

Be a resident of the state you are elected from

4. Clause Four—

The Vice-President (Joe Biden) of the U.S. is the President of the Senate (very little power and seldom is seen on the Senate Floor )

President of the Senate (Biden) only votes if there is a tie

The president pro tempore leads the Senate in his absence

Section Six—Privileges and Restrictions

1. Clause One - What is the salary and benefits for a member of Congress?

Compensation—members of Congress will be paid ($150,000 per year)

Congressional immunity-can’t be arrested for minor crimes when traveling to or from Congress (breach of peace, treason, felony, are not exempt from this immunity)

Slander—saying something that is not true, they can do this in the House and Senate (done so that speech is not limited or censored)

Franking—free mail service

2. Clause Two - How does a bill become a law?

Procedures vary slightly in each house and all bills must go through committee work before they get to the floor. Here is a simple overview:

First method—passes one house by majority vote, passes second house by majority vote, goes to president, president signs it into law

Second method—passes one house by majority vote, passes second house by majority vote, goes to president, president vetoes, goes back to house it originated in and must pass by 2/3 vote, then goes to next house and must pass by 2/3 vote to become a law

Third method-- passes one house by majority vote, passes second house by majority vote, goes to president, president delays action for ten days excluding Sundays, becomes law

Section EightPowers Delegated to

Congress1. Clause One - Why can Congress collect taxes?

Congress can collect taxes for three purposes: Pay off debts Provide defense Provide for the common welfare

Current US deficit• http://www.deficitsdomatter.org/?gclid

=CMCz9aarhpYCFQE0xgodRHEVFQ

2. Clause Two - Can Congress Borrow Money?

They can borrow money on the credit of the United States (selling bonds is one example)

Debt—Total amount of money that the government owes ( currently over $9 trillion)

Deficit—Yearly amount of money that the government owes

3. Clause Three - Can Congress regulate trade?

Interstate—Trade between two or more states

Intrastate—Trade within a state

Congress can only regulate interstate trade

11. Clause Eleven

Only Congress can declare war—power to many people as opposed to one

Marque and Reprisal—allowing pirates (Treaty of Paris outlaws this)

War Powers Resolution (1973) - Attempted to limit presidential power of war

17. Clause Seventeen—Who controls the District of Columbia?

Washington, in the District of Columbia, is a federal city under the control of Congress

Since 1973, people of the city elect their own officials

18. Clause Eighteen—Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause) Congress has the power to establish any rules

they deem necessary and proper

Elastic Clause—expands the powers of Congress

Section TenPowers Denied to the States

1. Clause One - Can Minnesota create an alliance with Canada? (No)

States cannot form treaties or alliances with any other states or countries

States cannot coin money

Article II—Executive Branch

Section One—President &

Vice President

1. Clause one—How long is the President in office?

Four year terms

1951—22 Amendment changed it to a maximum of 2 terms or ten years

FDR served the most years in office (12)

Grover Cleveland served 2 nonconsecutive terms (22nd & 24th President of the United States)

2. Clause Two - How is the U.S. President elected?

Electors—Presidential voters

Electoral college—system used to elect the President, founders didn’t want a pure form of democracy, wanted a representative democracy

538=total number of Presidential electors, must have 270 to become president

Purpose of the electoral college---give each state somewhat equal representation

3. Clause Three—former method of electoral college (changed by 12th Amendment)

Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each had the same number of electoral votes (73)

Tie would go to the House of Representatives and each state gets one vote, still have to get a majority

Election of 1860 Popular Votes Electoral

Lincoln 1, 866,352 180

Douglas 1,375,157 12

Breckenridge 847,953 72

Bell 589,581 39

Close Elections in History

Popular Votes Electoral Votes

Hayes (1876) 4,033,950 185

Tilden (1876) 4, 284,855 184

Bush (2000) 50,456, 169 271

Gore (2000) 50, 996, 116 266

4. Clause 4 - When does the Electoral College vote?

Official ballot for President is cast by the Electoral College

Electoral College—cast votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December

5. Clause Five—What are the qualifications for U.S. President?

35 years old, 14 year resident, natural born citizen

1st seven presidents were not natural born

1st natural born was Martin Van Buren

Youngest—Teddy Roosevelt=42

Youngest elected—John Kennedy=43

Oldest—Ronald Reagan=69

6. Clause Six - Changed by the 25th Amendment

The amendment provides for involuntary removal of the President from his power.

