Constitution+Project


 * __Constitution Project__**

**__Importance of the Constitution__** The Constitution is an important document in the United States from which other laws throughout America are based upon. The document gives instructions on how the U.S. government and various state governments should be structured, how they should operate, the rights of the citizens and the whole aim of the U.S. as a nation.

__﻿**Analysis of Wordle**__
This wordle shows how the U.S. constitution stresses the importance of a strong central government. That is why the words //President, Congress// and //Senate// are bigger than the other words on the wordle. Also, the Constitution also emphasizes the power of the people and states through the words //representatives, ratified, may, make, made, citizens, public// and other similar words. Overall, this wordle signifys how the U.S. constitution is a document that attempts to strike a balance between state sovereignty and national sovereignty. It also displays how the constitution is a document used to protect the rights of the people and that it can be changed in order to improve the country.

__**Background Information on the Constitution**__

 * The Constitutional Convention gathered from May to September 1787 in order to revise the Articles of Confederation and the weak central government under the articles.
 * The "Founding Fathers" or the people who had the most impact on the constitution were relatively young, well educated, products of the American Revolution and fearful of concentrated powers.
 * Thomas Jefferson drafted the Constitution.
 * Long debates were held over the Constitution and the Great Compromise of 1787 led to the ratification of the document.
 * The necessary and proper clause is a section of the U.S. Constitution that enabled Congress to make laws that would enable them to better use the already established powers in the Constitution.
 * Many Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution b/c it lacked a bill of rights and part of the compromise was a bill of rights that would protect the rights of citizens.
 * Small States+ Large States fought over representation. The Virginia Plan was a proposal by Edmund Randolf that said states would be represented in two houses in the Legislative Branch based on their population. Virginia was a large state.
 * The New Jersey Plan was a proposal by William Patterson that would divide representation in Congress equally. New Jersey was a small state who wanted the same representation as large states.
 * The Great Compromise created a two house legislature, the lower house(house of representatives) would have representation based on population, while the upper house(Senate) would have equal representation.
 * Instead of revising certain aspects of the weak Articles of Confederation, delegates actually created an entirely new system of government that still lasts today.[[image:http://www.historyteacher.net/AHAP/WebQuests/WQ-ConstitutionalConvention/ConstituitonalConventionPtg.jpg width="480" height="274" caption="Constitutional Convention of 1787"]]

__The U.S. Constitution Throughout American History__ __**Sources**__ [] [] [] [] [] [] [] **﻿ [] ** []
 * __Key Principles of the Constitution__**
 * **Republicanism, or the belief in a government governed and established for the people by the people, but also a government not ruled by a monarchy such as a king or a queen.**
 * **The separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branch through a system of checks and balances. Each branch of government is competing with one another and can "check" the other branches so no branch is able to become too powerful. Example: the president appoints a supreme court justice, while Congress votes whether or not he/she will be appointed to the Supreme Court.**
 * **The Government cannot create a law that is unconstitutional, which is why the Judicial Branch is there in order to review the constitutionality of laws and nullify the law, if necessary.**
 * **Individual Rights. The U.S. government isn't able to make laws that take away from the rights established in the first ten amendments in the constitution known as the Bill of Rights.**
 * **A strong national government and strong state governments.**
 * **__The electoral college__- a system where each state has a certain amount of electoral votes and presidential candidates who win the popular vote in a state get the amount of electoral votes in that state and the candidate with the most electoral votes win.**
 * __Exclusive Powers of the National Government__**
 * Print money
 * Declare war
 * Establish an army and navy
 * Make treaties with foreign governments
 * Regulate commerce between states and internationally
 * Establish post offices and issue postage
 * Make laws necessary to enforce the Constitution
 * __Exclusive Powers of the State Government__**
 * Establish local governments
 * Issue licenses (drivers, hunting, marriage, etc...)
 * Regulate interstate (within the state) commerce
 * Conduct elections
 * Ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution
 * Provide for public health and safety
 * Exercise powers neither delegated to the national government or restricted from the states by the U.S. Constitution
 * //Dred Scott v. Sanford// (1857). A case in which a former slave had moved into a state where slavery was illegal and sued claiming that he was free. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sanford declaring that the African Americans were not considered citizens under the Constitution.
 * //Marbury v. Madison (1803)// The Secretary of state for John Adams had forgotten to give the commission to William Marbury naming him the new Justice of the Peace for the District of Colombia. James Madison, the new Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson refused to give Marbury his commission. Marbury wanted a writ from the supreme court that would force Madison to give him that commission. The supreme court denied Marbury's petititon stating that the Judiciary Act of 1789, was unconstitutional. This case resulted in the establishment of judicial review in the supreme court and expanded the powers of the supreme court.
 * //Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)// Homer Plessy went to the Supreme Court petitioning the Separate Car Act of 1890 stating that it violated the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution. The act required segregated rail cars for passengers. The court concluded that because the cars provided separate yet equal accommodations, the Separate Car Act was constitutional under the separate but equal doctrine, which was used to justify segregation.