We're standing in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. This is where America was born. In 1776, the Continental Congress met here and Thomas Jefferson drafted the declaration of Independence, Congress approved it on July 4th and that was the beginning of the American nation. Of course that didn't take us all the way to where we are today. After the Declaration, came the Revolutionary War. And after that the Articles of Confederation, our first failed attempt at a National Government. And in 1787 delegates from 12 states met again at Independence Hall to propose revisions to the articles. What emerged after months of secret deliberation, was the Constitution. In this module we are going to talk about the declaration, the revolution, the articles and the constitution. Where did the Constitution come from? What problems was it trying to solve? And how should judges go about interpreting it? These are the basic issues we need to discuss. To lay a foundation for the rest of the course. Let's go. [MUSIC] Come back with me to 1776. This is when American history begins, the history of America as a country. It begins with the Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self-evident. The Declaration is a statement of our foundational principles. And those principles are going to play a big role in our history going forward. What are they? Two things basically, one is a statement of values. All men are created equal, the Declaration says. And they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. Including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nice values, certainly. A little odd coming from slave holders. And we'll see how the unresolved tension between the Declaration and slavery colors American history. But apart from this statement of values, the Declaration has a Theory of Government. Governments are created, it says, to secure these rights. And when government's do a bad job of that, when they don't protect the rights, when they oppress people, then the people have a right to change their government. This is a surprising thing for the signers to say. Yes it seems to justify their rebellion, but it would also, you'd think, justify a slave rebellion. Surely the American slaves can say, that the government is not protecting their rights. And maybe we'll see, this theory could be used by slave holders too. It's a particularly surprising thing to say to a king. To King George. Government authority, the Declaration says, comes from the consent of the governed. Your power comes from us, and we're taking it back. That is not King George's view of the matter, from his perspective under English law, this is treason. American history begins with an act of treason. Which sets emotional war, a life or death struggle. We pledge our lives, the signers say, our fortunes, and our Sacred Honor. And all of those really are at risk. If they lose, they will be considered traitors. They will be executed. Their property will be seized. Their names blackened. So a rag-tag rebel alliance takes on the vast and powerful Empire. That works out okay in the movies. Some of them. But not as much in real life. And yet, somehow, with some help from the French, and the Spanish, the rebels win. And Americans learn their first important lesson, about government. The lesson on the Revolution. Is that a far away government like King George might trample individual rights. If that happens, the states can stand up to protect their citizens. State militias fight off the tyrannical government. Here's a clip with some more details. >> 150 years before the Constitution we were separate colonies of Britain. We were ruled as the king saw fit. He could throw us in jail. Make us pay unfair taxes,take our land. His word was the last word. That caused some conflict. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson and 55 other men risked their lives by signing the Declaration of Independence. Telling Britain and the world that we weren't going to obey the king anymore. We fought a war for our Independence and started a our own government in 1781, the Articles of Confederation, and the Articles of Confederation turned out to be a recipe for more conflict. >> That's the first American understanding, of how the world works. States defend their citizens against the tyrannical National Government. And that's whats in the minds of Americans. When they set up their first system of National Government, the Article of Confederation. They're worried about a tyrannical National Government. Their solution is to create a government that's too weak to be a tyrant. And they succeed in that. They succeed brilliantly. The government they create is incredibly weak. It's a system something like the United Nations. There's a Legislature called Congress. Each state gets one vote like countries do in the United Nations. Congress can make laws, sort of. But it can't enforce them. There's no Executive branch, there's no Judicial branch, no President and no courts. And the laws that Congress passes really aren't worth much. Congress can't require individuals to do anything. It can't act on individuals at all. It can act on the states, it can ask them to do things like pay their revolutionary war debts. But it can't force them to. And frequently they just don't comply. And it can't tax. So this is a success, in terms of making a weak government. In terms of making a nation and uniting the states? It's a total failure. The states are still basically independent countries. They had their own currencies. They don't get along that well. Connecticut and New Jersey plan an attack on New York. Virginia and Maryland fight a war over oysters. The Articles of Confederation aren't working. That's the second lesson of American Government. It's not going to be the