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fandomhigh2006-02-08 01:36 pm
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US History (Wednesday, February 8, 7th period)
Josh put down the newspaper and smiled as the history class walked in.
"Last class we talked about the Articles of Confederation. This week," he passed out copies, "The Constitution. And the Constitution? Begins with the Preamble."
He turned the television on and flipped off the lights. Schoolhouse Rock's "The Preamble" came on in all of its cheesy 1970s glory.
When the cartoon characters had finished singing about the Constitution, Josh flipped the lights back on and reached for his notes. "Okay. The Articles of Confederation were pretty much a complete bust. But the Founders had learned a couple of important lessons. Namely that a federal government that only has the power to say 'pretty please' and hope the money comes in is going to be broke. So they needed some centralized powers, if not exactly going to the extreme of 'mine, mine, it shall all be mine!' that King George had been veering towards."
Josh drew a triangle on the board. "What they came up with was three branches of government, which would insure separation of powers through checks and balances. They were, and you should definitely write this down, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The three branches would in essence police each other to prevent power from being concentrated into too few hands." Josh rolled his eyes. "Assuming of course that the Presidency, both houses of Congress and the judiciary weren't run by the same party, but what were the chances of that happening?" He held up a hand. "Yes, I know. And no, I don't want to talk about it."
Josh looked down at his notes. "Even though the document begins 'We the people,' the Founders at the time were thinking more 'we the white guys with property.' Native Americans weren't considered part of the people and weren't given citizenship until the 14th Amendment passed after the Civil War. And it wasn't until 1968 that Native Americans living under tribal law on reservations were guaranteed the full rights of American citizens."
Josh made a face. "Sometimes, we kind of suck. Another example of this was the continuation of slavery that was allowed under the Constitution. The delegates from the slave states--South Carolina and Georgia in particular--wouldn't approve the Constitution if there was a part in it outlawing slavery. So the Founders punted and allowed slavery to continue until 1808, which then led into the cotton gin being invented and it was pretty much a straight line straight to Civil War, but we'll get to that in a few weeks.
He looked back at his notes. "Okay. The two big deals that we haven't dealt with are known as the Three-Fifths compromise and the Great Compromise, and both deal with representation the Congress. The Great Compromise, despite its catchy name, wasn't that much of a compromise. Everyone was pretty much agreed on having a bicameral--two bodied--legislature. The makeup of the lower body--the House of Representatives--would be decided by population. The question then turned to how the Senate would be made up. The small states were very concerned that the three largest states would be able to outvote them on a sheer population basis in the Senate, too." Josh paused. "Much in the way that California can now outvote the rest of the West in the House."
He smiled. "The Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, allowed for the House makeup to be decided by population. In the Senate every state would have an equal amount of say--two votes per state. This leads to very interesting political differences between them. In the House, for instance, the Great State of South Dakota has exactly one vote of 435. In the Senate, with two out of a hundred, they wield a much more powerful stick."
He turned back to his notes. "Deciding that the House would be based on population brought up the incredibly unpleasant question of who counts as a person." He wrinkled his nose. "Yeah. The compromise was that slaves in the South would be counted for taxing and census purposes as three-fifths of a free person. This section was rightfully stricken from the Constitution in the 14th Amendment."
He cleared his throat. "Which brings us to the Amendments. The Founders knew they hadn't come up with answers to everything and provided a way for the Constitution to be amended. To amend the Constitution, the amendment must pass through both the House and the Senate with two-thirds approval, then be ratified by three-fifths of the states. Instead of going through the Congress, the states could also request a national convention, which has only been used once, to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing prohibition." Josh smirked. "Because trying to ban alcohol in this country was a deeply stupid idea. We've changed the Constitution 27 different times--ten of them immediately after the Constitution was ratified."
He sat down. "Today, talk about the balance of powers. Someone give an example of a power that the President has, for instance, or Congress, or the Supreme Court, and someone else show how a different branch can check that power." He smirked. "Think of it as a really, really nerdy game of rock-paper-scissors."
