The Bill of Rights

 

The first Ten Amendments of the Constitution are known as The Bill of Rights.  Click here to learn more.

Federalism: National vs. State Government

The U.S. Constitution establishes a government based on "federalism," or the sharing of power between the national, and state (and local) governments. Our power-sharing form of government is the opposite of "centralized" governments, such as those in England and France, under which national government maintains total power.

While each of the 50 states has its own constitution, all provisions of state constitutions must comply with the U.S. Constitution. For example, a state constitution cannot deny accused criminals the right to a trial by jury, as assured by the U.S. Constitution's 6th Amendment.

Under the U.S. Constitution, both the national and state governments are granted certain exclusive powers and share other powers.

"A Living Document" (The Amendment Process)

How could a 208 year-old document, written for a small agricultural nation of thirteen states endure through the tests of time to apply to today's immense, modern highly industrialized society? This is because of the flexibility with which the Constitution was imbued. The framers knew that they could not possibly plan for every circumstance or situation. As such, they provided various methods by which the Constitution and its laws could be modified as society grew and changed. That is why the United States Constitution is known as a "living constitution," one which can adapt and be flexible as necessary. There are three ways in which the Constitution is a "living" document: the formal amendment process; the informal amendment process; and custom, usage, and tradition. The formal amendment process is how amendments are added to the Constitution. Article V details the two methods to propose an amendment and the two methods to ratify an amendment. This part of the living constitution has been a useful tool by which Congress may enact an amendment. It keeps them honest in that the states must approve of any amendments by a three-fourths vote.

ChecPrevent Tyranny with a System of Checks & Balances!!!ks and Balances

System of Checks & Balances

The national government is divided up into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. These three branches are not independent of one another because the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances to help ensure that no one branch became too powerful. Each branch has powers that it can use to check and balance the operations and power of the other two branches.

The Judicial Branch

The Supreme Court

The Roberts Court, 2010
Back row (left to right): Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A. Alito, and Elena Kagan. Front row (left to right): Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Federal Court Structure

Federal Court System Diagram

Who Advises the President

President Obama's Cabinet

The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency itself. Established in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, the Cabinet's role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member's respective office.

The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.

For more information click here

The Executive Branch

The White House

President Barack Obama & Vice President Joe Bidden

The President's Cabinet

The Legislative Branch

The Capitol Building

The 3 Branches of Government

The Liberty Kids: The U.S. Constitution

The Preamble of the Constitution

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

The Preamble to the United States Constitution is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. It states in general terms, and courts have referred to it as reliable evidence of, the Founding Fathers' intentions regarding the Constitution's meaning and what they hoped the Constitution would achieve.


The Preamble to the Constitution states the 6 goals of government...

1. form a more perfect union... make the best country possible

2. establish justice... create a fair system for our people
3. insure domestic tranquility... guarantee peace on our home land

4. provide for the common defense... provide protection for our citizens
5. promote the general welfare...  work together for the common good
6. secure the blessing of liberty... protect our citizens rights & freedoms

The Preamble to the Constitution

The Preamble to the Constitution in Licenses Plates 

The Social Contract

SOME EXTRAS FOR THE OVERACHIEVERS…

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
John Locke, a 17th century English Philosopher, insisted that men “have a mind to unite for the mutual Preservation of their Lives, Liberties and Estates, which I call by the general Name, ‘Property.’”

Adam Smith, an 18th century Scottish philosopher and economist whom some have called the father of free trade with his treatise The Wealth of Nations, penned the phrase “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Property.”

Jefferson, according to historians, was a great follower of Adam Smith, and since he was well educated it’s very likely his inspiration for the phrase “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” was derived from Locke and Smith.

The Leviathan

A “leviathan” is literally a sea monster mentioned in the Bible.  It is also the title of a well known philosophy book written by Thomas Hobbs in 1651.  The focus of the book is the structure of society and legitimate government.  In the book, Hobbes argues for a "Social Contract," whereby by the people give up some of their absolute freedoms in exchange for governmental protection of human rights.  Hobbs felt that “The State of Nature,” which is total chaos pitting man against man, could only be averted by strong central government.

Of The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right, is a philosophy book written in 1762 by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  In this book, Rousseau theorized about the best way in which to set up a political community in the face of the problems of commercial society which he had already identified in his “Discourse of Inequality.”

The Electoral College

The 3/5's Compromise

The Three-Fifths Compromise is found in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution:

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to the Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

Wikipedia explains:

The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise between Southern and Northern States reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which three-fifths of the population of slaves would be counted for enumeration purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the appointment of the members of the United States House of Representatives ... Delegates opposed to slavery generally wished to count only the free inhabitants of each state. Delegates supportive of slavery, on the other hand, generally wanted to count slaves in their actual numbers. Since slaves could not vote, slaveholders would thus have the benefit of increased representation in the House and the Electoral College; taxation was only a secondary issue. The final compromise of counting "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual numbers reduced the power of the slave states relative to the original southern proposals, but increased it over the northern position.

The Great Compromise

The Great Compromise...
James Madison and William Paterson discuss how to fix the United States Government.  Each have an idea but one favors small states and the other large states.  Roger Sherman then rescued the two by coming up with the Great Compromise.


