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Good morning.

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Today's lesson will be an introduction
to the US Constitution.

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The first idea to remember about
the US Constitution is that it's

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the oldest written constitution
in the world that is still being

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used today.

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It is composed of seven articles
and 27 amendments.

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The seven articles and the first
10 amendments were passed by Congress

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in 1789 and eventually ratified in 1791.

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You might wonder why,
if they were drafted and applied

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at the same time as the articles,
the amendments were not integrated

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into the text of the Constitution
itself.

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Well, that is due to the fact that
as the text of the Constitution

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was being debated, Madison,
who was a Representative at that time,

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amended the text of the Constitution
when he saw it appropriate,

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which did not suit other people,
who claimed that it was not for

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Congress alone to amend that text.

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States also would have to ratify it.

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That is why Madison's changes were
presented as amendments after Article

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7.

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There were first 17 amendments
which were approved by the House,

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but the Senate only approved 12 of them,
which were then sent to the States,

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which in turn only ratified 10 of them,
with Virginia being the last state

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to do so in 1791.

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The last and 27th Amendment was
ratified in 1992.

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But keep in mind that the original
text of the seven articles and

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first 10 amendments still applies
today.

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The seven articles establish a
federal government made up of three

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branches.

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This year's syllabus will concentrate
on those three branches of government.

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The legislative branch,
which should be the most important

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powerful one according to the drafters
of the Constitution,

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is described in Article 1.

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Article 2 focuses on the executive
branch, while Article 3 establishes

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the judiciary.

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The articles of the U.S.

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Constitution also set up rules
for relationships among the now

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50 states, that is inter-state
relations, and between those states

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and the Federal Government.

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Of the 27 amendments,
the first 10 are the most famous

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ones and, when considered together,
are called the Bill of Rights.

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That Bill of Rights ensures the
protection of the individual rights

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of American citizens,
especially against interference

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from the Federal Government.

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Now let us have a look at the
historical background that led

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to the drafting of that Constitution.

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In the 17th century,
European people started to cross

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the Atlantic to settle in America.

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The first British colony was Virginia.

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It became a colony in its own right
in 1624, when it was granted the

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status of a royal colony after
starting as a simple private company

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under royal charter in 1606.

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Of course, people came from different
European countries, and the colonists

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who settled in America did it for
diverse reasons.

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For example, some wanted to establish
a new Jerusalem, far from what

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they saw as corrupt European countries.

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Others fled persecution,
especially religious persecution,

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and sought the right to worship freely.

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In 1775, that is about 150 years
after the foundation of the first

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British colony, when the War of
Independence began, there were

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13 English colonies.

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The American flag itself testifies
to the importance of those colonies

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in American history,
and it has 13 red and white horizontal

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stripes, which represent them.

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Why a war of independence?
American colonists considered that

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they had the same rights as
natural-born Englishmen.

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The problem was that they were
not treated the same way.

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Admittedly, they lived far away
from Europe and consequently enjoyed

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more freedom, as control over them
was not really very tight,

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but they had the impression of
being considered as second-class citizens.

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Problems started with what was
called the Seven Years' War,

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or French and Indian War,
which involved, among other conflicts,

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that between France and England
in America, was very costly,

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and compelled the English parliament
to run up debts to fund it.

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In order to defray its debts,
the Crown decided to levy taxes

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on the colonies.

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Several famous acts were therefore
passed, especially the Sugar Act

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in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765,
which each imposed a tax respectively

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on sugar and on stamps used in
official documents.

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Discontent increased with the decision
to limit British settlements west

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of the Appalachian mountains,
for the Crown wanted to keep good

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relationships with American Indians.

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Some settlements decided to ignore
this.

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In 1773, the Tea Act was enacted,
which led to the Boston Tea Party,

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during which, to show their
disagreement with a tax that had

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been imposed on tea,
people in Boston boarded three

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ships that contained some and threw
the boxes into the sea.

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The Intolerable Acts that limited
self-government in Massachusetts

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were passed as a punishment for
the Boston Tea Party.

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Of course, the colonists did not
agree with those taxes.

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First, because those were rather
heavy taxes, and, second,

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and more importantly,
they were not counterbalanced

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by representation in Parliament,
that is, political power.

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Concretely speaking,
that meant that there was no one

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in Parliament to defend the rights
of colonists when laws were passed

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about the colonies.

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That is why the most famous motto
of the War of Independence was

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"No taxation without representation".

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The rebellion was inspired by ideas
like republicanism, as opposed to

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monarchy, democracy,
that is, "government of the People,

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by the People, for the People",
as Lincoln put it, individual liberty,

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which of course did not apply to
slaves yet, equality,

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as can be seen at the beginning
of the Declaration of Independence,

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"We hold this truth to be self-evident
that all men are created equal",

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that did not apply to slaves,
not even to women at that time,

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and the idea of a self-governing
nation where the government is

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founded on the will and consent
of the People as Hamilton famously

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said when asked about the American
government, "Here,

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sir, the People govern".

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Please note that the importance
of the People is also underlined

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in today's Constitution,
which opens with the words,

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"We the People".

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On the 4th of July, 1776,
the Declaration of Independence

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was signed by the 13 British colonies.

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Why did they write it?

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Because they considered that their
constitutional rights had been

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violated.

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They considered that the king and
English parliament were a tyrannical

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government.

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In 1781, that is five years later,
and while there was still a war

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going on with England,
since the war ended only in 1783

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with the ratification of the Treaty
of Paris, the colonies entered

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into an agreement called the Articles
of Confederation, which established

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a first form of central
government, but which was not the

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US Constitution as we know it yet.

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Under those Articles,
a confederacy of 13 independent

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and sovereign states was set up.

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Because the 13 colonies used to
be independent and acted more or

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less as sovereigns, they did not
want to transfer too much power

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to a central government for fear
of reproducing European tyrannical

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systems.

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The problem was that under the
Articles, the national government

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was dependent on the States because
the latter themselves had gathered

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together to create it,
and therefore kept the power to

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abolish it altogether.

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It was therefore quite weak,
as a consequence of which it could

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not settle the many disputes,
especially trade ones,

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among the States.

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The Articles simply did not provide
for means of settling them.

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Moreover, the national government
only received the money that States

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agreed to grant it because, not
being elected by the people, it could

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not levy taxes on its own.

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Since it did not receive enough money,
there was little it could do at all.

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A few people, called Federalists,
among whom Madison, Hamilton,

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Jay, Adams and Washington,
called for delegates of the former

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colonies to gather in order to
establish a stronger national

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government.

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The Philadelphia Convention was
therefore convened, but that is

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next week's lesson.