THE FOUNDING AND THE CONSTITUTION

The First Founding

Starting point: The British Colonial System
Americans decided to break away from the colonial system because
they were not willing to accept high taxes introduced into the
colonies (the introduction of unfair taxes)
They materialized this will by the Declaration of Independence
(1776) wrote by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the SCC second
continental congress
The first written constitution of the new republic was the articles of
confederation (adopted in November 1777)
Note: The central government did not have enough power under
the Articles of Confederation. State government were more
powerful than central government.

The Second Founding

The articles of confederation did not give the central government enough
power. As a result it was weak not only in internal affairs but also in
international relations.
To solve this problem, Americans adopted a new constitution in 1789
Steps toward the Second Founding
The Annapolis Convention (1786)
The constitutional convention (1787)
The Bill of Rights (1791) (the first ten amendments of the US
Constitution)
The constitution

The major principles

Separation of power
Federalism
Bicameralism (two chambers)
Checks and balances

 The major branch

Legislative branch
Executive branch
Judicial branch
Thinking critically about liberty, equality and democracy
Democracy does not mean that we are equal
Liberty does not mean that we are equal but it reduces the
inequality in one important way