Section TwoPowers of the President

1. Clause One—What are the Military Powers?

President is the head of the military - Commander in Chief

President can grant pardons to criminals who have committed federal crimes2. Clause Two—Treaties and Appointments

President needs approval by the U.S. Senate to create certain and specific treaties and appointments

3. Clause Three - What if an ambassador dies when the Senate is in recess?

The President can fill position by temporarily

Section Four--Impeachment

President, Vice President, and all civil officers can be impeached Can only be impeached for three things: treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Judges are civil officers that are the most often convicted of impeachment Members of the Congress are expelled by their own house, they do not go through the formal impeachment process

Article III—Judicial BranchSection One—Federal Courts

1. Clause One - Who interprets the law? Judicial branch interprets the law (Courts) Legislative makes the law (Congress) Executive enforces the law (President) Judicial powers—the power to hear cases

Federal Judges are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate

Supreme Court

• Chief Justice John Roberts (2005)

• Thurgood Marshall – first African American justice (Clarence Thomas is today)

• Sandra Day O’Connor- first woman to sit (Ruth Ginsburg is today)

2. Clause Two - How does a case reach the Supreme Court?

SC has two kinds of jurisdiction:

a. Original—a case is first heard by the SC

b. Appellate—cases that are appealed by a lower court (Most cases come to the SC through appellate jurisdiction)

About 75 are heard each year

Article V Methods of Amendments

1st Method - need 2/3 of Congress to PROPOSE an Amendment

2nd Method - need 2/3 of the state legislatures to ask Congress for a national convention to propose an Amendment (this method has never been used) Need 3/4 of all states to actually ratify or APPROVE an Amendment. This is done by state legislatures or a special ratifying convention. Over 4000 proposed Amendments since the early 1800s Only 27 have been ratified 1st Ten Amendments were a package deal, 18 and 21 cancel each other out, leaves 15 separate Amendments that went through the process

Article VI—General Provisions

Section One - Could the new government evade debts owed as a result of the Revolutionary War? New government can’t evade old debts

Section Two - Is the federal law the supreme law of the land?

Yes - State law cannot override a federal law

Section Three—all officers, state and federal, must take an oath to support the U.S. Constitution

Can’t have a religious requirement has part of the Oath

Article Seven--Ratification

Section One— Convention—calling of delegates from each state to ratify the Constitution Must have nine states to approve the Constitution

CLOSURE

Constitution was finished September 17, 1787

55 total delegates during the convention

42 were present on the final day but only

39 people signed the Constitution

The following two years provided debate for ratification

The United States Constitution took effect April 30 , 1789 when George Washington was sworn in as President

Federal Government

• Federal government deals with matters that affect the whole country– Defense– Transportation– Postal Delivery– Federal Taxes

Federal GovernmentExecutive Branch

• Executive Branch carries out national laws• The President is head of the Executive Branch • Commander in Chief of nation’s army • Elected to a four year term• Approves the laws that

congress makes• Proposed national budget• Can veto a bill

Federal GovernmentLegislative Branch

• Legislative branch makes laws for the nation

• Two parts of the Legislative Branch– U.S. Senate – U.S. House of

Representatives

Federal Government Judicial Branch

• Judicial Branch interprets and applies national laws

• Make up of the court system• Highest is the Supreme Court

- appointed for life terms• Lowest levels are

Justice of Peace • Gets its powers from

Article III of the Constitution

State Government

• State Government deals with matters within their own state– Schools– State Roads– State Taxes– State Police

What is a Citizen?• Two kinds of citizens• Native-born citizens

– Born here– Children of American citizens born while visiting

other countries

• Naturalized citizens– Have to be at least 18– From other countries– Lived here 5 years to qualify– 3 years if they’re married to an American citizen

Citizen’s Rights• Countries protect their citizens and

give them rights • Naturalized and Native-born

citizens have the same rights, except one

• Naturalized citizens can’t run for president

• Citizens can vote• Freedom of Religion• Freedom of Speech• Freedom of the Press

Citizen’s Responsibilities

• Duty to obey the law• Vote in elections• To pay taxes• If the country is at

war, citizens may be called to serve in the armed forces

• Serve on a jury if called