Constitution+Project

Worlde of the Constitution


In this wordle it shows the prominent words in the Constitution. The main word that the most noticable is the word "States". States played a major role during the time of the creation of the Constitution. For the Constitution to be set and put in effect, 9 out of 13 states had to be ratified for the new government. States have power so they won't be ruled by one single government. The purpose of the Constitution is to have a strong national government but if the government is abusing power, the states have power to control too. Some states opposed the Constitution because it lacked the Bill of Rights, they would only ratify if it had the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. The new revised Constitution included the Bill of Rights and the states agreed to ratify. Another word that is prominent in this wordle would be Representatives. The legislative branch made laws and it was called Congress, which consisted of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Every state had atleast one representative that went to meetings and conventions to represent their state sharing issues and problems they had. The constitution consisted of the Bill of Rights which were basically a list of laws or amendments.

Wordle of the Bill of Rights


In this wordle it shows the prominent words in the Bill of Rights. The main word would be amendment. The first ten amendments are called the "Bill of Rights" and there are a total of 27 amendments. Amendments are used to modify and make better of the Constitution. The Bill of Rights apply to the people. It explains what the rights of each individual is such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and etc. It protected the rights of each individual because the Bill of Rights put a limitation on the power of the federal government. James Madison was the author of the Bill of Rights. The word "people" was prominent through this wordle. The Idea of adding the Bill of Rights to the Constitution was controversial. Alexander Hamilton argued against a Bill of Rights asserting that ratification of the Constitution did not mean the American people were surrendering their rights, and, therefore, that protections were unnecessary. He argued that the constitution was inherently different. People, citizens and individuals played a key role in the Bill of Rights.

The Founding Fathers
The Founding Fathers were the male political leaders who attended the convention in Philadelphia State House from May to September 1787. The demographics of the Founding Fathers consisted of young men, the average age was forty-four and the only delegate that was of an advance age was Benjamin Franklin who was eighty-one. all these men were well educated and most represented a great interest in the country. Most of the men were natives from the thirteen colonies. These men also signed the Declaration of Independence and fought in the Revolutionary War to gain independence from Great Britain. Patrick Henry was the man who was best known for the quote " Give me Liberty or give me death!" speech and he was a leader of the anti-federalists who opposed the replacement of the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution fearing that it endangered the rights of the States, as well as the freedoms of individuals. John Hancock was the president of the Second Continental Congress and a prominent patriot of the American Revolution. Samuel Adams was a leader in the American Revolution that was portrayed as a leader who provoked mob violence. George Washington was the first president of the United States and a great political and military leader in the Continental Army. James Madison who was the "Father of the Constitution" and the fourth president of the United States wrote the Bill of Rights. Benjamin Franklin is famous for his discoveries of electricity and published Almanack. Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and a prominent Founding Father and principal author of the Declaration of Independence that promoted Republicanism.

Systems of "Checks and Balances"


The system of "Checks and Balances" were one of the key principles of the Constitution. There are three branches, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch has their own powers and rules. The Executive branch provides and enforces laws, the Legislative branch makes the laws, and the Judicial branch explains and interprets the laws. In this chart of the system, It shows what kind of people is working in what branch. The Executive would consist of the President, the Legislative would consist of the Congress, and Judicial consists of the Courts. In this diagram of Checks and Balances, the Executive branch can veto bills, call special sessions, propose laws, and reject part of a bill to the Legislative branch. The Executive branch can appoint federal judges, grant pardons to the Judicial branch. Judicial branches declare laws unconstitutional to the Legislative branch. This diagram shows how all three branches connect and balance out the power through President, Congress and Courts.

**Important background Info/context of the creation of the Constitution**
 * Americans gained independence from Britain and Articles of Confederation was created
 * Articles of Confederation believed in decentralized government; states more power
 * In the Articles of Confederation Congress had no power; no separation of power into 3 branches
 * Ratified and became legal on June 21, 1788
 * 3 main principles; Inherent rights, Self government, separation of powers
 * Organized into 3 parts; Preamble, Articles, Amendments
 * Constitutional Convention - meeting for a creation of a new constitution after Articles of Confederation
 * Country was weak and on the verge of economic disaster
 * Central government was unable to provide much assistance to the state, lacking a central army

