Madeline Crisler Megan Murphree Hayes Price 1 Explain the theoretical and historical factors that influenced the writers of the U S Constitution Between the time America was first settled and the time of the Constitutional Convention Americans developed a distinctive political philosophy about how people should be governed and tried out different forms of government based on their philosophy Many of the writers of the constitution were influenced by their previous experiences with government especially Great Britain and by the political philosophy of the time it was written A couple examples of political philosophers that influenced the writers of the Constitution include Thomas Hobbes and John Locke The delegates of the Constitutional Convention brought two sets of influences that were important in creating the Constitution Their political culture Their political experience Most of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were members of the upper class A majority of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention were strong nationalists they wanted a central government with real power unlike the central government under the Articles of Confederation George Washington and Benjamin Franklin A few Alexander Hamilton went so far as to support monarchy Another group was republican nationalists who wanted a central government founded on popular support Delegates concerned about claims to Western land were willing to support a central government There was also a group totally against a national government 2 Why was the concept of natural rights revolutionary King George III had done a lot to deprive the colonists of their rights The claim that all people possess certain natural rights including the rights to life liberty and property was consistent with English legal traditions but had been lost along the way for the colonists The concept of natural rights was revolutionary at the time because they were guaranteed from birth Natural rights also protect people from government abuse which was very common at that time 3 Describe the structure of the Articles of Confederation and explain why the Confederation failed The Articles did not create a national system of courts It also simply established a league of friendship among the states no national government was intended Created because of a fear of a strong centralized government Confederation voluntary association of independent states Congress of Confederation each state had one ambassador each ambassador had one vote Each year Congress would elect a president of Congress but not of the US The AOC gave a lot of power to the states People at this time did not identify with their country but rather their state The Article gave very little power to the federal government it had no right to collect taxes raise an army elect a president establish courts Shay s Rebellion farmers were protesting the court banks for throwing debtors into prison The rebellion proved to the US that government could not protect citizens from warfare or provide adequately to the public welfare 4 Identify and explain the compromises made by the delegates to come to agreement on the US Constitution The Great Compromise Connecticut Compromise Solution to large state vs small state representation Large states like Virginia wanted representation based on population only Small states like New Jersey wanted equal representation for all states Stated a Bicameral legislature in which the lower chamber House of Representatives would be appointed according to the number of free inhabitants in each state and three fifths of each slave b An upper chamber Senate which would have two members from each state elected by state legislatures The Three Fifths Compromise Solution to how slaves would be counted for representation When counting for representation southerners wanted slaves to be counted but when counting population for taxes southerners did not want slaves to be accounted for Stated a Slaves would count as 3 5 of a person b Slave trade to end in 1808 and guarantee the return of runaway slaves Other compromises No taxation on exports South was afraid an export tax would hurt their agriculture based economy Certain important states refused to ratify the Constitution because it did not include a list of individual rights So they added the Bill of Rights to the constitution to protect their liberties Madisonian Model Solution to separation of powers issue Stated Executive Legislative and Judicial powers of government were to be separated so no one branch had enough power to dominate the others nor could any one person hold office in two different branches of government at one time Set up a system of checks and balances 5 Explain the rationale for and give examples of the separation of powers and the checks and balances in the U S Constitution The delegates at the Constitutional convention were concerned with constructing the government to prevent the imposition of tyranny either through majority or minority They did not want to repeat the experiences they had with Great Britain Separation of Powers Congress passes laws President enforces and administers the laws and the courts interpret the laws Checks and Balances Congress can enact laws but President has veto power over Congressional acts Congress can then veto the President s veto if necessary Supreme Court has power to declare acts of Congress and of the Executive unconstitutional but the President appoints the justices of the Supreme Court with advice and consent of the Senate Congress can rewrite legislation to circumvent the Court s decisions the Senate confirms federal judges Congress determines the number of judges The president nominates federal judges the president can refuse to enforce the Court s decisions the president grants pardons 6 Judicial review refers to the power of the U S Courts to examine constitutionality of actions undertaken by the legislative and executive branches of government It gives the Judicial Branch a check on the two other branches The Constitution does not specifically mention the power of judicial review implied power Those in attendance at the Constitutional Convention however probably expected that the courts would have some authority to review the legislative acts by the executive and legislative branches because under the common law tradition inherited from England courts exercised this authority Indeed Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Paper No 78 explicitly outlined the