Chapter 8, Section 1

Goals and
Principals of the
Constitution
 The Preamble
• The Constitution is split into 3 parts.
• The first part is called the Preamble. It
has 6 goals:
1. To Form a More Perfect Union:
This goal showed that the states
should work together better (ex: use
the same money.)
2. To Establish Justice: At the time,
the people needed a better system of
settling arguments and judging
criminals.
3. To Insure Domestic Tranquility: To
guarantee peace and order at home.
 The Preamble
4. To Provide for the Common
Defense: To protect the people from
foreign attack by raising an army and
navy.
5. To Promote the General Welfare: To
support the well-being of our citizens.
(The Preamble does not include
providing welfare for the poor.)
6. To Secure the Blessings of Liberty:
It was very important for people that
their freedom was protected after the
Revolution.
 Articles of the Amendment
• The main part of the
Constitution is a short
document that has seven parts
called Articles.
• The first 3 Articles describe the
powers and limits of the 3
branches of Government:
– Article I: Congress (Legislature)
Soldiers swear an
oath of loyalty to the
– Article II: President (Executive)
Constitution, not to
the President.
– Article III: The Courts (Judicial)
 The Articles
• Article IV establishes laws for
and between states.
• Article V describes how to
amend (change) the
Constitution.
• Article VI states that the
Constitution is the “…supreme
law of the land.” If a state
makes a law that conflicts with
federal law, the federal law will
be followed.
• Article VII described how states
would ratify the Constitution.
 Seven Basic Principals
• The third part of the Constitution
is made up of 7 basic principals.
They include:
1. Popular Sovereignty
2. Limited Government
3. Separation of Powers
4. Checks and Balances
5. Federalism
6. Republicanism
7. Individual Rights
Basic Principals
1. Popular Sovereignty: This
means that the government
gets its power from the people.
2. Limited Government: Means
that the government has only
the powers that the Constitution
gives it.
3. Separation of Powers:
Dividing the power of
government into 3 branches to
avoid one person becoming too
powerful.
 The Preamble Sets Goals
4. Checks and Balances: are a
system to prevent abuses of
power. Each branch has the
power to check (limit) the actions
of the other two. See page 250.
5. Federalism: This is a way of
dividing power among the federal
and state governments. Powers
that are not clearly stated in the
Constitution are given to the
states, but federal laws overrule
state laws.
Basic Principals
6. Republicanism: The
Constitution says that
citizens will elect
representatives to make,
judge and carry out laws for
them.
7. Individual Rights: The
founding fathers wanted to
protect rights like freedom
of speech, religion and trial
by jury.
 Chapter 8, Section 2

How the Federal Government Works

 The
Constitution Supreme
Court

Congress

President Court
Of
Senate Appeals
(100)

House
of
Representatives District
VP
(435) Court
 The Legislative Branch
• The first and longest article of the
Constitution deals with the
legislative, or lawmaking, branch.
• Congress is made of two bodies:
The House of Representatives and
the Senate
– The House of Representatives is the
larger house because its size is
determined by state population. It
currently has 435 Reps.
 The Legislative Branch
• Representatives serve for only 2
years.
• The leader of the House is called the
Speaker of the House.
–The Speaker regulates
debates and controls
agendas.
–If the President and VP die,
the Speaker becomes the
new President.
The Legislative Branch
• The other branch of Congress
is called the Senate.
– The Senate is the upper
house.
– Each state has two Senators
who serve 6 year terms.
• The Vice President is the
President of the Senate, and
can vote in tie-breaker
situations.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ

Powers of Congress
• The most important power of Congress
is the power to make the nation’s laws.
• Congress can also appropriate
(collect) money from the public.
• Laws start as proposals called bills that
are introduced to the House or the
Senate.
• The bill is debated and must be
approved by both houses and the
President to become a law.
 The Executive Branch
• Article 2 of the Constitution sets up an
executive branch to carry out laws.
• The President heads the branch, followed by
the Vice President and the Cabinet.
• The President and Vice
President are the only
officials elected by all
Americans.
 Roles of the President
• The President can veto (or reject)
bills and make appointments. The
President also directs foreign
policy and makes treaties with
other nations.
• The framers of the Constitution
saw Congress as more important
than the President, and were not
specific about the President’s
role.
• Many Presidents have assumed
power that is not spelled out by
the constitution.
Roles of the President
• The President is the
Commander in Chief of the
armed forces, but cannot
declare war.
• The President can suggest
new laws, grant pardons and
call special sessions of
Congress.
• Most important, the President
is the living symbol of our
country.
 The Judicial Branch
• The Constitution also establishes a Supreme
Court and other federal courts.
• The lowest federal courts are the District
Courts. Cases here are decided by a judge and
a jury.
• The next highest court is the Appellate Court, or
Court of Appeals.
– If someone disagrees with the ruling of the district
court case, they can appeal the decision,
meaning the case will go to the next highest
court.
– Appellate judges review the district decision and
decide if the law was correctly followed in the
 The Judicial Branch
• The highest federal court is the
Supreme Court.
• The court is made up of a Chief
Justice and eight Associate Justices.
• Justices serve for life.
• The President chooses justices, but
Congress must also approve them.
• The Supreme Court is the final word on
federal cases that have been tried and
appealed.
 The Judicial Branch
• The Supreme Court hears about 100
cases a year.
• They vote after hearing arguments.
Whichever side has more than 4
votes wins.
• The greatest power of the Supreme
Court is to decide what the
Constitution means. They may
declare laws unconstitutional.
 Checks and Balances
• Think of these questions as we
continue…
– Why did the framers of the
Constitution develop a system of
government with 3 branches?
– How do checks and balances
protect peoples rights?
 Checks and Balances
• The Framers of the Constitution
hoped that separation of powers
between the three branches would
prevent the rise of an all-powerful
leader who would rob the people of
their liberty.
• To accomplish this they set up a
system of checks and balances.
 Checks and Balances
Executive Branch
• This system allows each branch to limit
the power of the other two.
• The President can reject bills that
Congress has approved by vetoing
them.
 Checks and Balances
Legislative Branch

• Congress can check the President by

overriding the veto.
• Presidential treaties must also be
ratified (approved) by Congress.
• Congress can also remove officials
(including the President) from office. To
do this the House must first impeach,
then convict him of serious
wrongdoing.
 Impeachment
• If 2/3 of the senators
chose to convict the
President he must
leave office.
• Only two Presidents
have been impeached
and none have ever
been convicted by the
Senate.
 Checks and Balances
Judicial Branch

• The Supreme
Court can check
both Congress
and the President
by declaring a law
unconstitutional.