American Government Unit One:

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American GovernmentUnit One

• Foundations of American Government

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GPS Standards

• SSCG1 The student will demonstrate knowledge
  of the political philosophies that shaped the
  development of United States constitutional
  government.
• Analyze key ideas of limited government and the
  rule of law as seen in the Magna Carta, the
  Petition of Rights, and the English Bill of
  Rights.
• Analyze the writings of Hobbes (Leviathan), Locke
  (Second Treatise on Government), and Montesquieu
  (The Spirit of Laws) as they affect our concept
  of government.

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GPS Standards

• SSCG2 The student will analyze the natural
  rights philosophy and the nature of government
  expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
• Compare and contrast the Declaration of
  Independence and the Social Contract Theory.
• Evaluate the Declaration of Independence as a
  persuasive argument.

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GPS Standards

• SSCG19 The student will compare and contrast
  governments that are unitary, confederal, and
  federal unitary, oligarchic, and democratic and
  presidential and parliamentary.
• SSCG20 The student will describe the tools used
  to carry out United States foreign policy
  (diplomacy economic, military, and humanitarian
  aid treaties sanctions and military
  intervention).

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Chapter 14

• Citizenship

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What is a Citizen?

• The Greek Philosopher Aristotle, one of the first
  students of government, defined a citizen as
  someone who participates in politics.
• What does that mean?

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What is a Citizen?

• Citizenship was first defined in the 14th
  Amendment to the Constitution following the Civil
  War in 1868.
• It states that all people born and naturalized in
  the United States. US citizens are also citizens
  of the States in which they live.

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What is a Citizen?

• Citizens are members of a political society.
• Naturalization- the legal process by which a
  person is granted the rights and privileges of a
  citizen.

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What is a Citizen?

• Jus Soli- Law of the Soil. Nearly all persons
  born in the US or a US territory are citizens of
  the United States.
• Jus Sanguinis- Law of the Blood. If you are
  born of American parents, then you are an
  American citizen.

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What is an Immigrant?

• Immigrants are referred to as aliens.
• Resident alien - person from a foreign nation who
  has permanent legal residence in the US.
• Nonresident alien -here temporarily.
• Illegal alien In the US without passport, visa,
  or entry permit.
• Aliens can legally become citizens through
  naturalization.
• Refugee flees a country to another to escape
  persecution.

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European Immigrants- 1800s

• Immigrants in the 1800s came from Europe.

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Latin American Immigrants Today

• Most Immigrans today come from Asia and Latin
  America.

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What are the rights of an Immigrant?

• The protections and rights in the Constitution
  are guaranteed not only to US citizens, but to
  aliens as well.
• Aliens are required to pay taxes but are not
  allowed to vote. They are also exempt from
  military service and jury duty. Aliens are not
  permitted to travel freely throughout the country
  without notifying the government.

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How do immigrants become citizens?

• There are 5 steps in the naturalization process
• Enter the US legally.
• Be of good moral character.
• Declare support of principles of America.
• Read, write, and speak English.
• Basic knowledge of American history and
  government.

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How do immigrants become citizens?

• Applicants must be 18 years old.
• Lived in the US as a legally 5 years, 3 if
  married to a citizen.
• Lived in the state the petition is filled in for
  3 months.

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How can you lose US citizenship?

• Expatriation - when one becomes a citizen of a
  foreign nation and gives up American citizenship.
• Citizenship taken away as punishment for treason,
  rebellion, or attempting to over throw the
  government.

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How can you lose US citizenship?

• Denaturalization - when an immigrant loses
  citizenship if found to have been fraudulent or
  deceitful during the naturalization process.

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What are the responsibilities of a citizen?

• Know and respect the laws and your rights.
• Participate in politics and society, most
  commonly by voting. Can also be done by
  petitioning the government.
• Good citizens should stay informed about
  community, state, and national concerns.

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3) Answers will vary.
2) Answers will vary.
1) by the law of the soil
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Chapter 1

• People and Government

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What is a Government?

• State - political community that occupies a
  definite territory and has an organized
  government that can make and enforce laws without
  approval of a higher authority.
• Nation - a sizeable group of people united by
  common race, language, customs, traditions,
  and/or religion.
• Nation is often mistakenly used to describe a
  state.

