Background

• Anti-Federalists protested the convention and opposed it
  • They feared a strong central government
  • Compromised - ratification was contingent on the addition of the Bill of Rights
• Bill of Rights
  • Passed during the first Congress
  • First Ten Amendments
  • Only applied to the Federal government until after the Civil War
• Amending the Constitution
  • Over 11,000 amendments considered
  • Only 27 have ever been ratified
  • Voting method:
    • ⅔ vote in Congress, then ¾ vote by legislatures
• Informal Methods of Constitutional Change
  • Legislation
    • Congress can pass laws that spell out some of the Constitution’s provisions
    • Defining what was written in the Constitution
  • Judicial Review
    • SCOTUS can strike down acts of other branches if deemed unconstitutional
    • Established by Marbury v. Madison
    • Established precedent that is usually maintained
      • Exceptions include Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education

Types of Powers

• Enumerated Powers
  • Also called expressed powers
  • 18 powers granted to federal government under Article 1, Section 8
    • General Welfare
      • Taxing and spending
    • Borrowing
      • “To borrow money on the credit of the United States
    • Regulation of Commerce
      • “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states…”
    • Uniform Laws
      • Naturalization
      • Denaturalization
      • Expatriation
      • Bankruptcy
    • Standards
      • Coining money
    • Counterfeiters
      • Punishment for counterfeiting
    • Post offices
    • Intellectual property
      • Secure patents and copyrights
    • Courts
      • Inferior Federal Courts (below the Supreme Court)
    • Maritime crimes
      • Punish piracies and felonies on the high seas
    • Declaring war
    • Army
      • Raise and support Armies
    • Navy
      • Provide and maintain a Navy
    • Land and Naval Forces rules
      • Care of the Armed Forces
      • Trial and Punishment
    • Calling militias
    • Organizing militias
    • Enclave clause
      • Governing the Capitol
  • Implied powers
    • Powers necessary to enact enumerated powers
    • Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic clause)
      • Congress has power to pass all laws as are necessary to protect the US
  • Inherent powers
    • Independent of an authorizing power, but is inherent to the government in its role
    • Not specifically stated
    • Control borders
    • Make treaties
    • Acquire territory
      • Exploration
      • Occupancy
  • Prohibited powers
    • Denied either to the national government, state governments, or both
    • Considered forbidden
    • Migration or Importation
      • Restriction on the Slave Trade
    • Habeas Corpus
      • Cannot be unlawfully imprisoned for an indefinite amount of time
    • Nullification
      • No Bill of Attainder
        • Declared guilty of a crime and punishment dealt without judicial review
      • No Ex Post Facto Laws
  • Reserved powers
  • Concurrent powers

Values of the Constitution

• Popular sovereignty
• Federalism
• Republicanism
• Limited government
• Separation of powers / checks and balances

Introduction to Federalism

• Unitary system
• Confederal system
• Federal system
• Flows of power
• Pros of Federalism
• Cons of Federalism