Malcolm Rivera
The US Constitution is the framework for the United States government and the highest law of the land. It was authored by the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and it outlines the aspirations of We the People for the government and the nation. The Constitution establishes a federal government with three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch is composed of a Bicameral Congress, with the Senate and the House of Representatives. The executive branch is led by the President of the United States, who has the power to approve or disapprove of bills passed by Congress. The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court, which has the power to declare acts of Congress as unconstitutional. The Constitution also grants US citizenship, protects the personal liberty of citizens, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the government and the people.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To set the framework for the United States government and protect the personal liberty of citizens from government intrusion. |
| Rights | The right to keep and bear arms. |
| Amendments | The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to former slaves and imposed three new limits on state power: no violation of citizens' privileges or immunities; no deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; and equal protection of the laws for all persons. |
| Federal Courts | Federal courts may declare a statute enacted by Congress to be in violation of the Constitution and therefore invalid. |
| Supreme Court | The Supreme Court assumes the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional but self-limits its passing on constitutional questions. |
| Congress | Each bill must be determined by yeas and nays, with the names of persons voting for and against entered on the Journal of each House. |
| Elections | The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature. |
| Tribunals | The US Constitution allows for the constitution of tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court. |
| Military | The US may raise and support armies and provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions. |
| Treaties | No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation without the Consent of Congress. |
| Currency | No State shall coin Money, emit Bills of Credit, or make any Tender in Payment of Debts other than gold and silver Coin. |
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution's preamble
The Preamble to the United States Constitution was placed in the Constitution during the final days of the Constitutional Convention by the Committee on Style, led by Gouverneur Morris. The Preamble serves as an introduction, expressing the purpose of the Constitution and the federal government's powers and sources.
The Preamble begins with "We, the people of the United States", indicating that the federal government's power stems from the people, not the states. This was a significant shift from earlier drafts, which referred to the people of various states. The phrase "We, the people" has become an iconic and eloquent expression of the nation's democratic ideals.
The Preamble then outlines the purposes of the government, including:
- Forming a more perfect Union
- Establishing Justice
- Insuring domestic Tranquility
- Providing for the common defence
- Promoting the general Welfare
- Securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity
These goals reflect the influence of the Declaration of Independence and represent the ideals that the nation strives towards. While the Preamble itself does not grant specific powers or rights, it provides a framework for interpreting the Constitution and understanding the intentions of its framers.
Leadership experts and legal scholars often revisit the Preamble to gain insights into the original language and intent, ensuring that the nation remains true to its founding principles as outlined in this powerful document.
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The right to keep and bear arms
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the United States Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment states: "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
The right to bear arms was deliberately tied to membership in a militia by James Madison, the slaveholder and chief drafter of the Amendment. Only whites could join militias in the South, and Madison's intention was to provide assurances to moderate Anti-Federalists that the militias would not be disarmed. Madison did not invent the right to keep and bear arms when he drafted the Second Amendment; the right was pre-existing at both common law and in the early state constitutions. For example, in 1776, Thomas Jefferson had submitted a draft constitution for Virginia that said, "no freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms within his own lands or tenements." This version was rejected because it would have given free Black people the right to own firearms.
In United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the Supreme Court ruled that "the right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence." The Second Amendment, according to the Court, restricts the powers of the National Government and does not grant any new rights. In United States v. Miller (1939), the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment did not protect weapon types that did not have a "reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia."
In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court affirmed that the right to keep and bear arms belongs to individuals for self-defense in the home. The Court also noted that the right is not unlimited and does not preclude certain long-standing prohibitions, such as those forbidding the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill. In McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that state and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing upon this right.
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The role of federal courts
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government, organised under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The federal court system has three main levels: district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court.
The district courts, also known as trial courts, resolve disputes by determining the facts and applying the law to those facts. There are 94 district courts spread across the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The 13 circuit courts, also called the Courts of Appeals, are the first level of appeal. They determine whether the law was applied correctly in the district court.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States and is the final level of appeal in the federal system. The Supreme Court is not required to hear every case submitted to it and may choose to accept or reject a case through a writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court has the power to decide appeals on all cases brought in federal or state courts.
Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, are appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate and serve until they resign, are impeached and convicted, retire, or die.
The federal courts have the final say on issues that affect the lives of all Americans, including civil rights, religious freedoms, voting rights, and affirmative action. They also provide a peaceful way to resolve disputes that people cannot settle themselves.
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The Supreme Court's power
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. Article III, Section I of the US Constitution establishes the federal judiciary and states that "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." This means that while the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it gives Congress the power to decide how to organise it.
Congress first exercised this power in the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created a Supreme Court with six justices and established the lower federal court system. Over the years, various Acts of Congress have altered the number of seats on the Supreme Court, from a low of five to a high of 10. Shortly after the Civil War, the number of seats was fixed at nine, where it remains today.
The Supreme Court has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all US federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve questions of US constitutional or federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party."
The Supreme Court's best-known power is judicial review, or the ability to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution. This power is not explicitly mentioned in the text of the Constitution but was asserted by the Court in 1803 via the landmark case Marbury v. Madison. The Court has been criticised for using judicial review to give the federal government too much power to interfere with state authority, for example, by upholding regulations and legislation that were enacted under the guise of regulating interstate commerce.
The Supreme Court also plays an important role in protecting civil rights and liberties by striking down laws that violate the Constitution. It ensures that popular majorities cannot pass laws that harm or take undue advantage of unpopular minorities, thus safeguarding fundamental values such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and due process of law.
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Citizenship and voting rights
The Fourteenth Amendment (1868), passed after the Civil War, was a significant step in defining citizenship and voting rights. This amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US and subject to its jurisdiction, including former slaves and all individuals "subject to US jurisdiction". It also contained three new limits on state power: a state shall not violate a citizen's privileges or immunities; shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; and must guarantee all persons equal protection under the law.
The Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause has been central to voting rights cases. In Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966), the Supreme Court ruled that restricting voting rights to citizens who had paid a poll tax was unconstitutional under this clause. The Court affirmed that factors like wealth, race, creed, or colour should not determine one's ability to participate in the electoral process.
The Fifteenth Amendment (1870) further strengthened voting rights by prohibiting the denial of the right to vote based on "race, colour, or previous condition of servitude". This amendment was particularly relevant in protecting the voting rights of freed slaves and non-white minorities, such as Mexican Americans in Texas, who faced significant resistance and violence from white groups attempting to maintain power in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Despite these amendments, the authority to protect voting rights has often been challenged and weakened by Supreme Court and Senate inaction. States have been given significant leeway in setting voting requirements, and there is ongoing debate about the length of citizenship and residency requirements for voting.
Currently, almost all state constitutions recognise a right to vote, and some states have taken steps to protect this right, including removing barriers to voter registration and making voting more accessible. However, a uniform national standard for conducting elections and protecting voting rights is yet to be established.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution is the framework for the United States government and the highest law of the land. It was designed to protect the personal liberty of citizens from government intrusion and prevent tyranny by the government.
The US Constitution is underpinned by the principles of "We the People", the separation of powers, and the rule of law.
The US Constitution guarantees certain rights, such as the right to keep and bear arms, and prevents Congress from passing laws that violate these rights. Most protections for individual rights are contained in the Bill of Rights, which are the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
The US Constitution limits the powers of the government by distributing powers across three branches—the executive, legislative, and judicial—and allowing each to act as a check on the others.
The US Constitution is very difficult to amend. An amendment must pass both houses of Congress by a two-thirds majority and then be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
