Malcolm Rivera
The US Constitution is the foundation of the Federal Government and is considered the supreme law of the United States of America. It is composed of a preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments, and has three main functions. Firstly, it establishes a national government consisting of a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch. Secondly, it divides power between the federal government and the states. And finally, it safeguards the individual liberties of American citizens.
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution is the supreme law
The Constitution is composed of a preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments. The first 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. The seven articles make up the structural constitution, which was signed on September 17, 1787, and ratified on June 21, 1788. The first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, dividing the federal government into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.
The legislative branch consists of the bicameral Congress, which has the power to tax and spend, coin and borrow money, control interstate and foreign commerce, maintain an army and navy, and declare war. The executive branch is led by the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and has the power to grant pardons and reprieves, make treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, and appoint federal judges, ambassadors, and other public officers. The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court and other federal courts, which have the power of judicial review to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
The Constitution also divides power between the federal government and the states, with the federal government having ultimate authority. It protects the inherent rights of American citizens and serves as a framework for the United States government. It also allows for the amendment of errors, with the process originating with both the General and State Governments. The process of amending the Constitution involves two steps: adoption and ratification. Proposals must be properly adopted and ratified before they can change the Constitution, and three-fourths of the states' approval is required for ratification.
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It establishes a national government
The US Constitution establishes a national government, which consists of a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch, with a system of checks and balances among the three branches. This is outlined in the first three articles of the Constitution, which superseded the Articles of Confederation in 1789.
The legislative branch, established in Article I, is bicameral, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the Congress. Congress is responsible for creating laws, and its powers are listed in Article I, Section 8. These include the power to tax and spend, coin and borrow money, control interstate and foreign commerce, maintain an army and navy, and declare war. Congress can also override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses.
The executive branch, established in Article II, is headed by the President, who is the Commander in Chief of the Army and has the power to grant pardons and reprieves. The President is also responsible for administering all executive departments, which must first be established by acts of Congress. The President has the power to nominate heads of federal agencies and high court appointees, including federal judges and Supreme Court Justices, who must be confirmed by the Senate. The President is elected for a four-year term by the Electoral College, with each state having a number of members equal to its number of members of the House and Senate.
The judicial branch, established in Article III, consists of the Supreme Court and other federal courts, including district courts and courts of appeals. The Supreme Court has the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional, but it self-limits its passing on constitutional questions. Federal courts can also declare a statute enacted by Congress to be in violation of the Constitution and therefore invalid, a power known as judicial review. The President nominates the Justices of the Supreme Court, who are then confirmed by the Senate.
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It divides power between federal government and states
The US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. The Constitution has three main functions. One of them is dividing power between the federal government and the states.
The Constitution divides the federal government into three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. This ensures that no individual or group will have too much power. The legislative branch is made up of Congress (the Senate and House of Representatives) and special agencies and offices that provide support services to Congress. The executive branch is headed by the President, who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The judicial branch includes the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
The Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of government, and its decrees must be enforceable. While it has the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional, it self-limits its passing on constitutional questions. The Court's guidance on basic problems of life and governance in a democracy is most effective when American political life reinforces its rulings. The federal courts have one power not enjoyed by courts in some other countries. They may declare a statute enacted by Congress to be in violation of the Constitution and therefore invalid. This power of judicial review was established by the Supreme Court in 1803, in the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison.
The Constitution lays out the restrictions on federal and state authority. The most important restriction Section 9 places on the national government prevents measures that cause the deprivation of personal liberty. Specifically, the government cannot suspend the writ of habeas corpus, which enables someone in custody to petition a judge to determine whether that person’s detention is legal; pass a bill of attainder, a legislative action declaring someone guilty without a trial; or enact an ex post facto law, which criminalizes an act retroactively. The Bill of Rights affirms and expands these constitutional restrictions, ensuring that the government cannot encroach on personal freedoms.
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It protects individual liberties
The US Constitution has three main functions. The first is to create a national government consisting of a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch, with a system of checks and balances among the three branches. The second is to divide power between the federal government and the states. The third is to protect individual liberties.
The Constitution protects individual liberties through the Bill of Rights, which makes up the first ten amendments to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights guarantees civil rights and liberties to individuals, including freedom of speech, press, and religion. It also sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the federal government for the people or the states.
The First Amendment provides several rights protections, including the freedom to express ideas through speech and the press, the freedom to assemble or gather with a group to protest or for other reasons, and the freedom to petition the government. It also protects the right to hold religious beliefs and practices and prevents the government from creating or favoring a religion.
The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments cover search and seizure, rights of the accused, due process of law, jury trials, and protection from cruel and unusual punishment. The Ninth Amendment states that the listing of specific rights in the Constitution does not mean that people do not have other rights that are not explicitly listed. The Fourteenth Amendment has also been used to claim rights to personal liberty, including travel, political affiliation, and privacy.
The Constitution also protects individuals from discrimination based on disability, immigration status, and other factors. It guarantees the right to equal protection under the law and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.
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It can be amended
The US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. The Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, including the first 10 amendments, which were ratified on December 15, 1791, and are known as the Bill of Rights.
The Constitution can be amended, but it is a difficult and time-consuming process. The authority to amend the Constitution is derived from Article V of the Constitution. There are two steps in the amendment process. Firstly, proposals to amend the Constitution must be properly adopted. There are two procedures for adopting the language of a proposed amendment: either by Congress, with a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, or by a national convention, which can be called for by two-thirds of state legislatures.
The second step in the amendment process is ratification. There are two procedures for ratifying a proposed amendment: it requires the approval of three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50), either through the consent of state legislatures or through state ratifying conventions. The ratification method is chosen by Congress for each amendment. State ratifying conventions have only been used once. Once a proposed amendment has been ratified, it becomes part of the Constitution.
The amendment process is intentionally difficult. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in the early 1800s that the Constitution was written "to endure for ages to come". The framers of the Constitution made it challenging to amend the document to ensure its longevity. As a result, some commentators have argued that the US Constitution is the most difficult in the world to amend. Sanford Levinson wrote in 2006 that this has allowed undemocratic institutions to persist in the US.
Despite the challenges of amending the Constitution, the process has been successfully completed 27 times. The most recent amendment, the 27th Amendment, was ratified in 1992.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution has three main functions.
The first function of the US Constitution is to create a national government consisting of a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch, with a system of checks and balances among the three branches. The second function is to divide power between the federal government and the states. The third function is to protect various individual liberties of American citizens.
The US Constitution is divided into three parts: the Preamble, the seven Articles, and the Amendments.
The seven articles of the US Constitution establish how the government is structured and how the Constitution can be changed. The first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, dividing the federal government into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.
There have been 27 amendments to the US Constitution, the first 10 of which are known as the Bill of Rights.
