Civil liberties: fundamental, constitutional guarantees that protect individuals

Civil rights: legal entitlements that guarantee certain protections and equal
opportunities for all citizens

Civic Obligation: a required activity to be done by all citizens

Civic Responsibilities: activities not required but recommended of all citizens

1st amendment: 5 freedoms: religion, speech, assembly, press, petition

2nd amendment: right to bear arms

3rd amendment: no quartering of troops in peacetime

4th amendment: protection from unreasonable search & seizures

5th amendment: right to remain silent, protection from double jeopardy,

6th amendment: speedy trial, impartial jury, being informed of charges and
accuser

7th amendment: right to jury in cases of over $20

8th amendment: protection from excessive bail, and from cruel and unusual
punishments

9th amendment: non-enumerated rights also exist

10th amendment: all other rights are held up by the states

13th amendment: abolished slavery

15th amendment: prevents denying citizen’s right to vote on basis of race,

color, or previous condition of servitude

18th amendment: enacted prohibition

19th amendment: prohibits voting discrimination on the basis of sex or

gender

21st amendment: ended prohibition

22nd amendment: nobody can be president for more than 2 terms

24th amendment: prevents poll taxes in federal & state elections

26th amendment: lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

- Governments:
Federal: a government divided between a main, central government and it’s
constituent provinces (or ‘states’ in our case) with a typically tripartite
separation of powers at each level

Autocracy: organized around a single central leading entity, be it a single

individual or small party of elites

Democracy: the people make all the decisions, often through the election of
representatives

Communist: organized around a single central political party which holds all
the power, controlling all governmental organizations and controls a planned
economy

Monarchy: a single head of state holds the power, typically for life and with
leaders changing based on heredity

Oligarchy: ruling power is held by a small group or individuals

Theocracy: ruling power is held by individuals chosen on religious basis

Due Process: short for due process of law, gives you the right to defend
yourself in court before having your rights infringed upon

Rule of Law: law is to be enforced equally across all people

- Important UK documents that effected the role of the US Gov

Magna Carta: protected personal and individual rights, limited power of

monarch, established a legislative parliament

English Bill of Rights: limited power of government and guaranteed personal

rights. The king must follow the laws, the members of parliament have the
right to free speech, and have final say on taxes, the military, and
suspending laws. Also right to trial by jury, right to bear arms and protection
from cruel & unusual punishment

Commentaries on the laws: clarified common law.

Natural rights: rights not able to be revoked by any means short of death

Secular: seperation of church and state

Social Contract: where people give up some of their rights in exchange for
more security in their other rights

Mary Wollstonecraft: important feminist, argued that a government that

ignores women is a defective one
- Articles of confederation

Strengths: served as a rudimentary constitution

Weaknesses: Fed. Gov. Cannot tax without approval from the states, could
not regulate trade, no national military, no executive branch to enforce laws,
and states struggled to cooperate

Virginia Plan: Proportional representation, supported by larger states,

bicameral legislature

New Jersey Plan: equal representation, supported by smaller states,

unicameral legislature

Connecticut Plan (Great Compromise): mixed equal and proportional

representation by having one in each house, actually passed, and had
bicameral legislature

3/5ths compromise: each slave would count as 3/5ths of one person for the
purpose of counting state’s population

Articles of the constitution:

Article 1: establishes legislative branch (house and senate)

Serving in Congress:

- Senate:

2/state, 6 year term, every 2 years, 1/3 of seats are up for election

Must be 30+ , been a citizen for 9+ yrs, live in the state you represent

- House of Reps:

Based on population, 2 year term, all seats up for election every 2 years.

Must be 25+, been a citizen for 7+yrs, and live in the state you represent.

Article 2: establishes executive branch (president and certain agencies)

-President must be at least 35, a natural-born citizen, and have been a U.S.
resident for the last 14 years. President serves as leader of the executive
branch, and has a cabinet of advisors. President is commander in chief of the
military, but can’t declare war or fund the military. President makes treaties,
appoints judges, ambassadors, and cabinet, but senate must approve on all
of those. Pres. can also grant pardons for federal and national laws, but not
state or local, and must also address congress in the state of the union
address.

-same requirements for Vice President. Vice serves as president of the

senate

In a presidential election: citizens vote, electors are chosen, electors vote,

the president is chosen.

Article 3: establishes judicial branch (federal court system)

Judicial branch interprets the laws

Appellate jurisdiction: higher courts can overrule decisions made by lower

courts

Jurisdiction: legal authority to hear and rule on cases.

Original jurisdiction: the first trial that someone can face

Article 4: establishes state and federal roles

States must respect the records and laws of other states (so a driver's
license is valid in all states)

States cannot discriminate against citizens of other states

Old slave laws: prevented states from protecting escaped slaves

Article 5: allows amendments, and rules for doing so

How to Amend the Constitution: Amendment proposed, sent to both houses

of congress, where it must pass by 2/3 vote in each, then sent to pass ¾ of
states

Article 6: the constitution is supreme law of the land

No state or federal law can contradict the coonstitution

Article 7: ratification of the constitution

Powers of the federal government:

- Raising taxes

- carrying out relationships with other countries

- Declaring war

- Regulating commerce between states and other countries

- Coining money

Life Cycle of a Law

A bill must pass both house and senate, before being passed to the President
who can veto or sign, and if he vetoes, it goes back to congress to be
redebated, or have the veto overridden with a 2/3 majority in both houses

Cabinet: the Vice president and the heads of 15 executive depts., which
must each be nominated by the president and the confirmed by the senate

Impeachment: formal accusation of a govt. Official by the house of Reps,

Federalists: wanted a strong central govt.

Anti-Federalists: wanted a weak central govt.

Marbury (state) V Madison (fed): established judicial review. Ruling in favor

of Madison

McCulloch (fed) V Maryland (state): federal banks don’t have to pay state
taxes, validated N&P clause, federal supremacy. Ruling in favor of McCulloch

Gibbons (fed) V Ogden (state): established federal supremacy over interstate

commerce. Ruling in favor of Gibbons

The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people what

they can not do at all or can not so well do for themselves in their separate
and individual capacities – Abraham Lincoln

In the end, if the people cannot trust their government to do the job for
which it exists – to protect them and promote their common welfare – all else
is lost – Barack Obama