美国宪法概述和介绍解析.pptVIP

United States Constitution 101 Constitution 101: An Introduction Overview to the US Constitution This PPT can be used alone or in conjunction with the Consortium s Goal 1 2 lessons, available in the Database of Civic Resources at . Warm-Up Questions 1. What is the US Constitution? 2. Why do you feel it is important in your life? What is the US Constitution? ? The supreme law of the United States. ? It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the Federal Government of the United States. ? It provides the framework for the organization of the United States Government. What are the basic principals of the Constitution? ? Popular Sovereignty – Government power resides in the people ? Limited government – Government is not all powerful, can only do what the people let it. ? Separation of Powers – Helps prevent one branch from becoming too powerful – Checks and Balances ? Federalism – Division of power among national and state governments What are the Checks and Balances? Who Wrote It? ? James Madison is considered “ the father of the Constitution. ” ? His important contributions: – The Virginia Plan – Separation of Powers – Bill of Rights Why was it written? ? After the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation set up the structure of the US Government. ? The federal government was extremely weak and this created many problems such as: 1. No separation of powers – only unicameral legislature. 2. Weak central government – states had most power. 3. Congress did not have the power to tax – this means they could not get their finances in order. Why was it written? ? More problems with the Articles of Confederation : 4. In order to change the Articles, all thirteen states had to approve of the changes. This made it essentially impossible to make any changes. 5. For any major laws to pass they ha