**Key Principles**
 * **Systems of "Checks and Balances"** - Ties all the 3 branches together. Each branch has its own certain powers. Gives power to each branch so they override and one branch isn't more powerful than the other.
 * 1) **Executive Branch:** Provides leadership and enforces laws
 * 2) **Legislative Branch:** Makes laws for the nation.
 * 3) **Judicial Branch:** Explains and interprets laws.
 * **Popular Sovereignty** - All power lies in the hands of the U.S. National Government gains its power from the people of the U.S and that the people have given their government the power that it has threw the constitution.
 * **Limited Government** - Government must follow all laws and principles. They only can do things with the power they have.
 * **Separations of Power** - Presidential system; 3 powers are separted into independent branches. Distributes national power among Congress, President, and Courts
 * **Judicial Review** -Determines whether or not the law is constitutionally acceptable. It's the power to declare unconstitutional or illegal that violates the Constitution
 * **Federalism** - Base of federal power and distributes power throughout the government and built a stronger more effective national government
 * **Electoral C**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">**ollege** - Used for electing one office, only for President and Vice President. Election Day presidentional election, everybody goes to vote, State by state. popular vote. The candidate with the most electoral votes win.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">**Importance of the Constitution**
Before the Constitution, the government functioned by the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation created a weak national government and had no separation of branches. There was no president for the Executive branch or a federal for the Judicial branch. The only branch of government provided was the Legislature, for Congress. The national and state governments each has specific powers and functions while also sharing some of the same powers. The main importance of the Constitution would be that it was the foundation and framework for the government. It's a written document that lays out the structure and function of the federal government. Changes to the Constitution could be made at anytime unlike the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution establishes government power and indiviual rights hense the Bill of Rights. Each amendment consists of a law that allows people to have their own freedom, pursuit of happiness, speech, and etc. It outlines all of our rights as citizens. It gives a complete list of all the things that we can do, and the rights that we have. The Constitution limits the power of government so that no branches can overpower one another and cause chaos. It clearly defines the duties of each branch, Legislative, Judicial, and Executive and it leads the government into the right direction of functioning and organizing. The primary purpose of the Constitution of the United States of America is to provide a sense of direction to the organization of the three branches of the United States government. It outlines the individual and combined powers of each branch, while reserving the rights of each individual state. The Articles of Confederation created a confederation of independent states and not a nation. The Constitution on the other hand created a balance of power that formed a government known as federalism. Without the creation of the Constitution, we would be functioning based on the Articles of Confederation. If we still functioned off the Articles of Confederation, the whole government would be in a downfall. The power of government would be unbalanced and cause a major crisis in government.

**Applications of the Key Principles**

 * **Louisiana Purchase -** Napoleon decided to accept Livingston's proposal and offer the United States the entire Louisiana Territory. Jefferson instructed Livingston to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans but Livingston proposed that the French sell the United States the vast western part of Louisiana. Livingston and Monroe had to decide whether they should consider to make a treaty for the purchase of the entire Louisiana Territory since they didn't have authority from the government. They feared Napoleon would withdraw from the offer so they decided to proceed without instructions from Jefferson or the government. Both Livingston and Monroe signed the agreement on April 30, 1803. The United States was to pay a total of 80 million francs ($15 million) to the French government. The United States also had to grant commercial privileges to France in the ports of New Orleans and incorporate the residents of Louisiana into the Union. Jefferson was happy that they received the territory but confused whether the United States had authority to accept it. He always insisted that the federal government could rightfully exercise only those powers explicitly assigned to it. The Constitution did not mention the acquisition of new territory. Jefferson's advisors that his treaty-making power under the Constitution would justify the purchase of the Louisiana Purchase. The Republican congress approved the treaty and appropriated money.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Marbury vs. Madison** - In this court case Marbury vs. Madison, Marbury sued Madison because when Adams was president he promised William Marbury to be named justice of the peace in the District of Columbia, but his commissions did not deliever when Adams left presidency. James Madison who was secretary of state, was responsible for transmitting his commissions. Madison refused to hand over the commissions. In the ruling, the court found that Marbury had a right to his commission but that the court had no authority to order Madison to deliver it. The insignificant matter of Marbury's commission was the courts reasoning in the decision. The Judiciary Act gave the court the power to compel executive officials as the delivery of commissions and it was on the basis that Marbury filled in his suit. The court ruled that Congress had exceeded it's authority in creating the statute: that the constitution had established the powers of the judiciary and the legislature had no right to expand them. The power given to congress never occurred. This shows that the Judiciary Act was unconstitutional because the Constitution did not specify issuing writs of mandamus (N<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">ame of one of the prerogative writs in the common law, and is "issued by a superior court to compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly".) as one of the Supreme Court's areas of original jurisdiction and it was the first act of Congress that was invalidated by the Supreme court.
 * **McMulloch vs. Maryland -** John Marshall confirmed the "implied power" of Congress by questioning the constitutionality of the Bank of United States. The bank became unpopular in the South and West that several states tried to drive branches out of business by outright prohibition and seizing taxes. Two questions that were directed to the Supreme court was "Could Congress charter a bank?" and "Could individuals states ban it or tax it?" Daniel Webster was one of the Bank's attorney and argued that establishing an institution came within the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution and that the power to tax involved a "power to destroy". If states could tax the bank, they would tax the bank enough for it to be dead. Marshall's agreed with Webster and the <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">establishment of a national bank was constitutional. John Marshall noted that any law or act that was within the scope of the Constitution, if not prohibited, was constitutional. This case also helped establish the ability of the Supreme Court to strike down a state law or action as unconstitutional.

**Sources:** **<span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; cursor: pointer; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px; padding-right: 10px;">[] ** <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; backgroundclip: initial; backgroundorigin: initial; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; backgroundclip: initial; backgroundorigin: initial; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] [|Brinkley, A. (2007) A Survey American History New York, NY: McGraw Hill Co] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[]