Pursuing Life and Liberty Revision Notes
Unit 1D5: Pursuing ‘Life and Liberty’
Introduction – The political structure of the USA
To appreciate fully the events that are studied in this unit, it is important to have a grasp on some of the key features of the American political system. This had been set up in the late eighteenth century through the Constitution.
Three branches of government were set up. These were the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. They were to operate at both state and federal (national) level.
At federal level, the Executive is the Presidency, the Legislature is Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) and the Judiciary is the Supreme Court.
The Constitution ascribed different functions to each branch of government so that none could become all-powerful.
The role of the Supreme Court was to adjudicate on whether legislation passed by both state and federal (national) government was constitutional (conformed to the rules laid down in the Constitution).
In making the Constitution, the thirteen states that comprised the original country, had given up some of their powers as states, but they were not prepared to abandon all of them.
The Constitution implies the existence of federalism – a system by which both states and federal government have areas of separate jurisdiction as well as areas of shared jurisdiction.
State jurisdiction extends to a variety of issues concerning matters within the borders of that state e.g. the qualifications required for voting, the educational facilities offered to young people, the treatment of those accused of crimes within the state.
The historical context of the campaigns for Civil Rights
Slavery began in the seventeenth century as a mechanism for dealing with labour shortages in the colonies.
A main cause of the Civil War (1861 – 65) was the disagreement about the extension of slavery to the new states that were joining the Union at the rate of one every two years in the early and mid nineteenth century.
That is not
Introduction – The political structure of the USA
To appreciate fully the events that are studied in this unit, it is important to have a grasp on some of the key features of the American political system. This had been set up in the late eighteenth century through the Constitution.
Three branches of government were set up. These were the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. They were to operate at both state and federal (national) level.
At federal level, the Executive is the Presidency, the Legislature is Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) and the Judiciary is the Supreme Court.
The Constitution ascribed different functions to each branch of government so that none could become all-powerful.
The role of the Supreme Court was to adjudicate on whether legislation passed by both state and federal (national) government was constitutional (conformed to the rules laid down in the Constitution).
In making the Constitution, the thirteen states that comprised the original country, had given up some of their powers as states, but they were not prepared to abandon all of them.
The Constitution implies the existence of federalism – a system by which both states and federal government have areas of separate jurisdiction as well as areas of shared jurisdiction.
State jurisdiction extends to a variety of issues concerning matters within the borders of that state e.g. the qualifications required for voting, the educational facilities offered to young people, the treatment of those accused of crimes within the state.
The historical context of the campaigns for Civil Rights
Slavery began in the seventeenth century as a mechanism for dealing with labour shortages in the colonies.
A main cause of the Civil War (1861 – 65) was the disagreement about the extension of slavery to the new states that were joining the Union at the rate of one every two years in the early and mid nineteenth century.
That is not