American History - Grisanzio Constitution Unit
1. Declaration of Independence - announced and justified separation from England.
a. Significant quotes
"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal"
"Governments derive just powers from the consent of the governed."
"Whenever government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people
to alter or to abolish it."
b. 3 main parts of Declaration
1. Opening that discusses unalienable rights of the individual
(Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness)
2. List of 27 grievances against King George
3. Formal declaration of independence, assertion of their right to be free.
2. Articles of Confederation - 1st Constitution
a. provided for too weak of a central government
b. Constitutional Convention called in 1787 to revise Articles
-beginning blueprint was Virginia Plan, ideas of James Madison
3. Basic Structure of Constitution
a. Preamble - introduction and statement of goals
b. Articles - provides for structure of U.S. government
c. Amendments - additions to Constitution
4. Major Principles of Constitution/Government
a. Separation of Powers - powers divided amongst legislative, judicial and executive branches
b. Federal System - powers also divided between central government and state governments.
c. Republic - representative democracy, where people elect representatives who make the laws.
d. Checks and Balances - each branch has institutional powers to limit the power of the others
e. Suffrage - the right to vote
f. Judicial Review - Judicial ability to interpret Constitution
g. Impeachment - ability for the Congress to remove the President
1. House of Representatives impeaches (indicts) President.
2. Senate tries the case and removes the President.
h. Elastic clause - power to pass laws necessary and proper to fulfill constitutional
responsibilities.
5. Powers Within the Federal system
a. Delegated Powers - those which are specifically given to the federal government
1. coin money
2. regulate interstate commerce
3. conduct foreign relations
4. declare war
b. Reserved Powers - those which are reserved for the states
1. provide for schools
2. make laws concerning marriage and divorce
3. provide for local governments
4. ratify constitutional amendments
5. regulate intrastate commerce, including incorporation of businesses
c. Concurrent (shared) Powers - shared by both the federal government and states
1. tax and borrow money
2. establish courts
6. Article 1 - Legislative Branch - Bicameral (2 houses; makes the laws)
a. House of Representatives (based on population) - 435 total
1. 2 year term, 25 yrs old to run
2. Speaker of the House (leader of majority party) runs the House
3. Responsible for impeaching the President (majority vote)
4. All tax/revenue bills must start in the House
5. elects the President if the Electoral College can't
b. Senate (2 per state - 100 total)
1. 6 year term (staggered elections, 1/3 every 2 years), 30 yrs. old to run
2. Vice-president is the president of the Senate; only votes to break a tie
3. Responsible for trying the President (2/3 vote)after the House impeaches him
4. Approves all Presidential appointments (cabinet and courts- simple majority) and
treaties (2/3 vote)
5. Originally elected by the state legislatures, 17th amendment allowed direct election
by the people.
c. Congress (both houses)
1. Responsible for passing laws and taxes
2. Declares war (the President requests, but only Congress can do it!)
3. Raise military, regulate trade
4. Elastic clause - can pass all laws necessary and proper to fulfill responsibility under
the Constitution.
7. How a Bill
(proposed law) becomes a Law
a. A bill is introduced into either the House of Representative or the Senate by a member
of that body.
1. Revenue (tax) bills must begin in the House of Reps
2. The President can suggest new laws, but cannot legally introduce them.
b. The bill is assigned to an appropriate committee.
1. Most bills will die in committee.
2. The committee will hold hearings and make changes to the bill (mark-up)
c. If the bill is reported out of committee, it is debated and voted on by the whole body.
d. If it passes by a simple majority, it is sent to the other house (House of Reps or Senate)
where the process is repeated.
e. If the two houses pass different bills, a conference committee is formed to come up with a
common bill that will pass both the House of Reps and the Senate.
f. The bill is than passed on to the President to be signed or vetoed. The president has 10
working days to act on the bill. If the 10 days expire and Congress is
still in session, the bill becomes a law without his signature. If the congressional
session ends before the 10 days, the bill is automatically vetoed (pocket veto)
g. Congress can override a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses.
8. Article 2 - Executive Branch (President, Vice President and Cabinet/Bureaucracy - enforces laws)
a. 4 year term, two-term limit (22nd Amendment; 6-10 years), 35 yrs. old, natural born citizen
b. Commander in Chief of Armed Forces; can temporarily send troops, but cannot declare war
c. Makes all treaties with foreign countries (must be ratified by Senate)
d. Makes appointments to courts and cabinet/bureaucracy (must be ratified by Senate)
e. Responsible to report to Congress each year (State of the Union)
f. Can veto bills passed by Congress
g. Elected by the Electoral College
h. Creates and recommends budget to Congress each year.
i. Cabinet
1. Selected to help President and VP run the country/enforce laws.
2. Begun by Washington and continued as past practice
3. Appointments confirmed by the Senate
4. Includes Secretaries of State, Defense, Treasury, Attorney General and many more
5. Increase of both the number of departments and size of each due to complexity of
running the country accounts for the enormous size of the bureaucracy.
