Name ___________________
Constitution Notes
Organization of the Constitution
_________________
_________________
→ _______________
→ ______________
_____ Amendments
Article I:
___________________
Article II:
___________________
Article III:
___________________
Article IV:
Article V:
Article VI:
Article VII:
Relations Between the States and the Federal Government
Amending the Constitution
Supremacy of the Federal Laws
Ratification
Three Branches of Government
The Constitution Convention wanted to prevent tyranny so they developed a system of government that
prevents any one branch of government from becoming too strong.
1. Legislative branch - makes laws
* ”Congress” is another word for the US Legislature
- legislature has 2 houses
a.) House of Representatives
b.) Senate
2. Executive branch - enforces the laws
- headed by the President and Vice President
3. Judicial branch - interprets the laws and determines if violations have been committed against the laws
- made up of the Supreme Court and other federal courts
JEL Chart j_________________________-i__________________________
e________________________-e__________________________
l_________________________-m_________________________
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Preamble:
an introductory statement or a statement of purpose
Reasons given for a constitution:
1. more efficient government
2. all people treated fairly under the same laws
3. ensure a peaceful existence
4. ensure an adequate defense
5. encourage what is good for all people
6. to keep freedom for ourselves and future generations
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.”
Article I: Legislative Branch
House of Representatives
Senate
Term of office
Qualifications
1. At least 25 years old
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
______________Representation
________________Representation
Number of members
from each state
Current election
method
Presiding officers
Direct election by the people
1.
2.
(People who run the
meetings)
Impeachment powers
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House of Representatives (Represents the will of the _________________):
- the current ND representative is: _____________________________
- number of representatives is based on population (_________________ representation)
* excluded Native Americans
* excluded three-fifths all other people
- __________________ is taken every ________ years to ensure accuracy
- number of representatives is frozen at ________ (1929)
o 5 non-voting delegates: Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; Guam; American Samoa;
Virgin Islands
- the ________________ ________ ______________is the most powerful member of the house
- the House of Representatives has sole power of ______________________
Senate (Represents the will of the _______________):
- the current ND senators are: _______________________________
_______________________________
- ______ senators from each state (_______________ representation) for a total of ______
senators
- terms of the Senators are staggered
* one-third of the Senators are up for election every 2 years so the entire Senate is never
elected in a single year
- Originally, the Vice-President was to preside over the Senate meetings
* Today, ___________________________ presides over most meetings
* The Vice-President only votes when a tie occurs in the Senate
- the Senate tries officials that the House believes is worthy of impeachment
* a __________ is held and the Senate decides on the guilt or innocence of the official
- __________ _______________of the Supreme Court presides over
impeachment trials
- ________________ act as jurors
General Information about Congress
* General election is held the first _______________ following the first
_________________ in the month of ___________________in all ________
numbered years
- elections are dome by secret ballot
* Congress meets once a year beginning on January 3rd
* Congress must have more than half the members present in order to have a quorum and meet
* Detailed minutes of Congress are recorded in the _______________ ____________.
* Certain procedures can be kept secret but if one-fifth of the House requests the information be made
public knowledge, the records are published
* Congress determines their own pay scale
* Members enjoy freedom of arrest during the session (with the exception of treason or a different serious
crime)
* Members of Congress can not hold other jobs or resign to take another job
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The Constitution clearly stated what the Federal government could and could not do (Division of Power)
so the government would not get too powerful
Federal powers (Article 1 Sect. 8)
Powers denied (Article 1 Sect. 9)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
collect taxes & pay debts
control trade between states
organize a court system
raise armies and navies
sole authority to issue money
(states couldn’t anymore)
6. borrow money
7. establish rules for naturalization
and bankruptcies
8. punish counterfeiters
9. establish post offices
10. establish highways
11. pass patent and copyright laws
12. make laws for US waters
13. declare war
14. call forth state militias
(National Guard)
15. make laws to govern
Washington,DC
16. “Elastic Clause”
1. make laws prohibiting slavery (1807)
2. make laws to punish a certain
person (bill of attainer)
3. make ex post facto laws
4. all taxes must be the same for
all people (16th amendment
changed that)
5. tax exports from any state
6. make laws that favor one state
over another
7. cannot take money from the US
Treasury
8. granting titles of nobility (king,
princess, duke, etc.)
