8USH

15 November 2016

Bellwork - In your composition notebook

Today you will need: Composition notebook, study guide,
pen/pencil, planner
Record todays Date and Objectives:
15 November 2016
Objectives: Students will...
a. Explore the role and functions of the Legislative Branch.
b. Discuss how a bill becomes a law.
Journal: Review - On page 1 of your study guide, list one thing
that each of the documents in the Influences on the US
Government section contributed to American Government

Meditation Time
Putting ourselves in the right place mentally.

Review Journal
Mayflower Compact - just laws, religious freedom
Declaration of Independence - freedoms and rights for
citizens, popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty = political power belongs to the
people
Magna Carta - rulers must obey the laws
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom - no one can be
forced to attend church (religious freedom) or pay for a
church with taxes (separation of church and state)

Powers Granted to Congress

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Taxation
Borrowing money
Regulating interstate commerce
Money: coining money, punishing counterfeiters
Establishing a national post office
Establishing an army and navy; organizing the
military
Declaring war
Establishing a court system
The Elastic Clause = making laws necessary and
proper to execute their job
Choose the number of representatives in Congress
Fill vacant seats in Congress

Powers Denied Congress

1. Cannot suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus
Writ of Habeas Corpus = a court order requiring the
government to bring a prisoner to court to explain why
he or she is being held
2. Cannot use illegal punishments
Bill of Attainder = a law declaring that a person is guilty
of a crime
Ex post facto law = after the fact law; cannot punish a
citizen for an action that was not a crime at the time it
was performed

Powers Denied Congress

3. No direct taxes - no taxes without a purpose / action
that calls for taxes
4. No favorites - Congress cannot show preference to
any one state over another
5. Public money - US Treasury money cannot be used
unless a law is made to use it
6. Cannot grant Titles of Nobility

Im Just a Bill

How a Bill becomes a Law

Step 1 - A House Representative or Senator introduces a
bill and refers it to committee.
Step 2 - The House or Senate approves, rewrites, or kills
the bill.
Step 3 - The other house of Congress debates and votes
on its version of the bill.
Step 4 - House and Senate conferences committee
members work out any differences between the two
passed versions.
Step 5 - Both houses of Congress pass the revised bill.

How a Bill becomes a Law

Step 6 - The President signs (the bill becomes a law) or
vetoes the bill.
Step 7 - (If the vetoed by the President), two-thirds
majority vote of Congress (both houses) is needed to
approve a vetoed law. The bill becomes a law.

End of class
15 November 2016
Objectives: Students will...
a. Explore the role and functions of the Legislative Branch.
b. Discuss how a bill becomes a law.
Homework: Use your book to complete the Judicial Branch
section on page 5 and the Checks and Balances section on
page 6 of the Study Guide.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Ch 5 / 6 Test: New Nation and Forming a
Government on MONDAY, 21 November 2016
Your study guide is due on test day.
AFTER SCHOOL SESSION: Thursday