This document discusses the history and development of the US Constitution from the colonial period through the ratification debates. It describes colonial experiences with self-government, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and calls for a stronger national government. The document then outlines the key compromises reached during the Constitutional Convention, including the bicameral legislature, three-fifths compromise on slavery, and the Federalist strategy for ratification. It concludes by examining how the Constitution established a system of limited and separated powers to protect liberty within a representative republic.

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Chapter 2

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Before the Constitution:
Colonial and Revolutionary Experiences
Before the Constitution
Colonial experiences with democratic institutions; English
Parliament and colonial charters
The “rights of Englishmen”—including trial by jury
Repeal of the Stamp Act: a tax on colonial newspapers and
document
Enactment of the Townsend Act: tax on tea
First Continental Congress

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Before the Constitution:
Colonial and Revolutionary Experiences
Declaration of Independence
A call to revolution—liberty, equality, individual rights,
self-government, lawful powers
Philosophy of John Locke
 Inalienable (natural) rights: life, liberty, and property
 Social contract: government has responsibility to preserve rights
Thomas Jefferson
 “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
 “All men are created equal”
 Just powers derive from the consent of the governed

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Before the Constitution:
Colonial and Revolutionary Experiences
Articles of Confederation
Adopted during the Revolutionary War
Created weak national government
States retained “sovereignty, freedom and independence”
Prohibited Congress from interfering in states’ commerce
policies
Prohibited Congress from taxation
Needed unanimous consent of states to approve
amendments

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Before the Constitution:
Colonial and Revolutionary Experiences
A nation dissolving
Raised fears about the weakness of the national government
Weakened Congress—nation dissolving
Farmers, led by Daniel Shays, fomented armed rebellion to
prevent foreclosures on their land
Congress unable to raise army to quell rebellion
Motivated Congress to authorize a convention in
Philadelphia to revise Articles of Confederation

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Negotiating toward a
Constitution
The Great Compromise: a two-chamber Congress
Virginia (large-state) Plan
 Representation based on population number
 Greater power to larger states
New Jersey (small-state) Plan
 Each state would have one vote
 Equal power to large and small states
Great Compromise: two-chamber Congress
 House of Representatives: proportional representation
 Senate: equal representation

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Negotiating toward a
Constitution
The Three-Fifths Compromise: issues of slavery and trade
Congress agreed not to tax exports, only imports
Congress agreed not to outlaw slavery
Three-Fifths Compromise: three-fifths of enslaved
population counted for apportionment of taxes and political
representation

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African Americans as a Percentage
of State Population, 1790

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Negotiating toward a
Constitution
A strategy for ratification
Constitution submitted directly to the states
Need the approval of at least nine states
Federalists: proponents of the Constitution
Anti-Federalists: against a strong national government

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Negotiating toward a
Constitution
The ratification debate
Anti-Federalists raised arguments that still echo in
American politics
 The national government would be too powerful
 State self-government and personal liberty at risk
The Federalist Papers: Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison, John Jay

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Negotiating toward a
Constitution
The framers’ goals
Government strong enough to meet the country’s needs
Government not threatening existence of the separate states
Government not threatening liberty
Government based on popular consent

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Protecting Liberty:
Limited Government
Grants and denials of power
Grants:
 Limit government by stating specific powers in the Constitution
 Total of seventeen powers
Denials:
 Limit government by stating specific prohibitions in the
Constitution
 Constitution difficult to amend

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Protecting Liberty:
Limited Government
Using power to offset power
Montesquieu’s concept of separation of powers
Madison’s Federalist No. 10 and the problem of
overbearing majorities
The framers’ special contribution: separate but overlapping
powers

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Protecting Liberty:
Limited Government
Separated institutions sharing power: checks and balances
Separation of powers: divide powers of government
Shared institutions—checks and balances
 Shared legislative powers: Congress checked by the president,
Supreme Court
 Shared executive powers: president checked by
Congress, Supreme Court
 Shared judicial powers: courts checked by the president, Congress

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Protecting Liberty:
Limited Government
Bill of Rights
First ten amendments to Constitution
Protects rights of citizens, such as:
 Freedom of speech
 Freedom of assembly
 Trial by jury of peers, and legal counsel
 Freedom of religion
Limits power of government

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Protecting Liberty:
Limited Government
Judicial review
Courts determine if governmental institution is acting
within its constitutional powers
Established by Chief Justice John Marshall in Marbury v.
Madison (1803)

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Providing for
Representative Government
Democracy versus republic
Framers feared the overbearing power of the majority in a
democracy
Framers preferred the concept of a republic, where people
rule through elected representatives
Majority rule in a republic is limited to protect minority
rights

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Providing for
Representative Government
Limited popular rule
People participate indirectly in the process of government
through election of officials
Indirect election of president through Electoral College
Indirect (initially) election of senators
Federal judiciary appointed, not elected

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Providing for
Representative Government
Altering the Constitution: more power to the people
Jeffersonian democracy
 Government belonged to all, not just the elite
Jacksonian democracy
 States give electoral votes to winner of the popular vote
The Progressives
 Direct election of senators; referendums and initiatives
 Elected officials as delegates carry out wishes of the voters

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Constitutional Democracy Today
Constitutional: power gained through elections to be
exercised in accordance with law and with due respect for
individual rights
Democratic: provides for majority influence via elections
Republic: mix of deliberative institutions, each of which
moderates the power of the others