9. Electoral College - used to protect the government from ill-advised choices by the people.
People elect electors at state level, who then elect the President.
a. Each state is assigned a number of electoral
votes equal to the number of representatives in
the House of Representatives and the Senate.
b. The District of Columbia is given 3 electoral votes, therefore the total number of votes in the
Electoral College is 538 ( 435 in House, 100 in Senate, 3 for D.C.)
c. Each state will have a popular vote, with the winner getting all of the electoral votes from
that state. Their party will send their electors to vote for President.)
d. It is possible to win popular vote for the entire country, but lose the Electoral College.
e. It is also possible to win more states, but still lose the electoral vote.
f. The winner must get a simple majority of votes in the Electoral College (270 votes)
g. If no candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College, the election goes into the House
of Representatives.
10. Article 3 - Judiciary - interprets the Constitution and laws
1. 3 levels - District (trial level), Appellate (appeals) and Supreme Court.
2. Supreme Court hears only cases that involve constitutional questions, are between states or
involve foreign countries.
3. 9 members, life terms (can be impeached and tried)
4. Constitution gave Congress right to set up courts; Judiciary Act of 1789 did so.
5. Judicial Review - right of Supreme Court to determine constitutionality of laws or executive
acts.
11. Checks and
Balances
a. The President can check the Congress by:
1. The veto of bills
2. Calling special sessions of Congress
3. Recommending bills.
b. The President can check the Supreme Court by:
1. Appointing judges and granting pardons.
c. The Congress can check the President by
1. Overriding a veto
2. Impeaching (House) and removing (Senate) the President
3. Refusing to confirm a presidential appointment or treaty (Senate).
d. The Congress can check the Supreme Court by:
1. The same impeachment process as the President
2. Refusing to confirm judicial appointments
3. Proposing constitutional amendments and by
creating lower courts.
e.. The Supreme Court can check:
1. The President by declaring executive acts/actions unconstitutional.
2. The Congress by declaring laws unconstitutional.
12. Voting and
Elections
a. 1st Tuesday in November, even numbered years (cannot be Nov. 1st)
b. 18 years old and registered to vote (voting every year will exempt you from re-registration)
c. Australian (secret) ballot
d. Must vote where registered (residency), unless by absentee ballot (college, etc.)
e. States can set legal requirements, as long as consistent with Constitution
13. Required
votes
a. Simple Majority
1. pass bill in either house of Congress
2. elect President in Electoral College
3. reach a Supreme Court Decision
4. approve a Presidential appointment in the Senate
5. impeach a President or judge in the House of Reps
b. 2/3 majority
1. Override a presidential veto
2. States or Congress to propose a constitutional amendment
3. Approve a treaty in the Senate
4. Convict a President or judge in the Senate
c. ¾ majority
1. States to ratify an amendment
14. American Flag
a. Symbol of our nation
b. 13 stripes (original colonies), 50 stars (states in Union)
c. May be flown 24 hours a day, in all weather. (usually flown during day)
d. Never is flown below another flag
e. Burning the flag is still protected by freedom of speech.
f. Flown half mast for mourning, upside down for distress.
15. Amendments - Constitution may be amended by:
a. Proposing an amendment with a 2/3 vote in both the House and the Senate
or 2/3 of the state legislatures
b. Ratifying with ¾ vote of state legislatures/conventions (38)
16. 27 Amendments (1st 10 - Bill of Rights to protect the individuals rights)
1st - Freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition and press
2nd - Right to bear arms
4th - Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures (warrants with probable cause)
5th - Rights of those charged with crimes - grand jury in capital crimes
- double jeopardy
- self incrimination
- due process of law
- eminant domain
6th - Right to a trial by jury, witnesses, an attorney, face accuser
8th - Cruel and unusual punishments
16th - Income Tax
22nd - Presidential succession
23rd - Washington D.C. vote
26th - 18 year old vote
17. Illinois Constitution - 4th constitution, last in 1970
a. Executive branch is Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State,
Comptroller and Treasurer
b. All executive offices are elected (different from the President's cabinet) - 4 year tern, non-
presidential even year elections
c. Governor has a line-item veto (the discretion to veto part of a bill)
d. Bicameral legislature - General Assembly
1. Senate - 59 members (1 per district)
2. House of Representative - 118 members (1 per district)
e. Can override a veto by the governor with a 2/3 vote in each house
f. Judicial branch has 3 levels - Circuit
courts (trial level), Appellate (appeals) and Supreme
Court (state judicial review)
g. Judges are elected (Circuit - 6 year term, Appellate and Supreme - 10 years). Judges are
then "retained" without opposition with a simple majority vote.
h. Amendments are proposed by a 3/5 vote in each house of the General Assembly for either a
vote in the next general election or a constitutional convention.
i. Either way, the voters must approve the amendment (majority in a general election or 3/5 on
a specific issue)
18. Ex post facto - you cannot be tried for a crime that was not illegal at the time of commission.