The Founding Era

                        The Founding Era 
       In class, we talked about the Founding Era that ranged from 1619 to 1808. In 1619 there were two important things to know about; Jamestown and slave trade. The pilgrims arrived in 1920, and soon after treaties and documents would begin to pile up. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was introduced, proceeding the revolutionary war and including state constitutions. The Declaration of Independence was important because it gave us our freedom, but also included the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights include the things we believe we deserve as citizen, and gives answers to the complaints, but are relatively broad statements. The Constitution is similar to the bill of rights, it just contains the "nuts and bolts."  The separation of power was important to keeping American Democracy in check, that way no one branch got too much power. Federal government, State government, and individuals all have vertical checks and balances, but the federal and state governments also have federalism. However, any power that doesn’t go to the government, automatically goes to the individual. The first amendment was important to give the right and obligation to criticize the government. In 1787, 3 comprises were introduces: 3/5 compromise, 20-year rule, and the fugitive slave clause. In the following years, there were court cases that led to new laws. An important case was Marbury vs. Madison which led to Judicial Review: which is the power of the court to review actions of all departments and deem them constitutional or unconstitutional. This was in the interest of the citizens, because if the ruling seemed unfair, it could be challenged. Many things happened in the Founding Era, but at the end something very important happened. In 1808, the slave trade ended. This gave way for the civil war era to begin. 

Sources: Class Notes via Professor Smith