Democratic Ideals

  1. The Founding Documents
  1. Declaration of Independence
  1. Is a list of grievances from the colonist to the British King George III.
  2. Thomas Jefferson wrote the document in 1776 at the Continental Congress meeting.
  3. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is a famous quote from this document.
  1. Articles of Confederation
  1. This was the first attempt at organizing the newly independent 13 colonies following the Revolutionary War.
  2. Under the Articles of Confederation there was no central power. The 13 colonies operated independently.
  3. Due to the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation, a convention was called to fix these problems and produce a better functioning organization of the 13 colonies.
  4. At this convention the members decided to throw out the Articles of Confederation and create a new governing organization.
  5. The Articles of Confederation is replaced with the Constitution.
  1. The United States Constitution
  1. This document has a preamble and seven articles that organize the US Federal government.
  2. “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…” is a famous quote from this document.
  3. This document was written in 1787, adopted in 1789. Most of the credit is given to James Madison.
  4. The US government has three branches. The Executive branch headed by the President. The Legislative branch headed by the Congress (Senate and House of Representatives. The Judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court.
  5. The Constitution can be changed via the passing of Amendments.
  6. The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
  1. The Bill of Rights
  1. This document lays out individual rights, the Federal courts, and the relationship of the Federal government to the 13 states.
  2. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms” is a famous quote from this document and it is the 2nd Amendment.
  1. Constitutional Amendments
  1. The Constitution has been amended 27 times. Some of these amendments reflect the historical change that the US was experiencing at the time. The amendments continually expand individual rights and liberties. A few examples are listed below.
  1. The 13th Amendment (1865): Abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude except for punishment of a crime. This Amendment was a result of the eminent Union victory in the Civil War.
  2. The 17th Amendment (1912): Establishes the direct election of U.S. Senators by popular vote. This Amendment was the result of Progressive reformers successful attempt to expand democracy.
  3. The 18th Amendment (1920): Prohibit the manufacture of sale of alcohol in the US; this amendment was also a victory for the Temperance movement which aligned itself with Progressives.
  1. The Constitution is also effected by Supreme Court rulings. The Judges typically fall into two categories when interpreting the constitution.
  1. Strict Construction: does not allow for personal opinions to influence interpretation of the constitution, each word of the constitution is taken literally just as the authors wrote it.
  2. Judicial Interpretation/Activism: allows the judges to interpret the words of the constitution based on the judge’s opinion of what the words mean today
  1. Founding Fathers
  1. Every man that signed the Declaration of Independence (total of 56) is considered to be a “Founding Father.” A few are listed below with their contribution.
  2. Benjamin Rush: A physician that served as the Surgeon General to the Continental Army
  3. John Hancock: One of the wealthiest colonists. He served as President of the Continental Congress and later as the first Governor of Massachusetts
  4. John Jay: Favored a strong central government (Federalist), was president of the Continental Congress, and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
  5. John Witherspoon: A Presbyterian Minister and President of Princeton University
  6. John Peter Muhlenberg: Lutheran Minister whom George Washington asked to raise and command a militia from Virginia.
  7. Charles Carroll: The only Catholic to sign the DOI, the last surviving signor that died at the age of 95.
  8. Jonathan Trumball Sr.: the only Royal Governor to side with the Colonist.
  1. Citizenship
  1. French writer, Alex de Tocqueville, believed there were five values that are crucial to the US having a successful constitutional republic.
  1. Liberty: Freedom of the individual.
  2. Egalitarianism: Equality of the all citizens.
  3. Individualism: Each person was responsible for themselves.
  4. Populism: The citizens were involved in the government
  5. Laissez-faire: The government is not involved in the economy.
  1. “American Exceptionalism” is the idea that the US is different from all other nations on Earth, because of the existence of de Tocqueville’s five values.
  2. All US citizens share the belief that all people are created equal and have rights that cannot be taken away.
  3. Participation in the democratic process helps individuals develop the national ethos, patriotism, and civic responsibility.
  1. The national ethos is “The American dream”.
  2. Patriotismis the devotion to ones country
  3. Civic responsibility is being involved in the democratic process. The citizen’s participation in governance.
  1. The process for building “a more perfect union” will be constant and ongoing. It will never be a completed process.
  2. “E Pluribus Unam”: Latin: Out of many, one. It appears on “The Seal of the United States”. This seal is stamped on all official U.S. government documents. The seal was adopted by Congress in 1782.
  3. “In God We Trust”: In 1956 the Congress made this phrase the official motto of the US.
  1. History Skills
  1. Primary source document: Direct quotes from an eye witness of an event. Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts and other papers in which individuals describe events in which they were participants or observers.
  2. Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information by an author who was not a witness or involved in the actual event.