Aim How did the new Constitution fix the

Aim: How did the new Constitution fix the problems of the Articles of Confederation? (1) The Great Compromise settled the issue of representation in Congress by 1. giving each state two senators and a number of representatives based on population. 2. allowing all states to have equal representation in Congress. 3. having an equal number of members in each House of Congress. 4. limiting the population of large states. (2) Which principle of government is proposed in the Declaration of Independence? 1 Political power originates with a strong central government. 2 The primary function of government is to protect natural rights. 3 A system of checks and balances is the most effective way to prevent governmental abuse of power. 4 Individual liberties must be guaranteed by a strong bill of rights.

What do we need to know about the Constitution? Popular Sovereignty The government derives it power to govern from the people. Citizens exercise popular sovereignty through voting. This is called democracy.

Separation of Powers The Constitution establishes the separation of powers, meaning that power is divided among legislative (Congress), executive (President), and judiciary (Supreme Court) branches to ensure that no single branch can dominate the government. The idea of separating the powers of the government come from Enlightenment Thinker Baron De Montesquieu

Checks and Balances The system of checks and balances gives each branch of government ways to check or control the other branches. This prevents too much power from falling into the hands of any one part of the government. The President The Congress The Supreme Court

How does checks and balances work? But the President doesn’t like it. He can block it with a Veto! If the Congress tries to pass a law. On the other hand if he likes it… he signs it. And that bill becomes a…

Here’s another example… The President gets to pick Supreme Court Justices. Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court (from the Bronx, New York). But it’s up to the Congress to say “yes” or “no. ”

What else do we need to know about the Constitution? Ok. First what do we Federalism… the Constitution created a Federal system. But what is Federalism? A fancy word for a simple idea. All it means is that the Federal Government has some power and the state governments have some power. They share it together. mean by Federal Government? The Federal Government is the President, the Congress and the Supreme Court in Washington D. C. These guys (and girls).

Federalism Question: What Federal laws can you think of? When the Congress passes a law it affects all 50 states! Federal laws are powerful.