The Constitutional Convention in 15 Minutes...
Mr. Hughes explains the compromises which were brokered at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Topics for discussion include the Connecticut Compromise (Great), the 3/5th's Compromise and the Anti-Feds demands for a Bill of Rights.  Thank you Mr. Hughes!

Totally Off Topic...
The following video features a song written by John Prine entitled, The Great Compromise.  Written in 1972, this protest song is a metaphor for Prine's disillusionment of his country during the Vietnam War.  In this instance the songwriter is using the word "compromise" to mean a dishonorable or shameful concession.  

Shay's Rebellion

Enjoy two short excerpts from a documentary on Shays' Rebellion. It has SUPERB animation! You can find the entire documentary on YouTube under the title, Shay's Rebellion 1787. It is posted in five pieces

The North Western Ordinance

The Northwest Ordinance was a law passed by Congress in 1787 to provide government for the Northwest Territory, located north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River. Soon after its passage, settlers flocked westward and created new towns and farms throughout the territory.

This law divided the Northwest Territory into smaller territories, each governed by a territorial governor.  As soon as a territory had 5,000 free adult males, it could elect its own legislature, or lawmaking body.  When the population reached 60,000, a territory could apply to Congress to become a state.

The Articles of Confederation

Scholarly Paragraph

What is the political philosophy behind the American Revolution?

1.   A sentence describing how the British government tried to control the colonies.

2.   Three specific examples of British control… “For example, ______, ________, and _______....

3.   Restate your first sentence using different words

4.   Thesis: Something about the colonies or the American Revolution and “self-government”

5.   Three individual sentences, each containing a specific event or way in which the colonies fought for or practiced self-government.  Within the sentence, provide the example and an explanation of that example.

Example: “Individual colonies set up assemblies to write laws for their colonies.”

6.   Restate your thesis using different words

Study Guide Questions

Chapter 7

The American Revolution

1. List the strengths and weaknesses of the Continental Army. (pg. 88)

2. List the strengths and weaknesses of the British Army. (pg. 89)

3.  Did African Americans participate in the Revolutionary War and if so what was there motivation. (pg.90)

4. What where the outcomes of the battles of Trenton and Princeton and what did theses outcomes mean for America? (pg. 92)

5. How did Washington revise his strategy after 1776 and how was this strategy influenced by Native Americans? (pg. 93)

6. How did guerilla troops help the American cause in the South? (pg. 96)

7. What territory did the Americans gain with the Treaty of Paris? (pg.100)

8. Study the map on page 99 and answer the following questions.

·      This map shows the Battle of …

·      In which colony did this battle take place?

·      Which 3 countries were involved in these battles?

·      What was the outcome of this battle?

9. Study the excerpt of Thomas Paine’s The Crisis on page 92.  What is the message he is trying to convey? 

The Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783.

• It formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule. 
• It acknowledged the Thirteen Colonies as free, sovereign and independent States. 
• It granted the Thirteen Colonies all the territory east of the Mississippi River

Watching the Election Results?

This video may help you understand the Electoral College as you watch the results from the election come in.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Guy Fawkes Day is a British holiday annually held on November 5.  It is sometimes known as Bonfire Night and marks the anniversary of the discovery of the plot organized by Catholic conspirators to blow up the English House of Parliament in London in 1605.  It is celebrated with bonfires, fireworks, and effigies of the conspirators are burned.  Initially it was held as a celebration that the conspiracy was foiled and Parliament was saved, however, in recent years the holiday has come to celebrate the conspirators and the spirit of rebellion.  

In recent years, the Fawkes' legacy has expanded.  He provided the inspiration for aleen Moore's classic graphic novel, V for Vendetta, in which a crusader wearing a Guy Fawkes' mask embarks on a terrorist campaign against a totalitarian British dystopia.  The novel has also been adapted in a major motion picture staring Nataile Portman.  And today, the Occupy Wall Street protestors are recognizing the English holiday by wearing Guy Fawkes' masks at the various protests all across the country. 

The Crisis

These are the times that try men's souls.

The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from 

the service of their country;

but he that stands it NOW,

deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered;

yet we have this consolation with us,

that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:

it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods:

and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. 

Victory at Trenton

Late on December 25, 1776, Washington's army crossed the ice-choked Delaware River in small boats.  On the New Jersey shore, Washington gave his men the password for the long night march ahead: "Victory or Death."

The Hessians, sleeping heavily after their holiday feasting, were quite unaware of the approaching army. About sunrise they were surprised and most of them easily captured after a brief struggle.

A BIG Thank-You To My Room 5 Family

I just wanted to take a minute to thank all my students and their families.  

The Dia De Los Muertos alter was especially beautiful this year.   

Thank you so much for participating and getting so excited.

It really is a beautiful holiday and I enjoyed celebrating it with you all more than I can say.

Haylei Torres

Feliz Dia De Los Muertos

Click here to learn how to draw a Dia de Los Muertos skull!

Travel segment

En Espanol

MUSIC!
An educational film made by a college student.