Cours du 11 septembre 2014 : Version pdf du diaporama

1
Les origines: la
fondation du pays
et la constitution
POL2310 – Les États-Unis
Cours # 2,
11 septembre 2014
Plan
•Actualité
•Prologue: le 2e discours inaugural de
Barack Obama et l’esprit des pères
fondateurs
•L’héritage de la période coloniale
•La « première fondation » : intérêts,
idéalisme et indépendance (1773-77)
•La « deuxième fondation » : compromis
politiques et constitution (1777-87)
•La constitution
•Les débats sur la ratification (1787-90)
•Quelques personnages marquants
–Samuel Adams
–George Washington
–Thomas Jefferson

2
Actualité •Débat sur l’intervention
militaire possible des États-
Unis contre l’État islamique en
Irak et au Levant
–Discours du président à la télé
•11 septembre, triste
anniversaire
•Fin de la période des primaires
mardi: pronostics pour le 4
novembre
La bataille pour le
contrôle du Sénat
•Aujourd’hui:
–53 D (+2 indép)
–45 R
•Prévisions
–WV D->R 98%
–SD D->R 89%
–LA D->R 72%
–AR D->R 71%
–AK D->R 68%
–NC D->R 55%
–IA (D->?) 50%
•À surveiller
–KS (coalition Ind-D)
–NH (Scott Brown)
–KY (McConnell)

3
http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/senate-forecast/
Le deuxième discours inaugural du
Président Obama, 21 janvier 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzC135ql_wA&feature=share&list=PL8C61A61D646F0865

4
Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United
States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness
to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the
promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation
together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or
the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional -- what
makes us American -- is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a
declaration made more than two centuries ago:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.”
Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning
of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us
that while these truths may be self-evident, they’ve never been
self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be
secured by His people here on Earth. (Applause.) The patriots of
1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the
privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a
republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting
each generation to keep safe our founding creed.
And for more than two hundred years, we have.
Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword,
we learned that no union founded on the principles of
liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free.
We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward
together.
Together, we determined that a modern economy requires
railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce,
schools and colleges to train our workers.
Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives
when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.
Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the
vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards
and misfortune.
Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism
of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction
that all society’s ills can be cured through government
alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise, our
insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these
are constants in our character. (…)

5
Quelques questions
•Comment la période coloniale a-t-elle
marqué la culture politique américaine?
•Pourquoi l’indépendance? Dans l’intérêt
de qui? Était-ce inévitable?
•Pourquoi l’Union? Pourquoi un État
central fort? Ou non?
•Quels sont les principes sur lesquels se
fondent la déclaration d’indépendance
et la constitution?
•Pourquoi la séparation des pouvoirs?
•Pourquoi le fédéralisme et les limites au
pouvoir central?
•Sur quelles bases s’est fait le débat de
ratification?
•La constitution américaine: idéaux ou
compromis?
•Pourquoi les amendements sont-ils
difficiles et à quels besoins ont-ils
répondu?
L’évolution des 13 colonies
de 1625 à 1775
Année
13 colonies
Nouvelle-
France
1625
1 980
76 (1628)
1641
50 000
240
1668
6282
1688
200 000
11562
1702
270 000
16 417 (1706)
1715
434 600
20 731 (1716)
1749
1 046 000
42 700 (1739)
1754
1 485 634
55 009
1765
2 240 000
69 810 (Canada)
1775
2 418 000
113 012 (Canada)
Ces données excluent les autochtones et les militaires non
résidents.
Sources: (Nouvelle-France): Statistique Canada
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/98-187-x/4064824-fra.htm;
(Colonies) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies