Foundational Documents

The Declaration of Independence

• Explained the purpose of the government, listed complaints and grievances against the King, proclaimed a declaration of war against the oppressors and announced the intent of the American colonies to separate from the control of the King.
• Considered to be the founding document of American history
• Established on July 4th, 1776
• Signed by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson
• "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal"
• We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

The Articles of Confederation

• Originally proposed by Ben Franklin, then again by John Dickinson
• Each state has own sovereignty and rights to govern
• In June of 1776, the Continental Congress voted to form a committee to write the Constitution
• Established a weak central government
• Contained 13 articles
• Consisted of a unicameral legislature
• Had no direct power to tax or regulate interstate and foreign trade
• Drafter in November of 1777; not ratified until 1781
• "League of friendship" between the states
• Each state had one vote

The U.S Constitution

• Framers of the Constitution were intelligent/schooled men
• Consists of:
• Preamble
• 7 Articles
• Amendments/ Bill of Rights
• Popular Sovereignty
• People should have authority
• Limited government to avoid the tyranny
• Government has power only expressed in the Constitution
• Established the separation of powers; 3 branches of government
• Created checks and balances for no abuse of power
• Federalism
• ​​​​​​​Division of government power

Federalist Paper #10

• Explained that FACTIONS (any group of citizens who attempt to advance their beliefs or economic status at the expense of other citizens) are dangerous and a threat to liberty
• States that a large government is capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions
• Discusses majority rule vs. minority rights
• Majority factions control minorities
• Minority factions can be controlled
• To cure the mischiefs of factions, we can either remove the causes or control the effects

Federalist Paper #51

• Written by James Madison
• Argued that checks and balances only work if the branches are independent of one another
• Total independence makes oversight difficult
• Branches should have a communal interest
• The rise of party politics in the 19th century undermined the concept of communal interest

Federalist Paper #70

• Written by Alexander Hamilton
• Argues that a lone person acting as the executive branch adds needed energy and decisiveness to the government
• Explains the benefits of a strong executive leader in comparison to a weak executive
• The executive branch provides unity and duration which is necessary to have a good government
• Hamilton argued that a single executive would be watched "more narrowly" and vigilantly by the people than a group of people would be

Federalist Paper #78

• Written by Alexander Hamilton
• Deals with the judicial branch
• Designed to be the weakest among the 3 branches
• Life tenure for judges
• Judiciary is established to protect the Constitution
• The design of the judicial branch protects the court's independence as a branch of government

Brutus #1

• Considered whether or not the 13 states should be reduced to one republic as the Federalists proposed
• Believed that the U.S was too large to be efficiently governed by one central power
• Argued that Congress had too much power and wanted a confederation
• Stated that the Constitution would create a federal government that will "possess absolute and uncontrollable power"
• The Necessary and Proper clause and the Supremacy clause all for the federal government to have even more power over the states

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

• Written by Martin Luther King Jr.
• A most important written document in the civil rights era
• Was written in response to a letter from 8 local Birmingham clergymen who felt that Dr. King was hasty and radical in his approach to make a phone call
• States the reason why he was in Birmingham, which was to battle injustice
• It mentioned how he was organizing nonviolent action