 |
|
|
 |
|
CHAPTER THREE Study Chapter Summary ·
The politics of the American founding shaped
the political compromises embodied in the Constitution. This in turn defines
the institutions and many of the rules that do much to determine the winners
and losers in political struggles today. ·
The battle for America involved a number of
different groups, including American Indians, the Spanish, the French, and the
British colonists. The English settlers came for many reasons, including
religious and economic, but then duplicated many of the politically restrictive
practices in the colonies that they had sought to escape in England. These
included restrictions on political participation and a narrow definition of
citizenship. ·
The Revolution was caused by many factors,
including British attempts to get the colonies to pay for the costs of the wars
fought to protect them. ·
The pressures from the Crown for additional
taxes coincided with new ideas about the proper role of government among
colonial elites. These ideas are embodied in Jefferson's politically masterful
writing of the Declaration of Independence. ·
The government under the Articles of
Confederation granted too much power to the states, which in a number of cases
came to serve the interests of farmers and debtors. The Constitutional
Convention was called to design a government with stronger centralized powers
that would overcome the weaknesses elites perceived in the Articles. ·
The new Constitution was derived from a
number of key compromises: Federalism was set as a principle to allocate power
to both the central government and the states; the Great Compromise allocated
power in the new national legislature; and the Three-fifths Compromise provided
a political solution to the problem of counting slaves in the southern states
for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives. ·
The politics of ratification of the
Constitution provides a lesson in the marriage between practical politics and
political principle. The Federalist
Papers served as political propaganda to convince citizens to favor
ratification, and they serve today as a record of the reasoning behind many of
the elements of our Constitution. Learning Objectives After
reading this chapter, you should understand ·
the battle of colonial powers for control of
America ·
the process of settlement by the English ·
the break with England and the Revolution ·
the initial attempt at American government:
the Articles of Confederation ·
the Constitutional Convention ·
the ratification of the Constitution ·
the role of everyday citizens in the
founding |
|