"Last class we talked about the Articles of Confederation. This week," he passed out copies, "The Constitution. And the Constitution? Begins with the Preamble."
He turned the television on and flipped off the lights. Schoolhouse Rock's "The Preamble" came on in all of its cheesy 1970s glory.
When the cartoon characters had finished singing about the Constitution, Josh flipped the lights back on and reached for his notes. "Okay. The Articles of Confederation were pretty much a complete bust. But the Founders had learned a couple of important lessons. Namely that a federal government that only has the power to say 'pretty please' and hope the money comes in is going to be broke. So they needed some centralized powers, if not exactly going to the extreme of 'mine, mine, it shall all be mine!' that King George had been veering towards."
Josh drew a triangle on the board. "What they came up with was three branches of government, which would insure separation of powers through checks and balances. They were, and you should definitely write this down, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The three branches would in essence police each other to prevent power from being concentrated into too few hands." Josh rolled his eyes. "Assuming of course that the Presidency, both houses of Congress and the judiciary weren't run by the same party, but what were the chances of that happening?" He held up a hand. "Yes, I know. And no, I don't want to talk about it."
Josh looked down at his notes. "Even though the document begins 'We the people,' the Founders at the time were thinking more 'we the white guys with property.' Native Americans weren't considered part of the people and weren't given citizenship until the 14th Amendment passed after the Civil War. And it wasn't until 1968 that Native Americans living under tribal law on reservations were guaranteed the full rights of American citizens."
Josh made a face. "Sometimes, we kind of suck. Another example of this was the continuation of slavery that was allowed under the Constitution. The delegates from the slave states--South Carolina and Georgia in particular--wouldn't approve the Constitution if there was a part in it outlawing slavery. So the Founders punted and allowed slavery to continue until 1808, which then led into the cotton gin being invented and it was pretty much a straight line straight to Civil War, but we'll get to that in a few weeks.
He looked back at his notes. "Okay. The two big deals that we haven't dealt with are known as the Three-Fifths compromise and the Great Compromise, and both deal with representation the Congress. The Great Compromise, despite its catchy name, wasn't that much of a compromise. Everyone was pretty much agreed on having a bicameral--two bodied--legislature. The makeup of the lower body--the House of Representatives--would be decided by population. The question then turned to how the Senate would be made up. The small states were very concerned that the three largest states would be able to outvote them on a sheer population basis in the Senate, too." Josh paused. "Much in the way that California can now outvote the rest of the West in the House."
He smiled. "The Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, allowed for the House makeup to be decided by population. In the Senate every state would have an equal amount of say--two votes per state. This leads to very interesting political differences between them. In the House, for instance, the Great State of South Dakota has exactly one vote of 435. In the Senate, with two out of a hundred, they wield a much more powerful stick."
He turned back to his notes. "Deciding that the House would be based on population brought up the incredibly unpleasant question of who counts as a person." He wrinkled his nose. "Yeah. The compromise was that slaves in the South would be counted for taxing and census purposes as three-fifths of a free person. This section was rightfully stricken from the Constitution in the 14th Amendment."
He cleared his throat. "Which brings us to the Amendments. The Founders knew they hadn't come up with answers to everything and provided a way for the Constitution to be amended. To amend the Constitution, the amendment must pass through both the House and the Senate with two-thirds approval, then be ratified by three-fifths of the states. Instead of going through the Congress, the states could also request a national convention, which has only been used once, to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing prohibition." Josh smirked. "Because trying to ban alcohol in this country was a deeply stupid idea. We've changed the Constitution 27 different times--ten of them immediately after the Constitution was ratified."
He sat down. "Today, talk about the balance of powers. Someone give an example of a power that the President has, for instance, or Congress, or the Supreme Court, and someone else show how a different branch can check that power." He smirked. "Think of it as a really, really nerdy game of rock-paper-scissors."