*Add the underlined words to your Constitution
vocabulary list
The “___________ __________” gave the federal government the power to enforce the
powers granted and needed to carry out the powers given to the government (Article 1,
Section 8, Clause 18)
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* ______________ can propose a bill.
* ______________ have to start in the House of Representatives
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Article II -The Executive Branch
Made up of the_______________, ________________, and the Presidential ______________
along with all the agencies and departments which are overseen by the Cabinet Secretaries
The President is the chief executive of the executive branch
*
The President is not elected directly by the people
-The ____________ ______________ elects him
-Each state has as many electors as it has senators and representatives combined
(ND has _____ electors)
-______ of the _______ electoral votes are needed to become President
* The President serves a ______ year term (can not serve more than _____ terms)
- He is inaugurated on __________________
- His salary is $400,000/ yr. plus $150,000 for “expenses, travel, and official entertainment”
* If something happens to the President, the line of succession is:
Vice President
_______________________ Who is it now? _________________________
_______________________ Who is it now? _________________________
_______________________ Who is it now? _________________________
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Qualifications:
1. ____________________________
2. ______ years old
3. live in the United States for _____ years
Powers of the President:
1.) Grant ________________ to those convicted of federal crimes
2.) Make _______________with foreign nations (needs _________________ approval from Senate)
3.) Nominate ambassadors, _______________ ___________ ______________, and other officials
(needs the __________________ of the Senate to approve)
4.) Appoint _______________ members
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Name____________________________
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S
MEN
The President of the United States has the most important job in the world.
Without help from thousands of other people, he would never get his job done. Those who are directly
responsible to him are called the members of his cabinet. Each of these cabinet members is in charge of
a major area of concern to us. He in turn has literally hundreds of people either directly or indirectly
responsible to him in gathering information and solving problems regarding his area of expertise. He is
then directly responsible for keeping the President informed of the work within his department. Your
task is to research the duties of these various cabinet posts and to identify them with the statements
on the next page. Then name the person who currently heads each of the departments.
Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/cabinet and begin your research.
1. _____ Department of Health and Human Services
Sec.: ___________________
2. _____ Department of the Treasury
Sec.: ___________________
3. _____ Department of Justice
Attorney General: ___________________
4. _____ Department of Defense
Sec.: ___________________
5. _____ Department of the Interior
Sec.: ___________________
6. _____ Department of Energy
Sec.: ___________________
7. _____ Department of State
Sec.: ___________________
8. _____ Department of Agriculture
Sec.: ___________________
9. _____ Department of Transportation
Sec.: ___________________
10. _____ Department of Housing and Urban Affairs
Sec.: ___________________
11. _____ Department of Labor
Sec.: ___________________
12. _____ Department of Commerce
Sec.: ___________________
13. _____ Department of Education
Sec.: ___________________
14. Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Sec.: ___________________
Description of Duties: ________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
15. Department of Homeland Security
Sec.: ___________________
Description of Duties: ________________________________________________________
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a. This man or woman is mainly responsible for promoting all phases of commerce, industry, and
business.
b. This person is responsible for managing our nation’s finances. He is also responsible for the coining
and printing of all money as well as enforcing all money laws, the Secret Service and the Coast Guard.
c. The cabinet head here is responsible for enforcing the laws of the United States in the federal courts.
He is concerned with those matters in which the United States as a nation is involved in legal matters.
d. The leader here is charged with keeping a reasonable and proper balance of all the nation’s resources,
with preserving its scenic and historical landmarks, as well as being in charge of its National Parks and
Forests, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and our nation’s water supply.
e. This person is charged with handling all of our foreign affairs, including the participation of the
United States in the United Nations. He or she perhaps the single most important of the cabinet
members.
f. This “secretary” is charged with the general areas which his title suggests. They include the Public
Health Service, the Social Security Administration, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of
Vocational Rehabilitation.
g. The cabinet leader here deals mainly with the complex transportation problems that face a “nation on
the move” such as ours.
h. This man or woman is responsible for answering the problems of the growing needs of city dwellers
and the many other implications of living in a large metropolitan area.
i. This “secretary” is responsible for defending our nation against all invaders. The main arm of his
authority extends to our armed forces. He also advises the President on research to develop sophisticated
arms that will ensure our safety.
j. This cabinet leader is responsible for administering all phases of education from the kindergarten level
through university post-graduate school.
k. The head of this department continually analyzes our present and future energy reserves. He is also in
the charge of the national energy conservation program.
l. This department head is responsible the nation’s farm program. He is concerned with getting a fair
price for the American farmer and in stimulating sales of US farm products to foreign counties.
m. He or she is in charge of the nation’s labor supply. There are many complicated problems associated
with reaching a balance between the available supplies of human labor and the demands for it.