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What is a government?

• Not all states are nations
• Quebec, Canada Follows French culture and
  language and Catholic religion. Most of Canada is
  English and Protestant.
• Not all nations are states
• Many African tribes are divided among many
  different separate political states.
• When the territory of a nation and state
  coincide, you have a nation-state.

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Four Characteristics of a State

• Population
• Territory
• Sovereignty
• Government

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Theories of the origin of the state.

1. Evolution Theory The state evolved from the
   family group.
2. Force Theory One person or a group used force
   to establish its authority to govern.
3. Divine Right Theory The rulers were chosen by
   the gods to govern.
4. Social Contract Theory The people gave the
   government its power to rule, in return the
   government had to protect and respect the
   peoples rights.

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Thomas Hobbes

• Thomas Hobbes in the 1600s wrote a book called
  the Leviathan, in which he described the world
  without government,
• In such condition there isworst of all,
  continual fear and danger of violent death and
  the life of man (is) solitary, poor, nasty,
  brutish, and short
• People create a government by entering into a
  social contract.
• Hobbes developed the theory of the social
  contract in Leviathan.

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• In 1762, Jean-Jacques Rousseau published a book
  called The Social Contract, in which he stated
  that people gain and lose certain things when
  entering into the social contract,
• What man loses through the social contract is
  his natural liberty and an unlimited right to
  everything that tempts him and that he can
  acquire. What he gains is civil liberty and the
  proprietary exclusive ownership of all he
  possesses.
• Without government, a person can own anything he
  can take by force. With government, a person
  owns anything that they possess whether or not
  they have the force to keep it.

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John Locke

• John Locke (1632-1704) believed that the contract
  creates a limited government that relies entirely
  on the consent of the governed. The people, and
  only the people, give it the authority to govern.
  
• Natural Rights - The rights that people are born
  with. Locke wrote about these rights in his
  Second Treatises on Government, where he listed
  the natural rights as the rights to life,
  liberty, and property.
• The people have the right to abolish that
  government and form a new one.
• Influenced founders, especially Thomas Jefferson,
  writer of the Declaration of Independence.

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Montesquieu

• Charles Montesquieu Developed the theory of
  separation of powers in his book, Spirit of Laws
• Divided power among three branches Legislative,
  Executive, and Judicial Branches

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Purpose of Government

• Maintain social order
• Provide services
• Protect people
• Help control the nations economy.

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Governments Systems

1. A unitary system gives all key powers to the
   national or central government.
2. A confederacy is a loose union of independent
   states that come together to form a common goal.
   Our first form of government was a confederacy
   it failed to unite the states so that they could
   work together.
3. A federal system of government divides the powers
   of government between the national and state
   governments.

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Constitutions and Government

• A constitution is a plan that provides the rules
  and structure for government.
• Constitutions set out the goals and purposes of
  government.
• Constitutions provide the supreme law for states
  and their governments.

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Goals of the U.S. Constitution

• The Preamble lists the goals of our Constitution.
  They are
• To form a more perfect union
• Establish justice
• Ensure domestic tranquility
• Provide for the common defense
• Promote the general welfare
• Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and
  our posterity.

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Politics and Government

• Politics is the effort to control or influence
  the policies and actions of government.
• Special interest groups seek special benefits
  towards a specific goal.
• The Constitution is designed to promote the
  general welfare.

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Major Types of Government

• In an autocracy power and authority reside in a
  single individual.
• In an oligarchy, such as a communist country, a
  small group holds power.
• In a democracy the people hold the power.

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Characteristics of Democracy

• Equal opportunity.
• Majority rule minority rights respected.
• Free and open elections in which every vote has
  equal weight.
• Candidates for office respect the voters
  decisions and act as loyal opposition.

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The Roots of Democracy

• Conditions that favor the democratic system of
  government.
• Citizens participate in civic life.
• Stable, growing economy with a large middle
  class.
• A public school system open to all.
• A strong civil society in with a network of
  voluntary organizations.
• The people accept values such as liberty and
  equality for all.

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Representative Democracy

• The US has a Representative Democracy. The people
  elect representatives that run the country.
• In a Direct Democracy every citizen votes on
  every issue.

