Group 7 1 Provide a detailed explanation of Federalist 51 Highlight what Madison argues about the nature of government and what he proposes to control this nature The Federalist papers were a group of 85 essays wrote in defense of the Constitution They were written by the Federalist Party who supported a strong central government and specifically by James Madison who wrote Federalist 51 Alexander Hamilton and John Jay The primary theme of the essay was to explain the separation of powers that we now refer to as the Executive Legislative and Judicial branches of government Madison argues in regards to the nature of government Ambition must be made to counteract ambition meaning that without a system of checks and balances through the different branches of government men will essentially corrupt themselves with power He states When framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficulty lies in this you must first enable the government to control the governed and in the next place oblige it to control itself He uses this quote to state that competing personal interests will keep the system in check because if one branch gets too powerful the others will use their own powers to coerce them back into line The public s interests in this scenario are in good favor because of the fact that people in power want to keep their jobs and they won t be able to without re election The specifics of the checks and balances that James Madison helped to outline are in Figure2 2 Pg 46 of the textbook 2 Outline the contents of Articles I of the U S Constitution Detail the construction of the branches of government and indicate how members are elected Article 1 The legislative branch Section 1 Legislative Powers Congress will be split up in two houses bicameral House of Representatives and Senate Legislative branch is granted certain powers Congress is made up of two houses House of Representatives and senate At first there were two houses because representation was not being able to be agreed on The Great compromise House of Representatives would be based on the representative population power of the state and the Senate would just have two members from each state making it equal Section 2 House of Representatives The House of Representatives will be based on the population of that state Representatives would be elected through regular elections this allows for the government to be changed Representation of slaves became a problem the south wanted to count them for population size and the north wanted to count them for taxes They were able to come to the 3 5th compromise slaves would count for 3 5th for the representation and taxes This was changed later by the 14th amendment Requirements for being elected to the house 25 years of age 7 years of citizenship and a resident of that state Whichever party whether it be the republican or the democratic has the majority will be the speaker of the house The house has the sole power for impeachment Section 3 Senate Senate is elected by the state government the 17th amendment changes this now people elect the senate and this is a step towards greater democracy Senate elections are opened every two years Qualifications for being in the senate are 30 years of age 9 years of citizenship and resident of the state The Vice President serves as the president of the Senate he votes if there s a tie If the vice president is absent the senate votes for one of its members to preside The senate holds the power to hold the trials of impeachment Once convicted the senate has the power to hold the individual from holding a position in federal government Section 4 Congressional Elections Times Manner and Places Congressional elections happen the Tuesday after the first Monday in November Congress will meet every year at least once session begins on noon January 3rd until members vote to adjourn Section 5 Powers and Duties of the Houses Each house can refuse to seat a member The Quorom rule states that there has to be 218 members of the House of Representatives and 51 members of the Senate to conduct business this isn t required with routine matters Each house is required to keep a journal of the business and it is published at the end of each session Congress had the power to determine when and where to meet A house can t adjourn for more than 3 days without the consent of the other house Section 6 Rights of the members Salaries will be paid by the U S Treasury Members can t be arrested for the things they say during speeches and debates Congress members can t accept another federal position during their term Section 7 Legislative Powers Bills and Resolutions How a bill becomes a law A bill becomes law by first passing through the House of Representatives and then the Senate Once it is sent to the president the president has the power to veto the bill if it isn t vetoed within 10 days the bill becomes law if it is vetoed then the bill returns to congress 2 3 majority of each house must pass the bill in order for it to become a law Section 8 The Powers of Congress Congress has the power to impose taxes on imports and exports Congress has the power to borrow money Congress has the power to regulate interstate and foreign trade commerce clause Only congress can determine how aliens can become citizens Congress may also make laws with respect to bankruptcy Congress has the power to circulate money and coins It has the power to punish those people that make fake money The power to establish highways and roads The power to enforce copyright laws Congress has the power to set up all federals courts except the Supreme Court Congress has the power to establish international law Congress has the power to declare war and maintain an army navy and to use the National Guard The necessary and proper clause allows for congress to establish any laws that allow them to carry out all of the expressed powers written Expressed powers for Congress are written in the constitution Make laws necessary and proper These are implied powers given to congress they can make laws in order to enforce expressed powers i e make banks make Americans serve in the army etc Section 9 The Powers Denied to Congress Congress can t conduct slave trades ex post facto congress can t make something illegal in the past can t do a capitation tax on a person slaves can t tax goods sold from state to state or from state to a foreign country can t treat ports differently federal funds can