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Article III - Judicial Branch
- Judges are appointed for ___________ and can only be removed if they are convicted of misconduct
- There are _____ Supreme Court justices. The current Chief Justice is _________________________
- The Supreme Court is the most important court
- Beneath the Supreme Court: 13 circuit courts of appeal
over 90 district courts
* There is also a state Supreme court and lower courts
Powers of the Federal Courts:
- Make decisions on cases involving:
1. the Constitution
2. foreign ambassadors
3. ships
4. US Government vs. another party
5. State vs. citizens of another state
6. citizens of State X vs. citizens of State Y
7. land grants
8. US state vs. foreign country
Checks and Balances
If one person or office had the authority to make laws, enforce laws, interpret laws, and punish
those who broke these laws that person or office would be capable of tyranny.
To avoid that, the constitution framers developed a system of checks and balances for each of the 3
branches.
No one branch can act on its own.
* the President must approve all of Congress’s bills
* the President appoints federal judges
* the Senate approves the Presidents appointments
* the Senate must approve all treaties
* Congress can overturn a President’s veto
* Congress can remove a President
* Congress can refuse to fund presidential activities
* Judicial branch has the power to strike down laws
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Article IV - The States and the Federal Government
* Citizens traveling through a state have the same rights as all citizens of that state
* Citizens can not flee justice by going to another state
- He/she will be returned to the state that the crime took place
(extradition)
* States are admitted to the Union by Congress
Powers Denied to the States
1. make treaties
2. give permission to capture foreign ships
3. coin money
4. pass a bill of attainer
5. pass ex post facto laws
6. excuse people from their legal obligations
7. grant titles of nobility
8. go to war
Article V - Amending the Constitution
* An amend ment can be proposed by :
1. two-thirds of both houses
2. two-thirds of state legislatures
* The states need to ratify the amendments
-need three-forths approval by the states
Article VI - Supremacy of Federal Laws
* The Constitution is the supreme law of the land
* All judges must follow it
* Members of all 3 branches must take an oath to uphold the Constitution
Article VII - Ratification
* 9 of the 13 states needed to ratify it
*Strongest criticism came because it lacked a Bill of Rights
*New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify the Constitution (June 1788)
-Constitution officially took effect
-New York, Virginia, Rhode Island, and North Carolina were the last
4 states to ratify the Constitution
*Next steps:
1. Elect national representatives
2. Add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution
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Amendment Notes
to amend = to change
Amendment 1: Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition
* This amendment was intended to provide people with freedoms necessary for self-expression
* Limitations are set by courts to ensure that somebody’s rights are not being violated while
somebody else is practicing a freedom
Amendment 2: The right to bear arms
* Congress can not prevent people from owning and carrying guns
Amendment 3: Quartering Soldiers
* No soldier during peacetime can be forced into the homes of private citizens
Amendment 4: Search and Seizure
* Unless a proper search warrant has been authorized, a person has a right to protect his own
person, his home, his papers, and his personal effects.
* The search warrant must include the place to be searched, the reason for the search, and
exactly who or what is expected to be found
Amendment 5: Rights of the Accused in Court
* Those arrested for committing a serious crime can not be tried without first receiving an
indictment (formal charge) from the grand jury
* Those found not guilty cannot be tried for the same crime again
(double jeopardy)
* Nobody can be forced to say anything in court that could lead to his conviction
* right to due process
Amendment 6: Additional Rights in Court
* Right to a speedy and public trial
* The accused must be given proper notification of the charge
* Right to be present in court to see face to face those who are witnesses against him/her
* Right to call his/her own witnesses
* Right to a lawyer
Amendment 7: Jury Trials
* A dispute over property can be heard by a jury but both parties has the right to wave a trial by
jury
Amendment 8: Excessive Bail and Punishment
* Punishments can not be cruel or unusual
Amendment 9: Other Rights
* The rights listed in the Constitution are not the only rights that people have
* The list would have been too long to include all rights
Amendment 10:
* All rights not expressly given or denied by the Constitution are given to the people or the state
We will be covering Amendments 11-27 as we cover the time span in which they were adopted
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