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1) representative democracy
2) oligarchy
3) No, some monarchies are democracies where the
monarchs powers are limited.
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Three major economic types

• Capitalism-
• Socialism-
• Communism-

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Capitalism

• Capitalism runs off the free market, producers
  and consumers make economic decisions.
• Adam Smith created Capitalism in his book The
  Wealth of Nations.
• Laissez-faire economics, when the government does
  not get involved.
• Competition would be the invisible hand that
  guides the economy.

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Capitalism

• The US is a mixed-market economy, in which free
  enterprise is combined with government
  restrictions (minimum wage, child labor laws).

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Socialism

• The government owns the basic means of
  production, distributes profits and wages, and
  provides social services.
• In 19th century industrialized Europe working
  class people were severely underpaid and
  mistreated causing them to revolt against
  capitalism.

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Socialism

• Democratic-socialism, people have basic human
  rights and some control over government officials
  through free elections.

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Socialism- 3 main goals

1. Distribution of wealth equally.
2. Government control of all major economic
   decisions.
3. Government ownership of means of production.

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Socialism

• Criticisms of socialism
• Stifles individual initiative.
• Over taxes people.
• Can give rise to dictatorships.

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Communism

• Karl Marx - The Communist Manifesto.
• There were two groups, the wealthy capitalists
  called the bourgeoisie, and the workers called
  the proletariat.
• The bourgeoisie used its power to keep the
  proletariat as a working class.

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Communism

• The workers would overthrow the capitalists.
• Resulted in elimination of classes and government
  ownership of all means of production.
• Pure communism there would be no need for
  government, property held in common (everybody
  would just share everything).

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Communism

• Command economy, decisions are made at the upper
  levels of government and handed down.
• All communist states have failed to progress to
  no government.
• Inadequate standards of living caused them to
  loosen their control or face revolt.

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1) capitalism with a mixed-market economy
2) socialism and communism
3) capitalism
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Origins of American Government

• Chapter 2

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An English Political Heritage

• English colonists brought with them a heritage of
  freedom and principles of government that helped
  shape the development of the United States.
• Most important to the colonists was to have a
  government which limited the monarchs power and
  represented the will of the people.

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Three documents that limited the power of the
King

• Magna Carta
• Petition of Right
• English Bill of Rights

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Magna Carta

• AKA the Great Charter
• 1215 signed by King John of England
• Limited Government the king did not have all
  the power
• Established the rule of law, meaning that
  everyone had to follow the law.
• Protect life, liberty and property

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Petition of Right

• 1628
• King Charles I, and monarchs to follow, could
  not
• Collect taxes without consent of Parliament.
• Imprison people without just cause.
• House troops in private homes.
• Declare martial law.

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English Bill of Rights

• 1688
• Monarchs rule with the consent of the people
• Parliament must agree to suspend laws, levy
  taxes, or maintain an army
• Monarch cannot interfere in Parliament elections
• Right to petition the government
• Fair and speedy trials
• No cruel or unusual punishment

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Representative Government

• Followed the model of Parliament, which was a
  bicameral, or two chamber, legislature
• House of Lords
• House of Commons

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Principles of Colonial Government

• What are three key practices found in the
  colonial governments?
• Written constitution
• -Ex. Mayflower Compact 1st written constitution
  in America.
• Legislature of elected representatives
• - Ex. VA House of Burgesses first legislative
  body.
• Separation of powers

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In a nutshell

• The American colonies were founded by the British
• The colonies were a source of raw materials and a
  market for British goods
• Britain was 3000 miles away
• Colonial government handled most business with
  some guidance from Parliament and the king.
• The colonists did not have representation in
  Parliament

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Why did things change?

• French and Indian War 1754-1763, allowed the
  British to solidify control over the continent.
• King George III came to power in 1760 with a
  different idea of how to rule the colonies.

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Colonies on their own

• Although Britain had been allowing the colonies
  limited self-government.
• The British government tightened its control over
  the colonies after the French and Indian wars.
• King George III and his ministers made the
  colonies help pay for the war by levying new
  taxes on the colonists.

