Narrative fill-in notes: Our Constitution Today pp



Narrative fill-in notes: Our Constitution Today pp.622-626

Setting the Scene

It took about ____ weeks or ____ months for the Convention delegates to complete the Constitution. Most of the framers (the men who wrote or built the Constitution) came from a __________ or agricultural society. They were all white, ______ owners of _____________. They had to design a government that would be ___________, so it could change along with a changing and growing nation. They also had to make sure that no one person or __________ could gain total ______________.

Principles of Limited Self-Government

The framers knew that the federal or _________________ government had to have certain powers, but they also worried about taking powers away from the thirteen individual __________. The framers knew that the United States could not defend itself or regulate trade or ________________ without having the power to raise ___________ and enforce _______________.

Federalism Divides Powers

The framers decided that the solution lay in the form of a ____________system of government. Under this system, the national government would get specific ___________ and the states would get specific _____________. Sometimes, both the national government and state governments would share the ___________.

The Constitution is divided into articles and sections. Article I, Section 8 explains the powers of the ________________ government. For example, the ______________ government, NOT the ______________ government, may declare ________ or make ____________. This makes sense because if a state, for example, Massachusetts, declared war on another country then _________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________.

Commerce is another power that belongs to the _________________ government. Commerce is a big subject because its definition includes not only products or goods, but also __________ and _____________________.

It seems as though the federal government has a lot of power, but the states really do have some of their own. A part of the Constitution, Amendment # ____ says that _________

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

This chart shows how the Constitution divides _________ between the national and state governments. (Choose at least 5 of each to record. Choose the most important.)

The ____________________ System

|National Gov’t Powers | State Powers |Powers shared by both |

|regulate foreign and interstate commerce | | |

|set standards of weights and measures | | |

|coin money | | |

|regulate copyrights | | |

|maintain armed forces | | |

|make foreign policy | | |

|make laws governing citizenship | | |

|declare war | | |

|make foreign policy | | |

Separate Powers Given to the Three Branches

As far as laws go, a government must be able to ________ laws, __________laws, and __________ laws. Another word for interpret is _______________. (Use a thesaurus for a synonym!) The framers, ever cautious about giving too much __________ to one group, decided to divide these jobs of ____________, ______________, and _____________ the laws, between three _______________ of government.

• The __________________ branch ____________the laws.

• The __________________ branch ____________the laws.

• The __________________ branch ____________the laws.

Our American system is different from the English (Great Britain) system which is

called a ________________________ system because the English system combines what two branches? _____________________ and _____________________.

Checks and Balances Provide Controls

The system of checks and balances is a way to keep one branch from getting too much power. (Can you tell how nervous the framers were about unchecked power?????) So, for example, if the ____________________ branch passes a bill, it can’t become a law until the _____________________ says okay. But even then, if the President says no or __________ the bill, the legislative branch can still make the bill into a law if they can pass it with a bigger voting majority of ____________.

The President is part of the executive branch. He can nominate judges and Cabinet members, but the ___________ must approve. So it’s clear that one branch of government has the power to check or stop another branch from exerting too much _____________.

The Supreme Court is part of the judicial branch. Judges review the laws that have been made by the _________________ branch and signed by the _________________. They look to see if the laws are allowed by the Constitution or if they go against it. The courts can declare that a law is unconstitutional and have the power to throw away the law. This power is called ______________________. The first time this happened was a case called Marbury v. Madison. If we haven’t discussed it yet, we will learn about it soon. Basically, it was the first time the Supreme Court flexed its muscles and showed that it was a branch that was equal in power to the other two branches, the legislative and ________________ branches.

Look at the Checks and Balances Chart on page 625. Read what each branch can do to stop the other from becoming too powerful. Make sure you understand how to read the diagram. List the branch that has the power:

Branch Power

_________________ can veto bills

_________________ can refuse to ratify treaties

________________ can declare a law unconstitutional

_________________ can appoint federal judges

_________________ can impeach the President

_________________ can stay in power for life

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