Who We Are
Welcome to Government and Citizenship! The goal of this course is to help you learn about your government and to help you become a more well-informed citizen. Before we start talking about the United States government, let's talk about governments in general.
What makes a good government? Why are governments necessary.... or are they even necessary? No doubt you have your own opinions about government already. What should the government do?
The Founding Fathers of our nation asked themselves the same question. They tried a few forms of government before the settled on the one we have now. How do you make a government? How were governments invented?
Historians are still trying to figure out how government was started. Maybe when people started settling down a building cities, there needed to be someone in charge- someone to make rules. What would life be like without government? There would be no rules, and thus no one enforcing rules. Government is to protects people. Without government there would be no one 'in charge' assuring that people get protection. This absence of government is known as anarchy.
What makes a good government? Why are governments necessary.... or are they even necessary? No doubt you have your own opinions about government already. What should the government do?
The Founding Fathers of our nation asked themselves the same question. They tried a few forms of government before the settled on the one we have now. How do you make a government? How were governments invented?
Historians are still trying to figure out how government was started. Maybe when people started settling down a building cities, there needed to be someone in charge- someone to make rules. What would life be like without government? There would be no rules, and thus no one enforcing rules. Government is to protects people. Without government there would be no one 'in charge' assuring that people get protection. This absence of government is known as anarchy.
When our Founding Fathers set out to form a new government they decided to look at other people's ideas. They knew they didn't want a kingdom- they had just experienced the oppression of being ruled by England. The picture above is of the Founding Fathers presenting the Declaration of Independence. Some people get confused at the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The Declaration of Independence came first and it was a document sent to King George 'declaring independence'. The American colonies told the King of England they didn't want to be his colonies anymore. So that's the Declaration of Independence and we'll talk about the Constitution later.
After declaring independence and fighting the British, America had a new government to create. Who do you turn to when you're looking to plan the perfect government? Well here are a few men with a few ideas:
After declaring independence and fighting the British, America had a new government to create. Who do you turn to when you're looking to plan the perfect government? Well here are a few men with a few ideas:
Niccolo Machiavelli was born in 1469 in Italy. 23 years before Columbus sailed to the Americas. When he lived in Italy, it was in a bad place politically. Other countries were invading, and cities within Italy were fighting with each other. Machiavelli came up with his idea of what an ideal government would look like. He wrote a book called The Prince that outlined how a leader of government should act.
In this book Niccolo said that sometimes leaders had to put aside ethics to make decisions for the good of the country. A lot of people at the time thought this was a crazy idea. They thought that Kings were appointed by God and had a 'Divine Right' to rule. If a King was appointed by God, surely he had to abide by the laws of justice, honesty, and kindness. But not according to ol' Niccolo. Machiavelli also said that Kings and rulers had to do whatever was necessary to keep their power. If the kings lost their power than the countries they ruled would also lose their power. |
John Locke. John was another political philosopher. He was a little younger than Machiavelli, Locke was born in the year 1632. Locke said that people had rights and those rights shouldn't be taken away by anyone. What are the rights that everybody should have? Locke said everyone has the right to their life, liberty, and property.
Locke said that people give up some of their rights when they consent to follow a government. This is true when you think about it, you give up your right to drink and drive when you agree to obey the laws of the government. The government agrees to protect its people, but you have to OBEY the rules of the government. Technically following rules is giving up rights. The government keeps you safe and provides certain services for you in return for you giving up your right to break the law.
Using this argument Locke said that if a government wasn't living up to their end of the bargain- they weren't protecting your life, your liberty, or your property.... then you have the right to OVERTHROW that government. This was a new idea, normally citizens didn't consider overthrowing the king under any circumstances. As I mentioned before, they thought the King had the 'Divine Right' to rule. So overthrowing the kind would be overthrowing God.
Locke said that people give up some of their rights when they consent to follow a government. This is true when you think about it, you give up your right to drink and drive when you agree to obey the laws of the government. The government agrees to protect its people, but you have to OBEY the rules of the government. Technically following rules is giving up rights. The government keeps you safe and provides certain services for you in return for you giving up your right to break the law.