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Taxes and Colonial Response

• Stamp Act The first direct tax on the
  colonists. It required a stamp tax on legal
  documents, pamphlets, newspapers, dice and
  playing cards. To pay for the French and Indian
  war.
• Stamp Act Congress first meeting organized by
  the colonies to protest the kings actions. They
  sent the Declaration of Rights and Grievances,
  which stated, no taxation with out
  representation.

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Taxes and Colonial Response

• The colonists protested and boycotted until the
  Stamp Act was repealed.
• Committees of Correspondence Groups that formed
  so that information about British actions could
  be more easily spread throughout the colonies.
• The Townshend Acts taxed many products that
  were needed daily, including tea.

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Taxes and Colonial Response

• The tax on tea and further British control
  resulted in the Boston Tea Party.
• The British responded to the tea party with
  punishments and tightening of control of Boston.
• Intolerable Acts a set of acts passed after the
  Boston Tea Party that was designed to punish the
  people of Boston. They closed the harbor, placed
  Massachusetts under martial law, and allowed
  British troops to be quartered in peoples homes.

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Colonial Unity

• Harsh British policies and taxes helped unite the
  colonies.
• To protest British policies, the colonists sent
  petitions to the king.
• The First Continental Congress held in
  Philadelphia in 1774 debated what the colonies
  should do about their relationship with Britain.
  
• They imposed and embargo and said that if Britain
  used force, so would they.

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First Shots Fired

• April 19, 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord.
  First shots and beginning of the American
  Revolutionary War.
• The Second Continental Congress met in 1775, it
  organized a military and appointed George
  Washington as commander. Served as acting
  government throughout the war.

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Independence

• Thomas Paine - Common Sense Strengthened the
  independence movement. Said King George III was a
  tyrant and the colonies were destined to be free.
• The Declaration of Independence in 1776, which
  set forth the principles for the new nation.

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Independence (cont.)

• The Declaration had three parts
• statement of purpose, describing basic human
  rights
• list of specific complaints against King George
  III
• statement of determination to separate from Great
  Britain.

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Interpreting Political Cartoons Activity

• 1. What symbol represents the colonies in this
  1779 political cartoon?

The bucking horse represents the colonies.
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The Signing

• John Hancock of Massachusetts, the president of
  the Continental Congress, was the first person to
  sign the Declaration of Independence in
  Philadelphia. When he did, he wrote his name in
  very large letters, declaring, There, I guess
  King George will be able to read that! Even
  today, Americans often refer to a persons
  signature as a John Hancock.

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Independence! Now what?

• We all know that the United States achieved
  independence from Great Britain after the
  American Revolution, but winning a war was not
  the only concern. Colonists also had to come up
  with a new form of government.

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Articles of Confederation

• First attempt at a unified government of all 13
  former colonies.
• Proposed in 1777.
• Ratified by all 13 independent states by 1781.

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Key Features of the Articles

• Weak national government
• One branch of government Legislative
• Unicameral
• One vote per state all were equal.

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Weaknesses of the Articles

• The Congress had to depend on the states for
  money and had no power to tax, regulate trade, or
  enforce laws.
• Amending the Articles required the approval of
  all the states.
• No president or executive branch.
• No system of national courts state courts
  enforced and interpreted national laws.

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Weaknesses of the Articles (cont.)
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1) They could borrow or request money from states.
3) They could wage war and make treaties and
alliances with other nations
2) Weak, they gave little power to government
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Discussion Question

• Why did the writers of the Articles of
  Confederation make the plan so weak?
• Their experience with a king made delegates
  afraid to give any one individual or branch too
  much power.

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Important achievements

• The Confederation government ..
• established policy for developing western land
  Northwest Ordinance.
• signed peace treaty with England.
• set up departments establishing the precedent for
  cabinet departments.

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The Need for Stronger Government

• Soon after the war, disputes broke out among the
  states the governments debt left soldiers
  unpaid.
• An economic depression in 1786 led to Shayss
  Rebellion, an armed uprising by Massachusetts
  farmers who could not pay their debts.
• They decided to call a constitutional convention
  in Philadelphia

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Discussion Question

• How did Shayss Rebellion suggest the need for a
  stronger government?
• The rebellion alarmed people who feared mob
  violence and the Confederation governments
  inability to do anything about it.