last one. We'll see a third later. But the second lesson is. The National Government must be strong enough to govern. It has to be able to make the states cooperate. States look after their own citizens, sure, that's the first lesson, but they may mistreat to the citizens of other states, and they may not contribute to the collective good of the nation in a way they should. So the National Government has to be strong enough to keep them in line. To make them do what they are supposed to do. Here's some examples of how weak the articles really were. >> Remember that the colonists, were revolting against England. They were revolting against a monarchy. And they were revolting against a parliament that had total power. What they wanted to do was to prevent anybody or any group of people, any institution in this country from having that kind of power over their lives. >> You had group of people that had existed for a fairly long time and identified themselves as Virginians or people from Maryland or people from Massachusetts. >> North Carolina where the wonders never cease. [MUSIC] Delaware it's good being first. >> They want what later would be called states rights, state sovereignty. >> The state saw themselves as essentially sovereign nations that had kind of agreed to kind of maybe work together, maybe, kind of, sort of. >> And things fall apart so quickly that it's really kind of dazzling. >> One of the biggest if not the biggest problems that there was no power of taxation. >> Under the Articles of Confederation the National Government was flat broke. It couldn't afford to protect ships on the Atlantic from pirates and it couldn't protect citizens on the Western borders either. Each state printed it's own money. >> Even more dramatically New York State which has the great port of New York City. Is charging Connecticut and New Jersey an arm and a leg for everything that comes into their port. And so Connecticut and New Jersey are meeting to plan a united military attack on New York. >> So in 1787, Congress calls a convention to consider changes to the Articles, changes are all that the Articles allow. They say the Union will be perpetual, can't be set aside. And even changes are not going to be easy. The articles require a unanimous consent for any alteration. That means a single state can block any change, even if every other state wants it, even if it's the smallest state. The delegates get together in Philadelphia, and the first thing they decide is that they are not doing revisions. They're going to create a New Constitution. In the spirit of the Declaration, they say the existing form of government isn't working, and we're going to make another. So this is like the Declaration. In the Declaration remember, was treason. You could almost say that about the framers of the Constitution. They're going to wipe out the articles. They're going in effect, to overthrow the existing American Government. Is this illegal? Is it treason? It is almost certainly illegal. The Articles after all declared that their union shall be perpetual. Any changes or amendments required unanimous consent of Congress and confirmation from every state. But the Constitution, when it's drafted, declares that it will be effective if nine states accept it. Not 13. Was the Constitution drafted illegally? Lets see what some other experts have to say about it. >> The interesting thing about the Constitution drafting is that it wasn't authorized. Illegal is too strong a word, but what they were doing was not permitted under the Articles of Confederation itself. >> These people had no authority under the previous system of government to do what they were doing. >> Not supposed to be a constitutional convention. This is a tweaking convention. >> Wasn't supposed to come up with a New Constitution, you know, was just supposed amend it. >> The third day of the convention, Edmund Randolph gets up, and he says, Virginia thinks we should throw out the Articles of Confederation and write a New Constitution. So, on the third day of a convention called to make recommendations to amend the Articles of Confederation, they overthrow the government. >> Is it treason? That's a harder question. In some sense I suppose it is, but there's really no sovereign against whom to be committing treason. The Declaration of Independence, that's a slap in the face to King George. Tossing out the Articles of Confederation, who's going to be upset? Rhode Island, that's the answer. Rhode Island is the smallest state, but it has a veto under the Articles, since any change requires unanimous approval. Rhode Island likes the veto. They've used it a lot. Now the Constitution is going to take it away, and Rhode Island is mad. But so what? What are they going to do? History repeats itself they say. First is tragedy, then is farce. King George is a real threat, to the lives, the property, and the good names of the founders. The American Declaration of Independence has a strong potential for tragedy. Rhode Island is now the same kind of threat. First tragedy, then farce. But it will be tragedy again before we're done. So the delegates start thinking about the Constitution. What's it going to look like? These delegates represent states. And states have different desires. There are big states and small states. There are slave states and free states. There are states that grow things and states that are paid by sea. And above all, there are the two conflicting lessons Americans have learned so far. The National Government could become a tyrant if it's too strong. But the nation will fall apart if it is too weak. How do these conflicting desires get resolved in the Constitution? How does it respond to both the success of the revolution and the failures of the Articles. Tune in next time. [MUSIC]