Using this argument Locke said that if a government wasn't living up to their end of the bargain- they weren't protecting your life, your liberty, or your property.... then you have the right to OVERTHROW that government. This was a new idea, normally citizens didn't consider overthrowing the king under any circumstances. As I mentioned before, they thought the King had the 'Divine Right' to rule. So overthrowing the kind would be overthrowing God.
Thomas Jefferson. He studied the ideas of other political philosophers and then came up with his own ideas of how government should work. The name Thomas Jefferson should, at the very least, be familiar to you. He wrote the Declaration of Independence. He is one of America's founding fathers. He was actually in France when the Constitution was being written, but his ideas were incorporated. He was also later one of the Presidents of the United States.
Jefferson's major political philosophy was that the power should be with the people. That when important decisions needed to be made, there should be a vote. And whatever the majority wants should happen. Jefferson also thought that the federal government (president + congress + supreme court) should be as small as possible. The idea of small government was the opposite of what another philosopher thought.....
Jefferson's major political philosophy was that the power should be with the people. That when important decisions needed to be made, there should be a vote. And whatever the majority wants should happen. Jefferson also thought that the federal government (president + congress + supreme court) should be as small as possible. The idea of small government was the opposite of what another philosopher thought.....
Alexander Hamilton. He was also one of the founding fathers, but he believed in BIG government. He thought that the government should have more control than Jefferson believed they should have. Hamilton co-wrote The Federalist Papers. These were a series of articles that were written to convince the American Public that the Constitution should be ratified. He recruited John Jay and James Madison to write with him.
Hamilton was a big defender of the United States' Constitution, and he wanted to convince the American public that it was the best model for a new government. Hamilton wanted a government that didn't have limited powers because he believed:
"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FORESEE OR DEFINE THE EXTENT AND VARIETY OF NATIONAL EXIGENCIES, OR THE CORRESPONDENT EXTENT AND VARIETY OF THE MEANS WHICH MAY BE NECESSARY TO SATISFY THEM."
Basically, you can't plan for every possible scenario, so you should let the government have certain powers that aren't outlined in the Constitution. We'll talk about this more later.
Hamilton was a big defender of the United States' Constitution, and he wanted to convince the American public that it was the best model for a new government. Hamilton wanted a government that didn't have limited powers because he believed:
"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FORESEE OR DEFINE THE EXTENT AND VARIETY OF NATIONAL EXIGENCIES, OR THE CORRESPONDENT EXTENT AND VARIETY OF THE MEANS WHICH MAY BE NECESSARY TO SATISFY THEM."
Basically, you can't plan for every possible scenario, so you should let the government have certain powers that aren't outlined in the Constitution. We'll talk about this more later.
James Madison. James will be the last political philosopher I'll tell you about. I mentioned above that he helped write The Federalist Papers to convince the public that the Constitution was a good thing. James Madison is considered the 'Father of the Constitution'. He's the one who wrote the model for the Constitution. He later became the 4th president of the United States. He shared a lot of views with Thomas Jefferson, and a lot of views with Alexander Hamilton. He believed that the Constitution should contain a Bill of Rights. He also believed that states should have rights but that the federal government should have more power than state governments. James Madison was a religious man, but he believed that government should have nothing to do with religion.
ASSIGNMENT 1Congratulations you've made it to the first assignment! Please go to your google classroom to answer each of these questions.
Answer these questions in your document:
1- What did Niccolo Machiavelli say that government leaders should do?
2- What are the differences between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton?
3- What are The Federalist Papers? What do they have to do with Political Philosophy?
4- What did John Locke believe about people's rights?
5- Why is James Madison important to our country?
Answer these questions in your document:
1- What did Niccolo Machiavelli say that government leaders should do?
2- What are the differences between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton?
3- What are The Federalist Papers? What do they have to do with Political Philosophy?
4- What did John Locke believe about people's rights?
5- Why is James Madison important to our country?