Malcolm Rivera
The US Constitution is a framework for the country's government, superseding the Articles of Confederation. It is composed of a preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments, with the first 10 amendments known as the Bill of Rights. The preamble, which sets the tone for the rest of the document, begins with the famous words, We the People, and outlines the intentions of the framers and the purpose of the Constitution. The Constitution establishes the separation of powers, dividing the federal government into three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. It also outlines the rights and responsibilities of state governments and their relationship with the federal government.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Introduction | "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." |
| Purpose | The preamble communicates the intentions of the framers and the purpose of the document. |
| Articles | Seven articles make up the structural constitution. |
| Amendments | There have been 27 amendments to the constitution, beginning with the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments. |
| Ratification | The constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. |
| Federal government | The constitution delineates the frame of the federal government. |
| Separation of powers | The first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, dividing the federal government into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. |
| Federalism | Articles IV, V, and VI embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and their relationship to the federal government. |
| Individual liberties | Amendments were added to secure individual liberties. |
| Judicial review | Courts established by the constitution can regulate government under the constitution, the supreme law of the land. |
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The Preamble
- To form a more perfect Union
- Establish Justice
- Insure domestic Tranquility
- Provide for the common defence
- Promote the general Welfare
- Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity
These goals reflect the framers' desire to create a stronger and more effective central government, capable of meeting the needs of a growing nation. The Preamble, therefore, establishes a tone of unity, justice, and a commitment to the welfare and liberty of the people of the United States.
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Separation of powers
The US Constitution establishes three separate but equal branches of government: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. This is known as the separation of powers.
The legislative branch makes the law, the executive branch enforces the law, and the judicial branch interprets the law. The Framers structured the government in this way to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful and to create a system of checks and balances. This system is designed to ensure that the powers of the government are balanced, and that no one part of the government can overpower another.
The first three articles of the Constitution establish the separation of powers, dividing the federal government into three branches. The legislative branch consists of the bicameral Congress (Article I), the executive branch consists of the President and subordinate officers (Article II), and the judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article III).
The separation of powers is a well-known concept derived from the text and structure of the Constitution. The Framers' experience with the British monarchy informed their belief that concentrating distinct governmental powers in a single entity would subject the nation's people to arbitrary and oppressive government action. They were influenced by the writings of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which drafted the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has vacillated over the years between using a formalistic approach to separation-of-powers issues, emphasising the necessity of maintaining three distinct branches of government, and a functional approach that stresses core function and relationship, permitting a good deal of flexibility.
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Federalism
The US Constitution is a federalist document, and its tone is set by its preamble: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Articles IV, V, and VI of the Constitution further elaborate on the principles of federalism by describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the relationship between the states and the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. The Constitution supersedes the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, and establishes a stronger central government with a wider range of enforceable powers.
The US Constitution's federalist structure is designed to protect individual liberties and ensure a balanced distribution of powers. The federal government has exclusive power over certain areas, such as coining money, regulating bankruptcy laws, and raising armies, while the states retain power in other areas, including those not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution. The federal courts, including the Supreme Court, play a crucial role in interpreting the Constitution and ensuring that the actions of both the federal and state governments conform to it.
The US Constitution's federalist tone was influenced by the debates between Federalists and Anti-Federalists during its drafting and ratification. The Federalists, who supported a stronger central government, initially held power during the drafting process. However, the Anti-Federalists, who advocated for more power for the states, gained concessions from the Federalists, who promised to add amendments to the Constitution to secure individual liberties. This compromise led to the inclusion of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which further established the federalist tone of the document.
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Individual rights
The US Constitution establishes a federal system with a national government composed of three separated powers, and reserved and concurrent powers of states. The Constitution was written in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by delegates from 12 states, replacing the Articles of Confederation with a new form of government.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights, which was added to the Constitution to limit government power and protect individual liberties. James Madison wrote the amendments, which were ratified in 1791, to ensure that Congress would be viewed as a government of limited powers. The Bill of Rights was influenced by the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason, as well as English documents such as the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment is perhaps the broadest and most famous of the Bill of Rights, establishing a range of political and civil rights, including freedom of speech, assembly, press, and religion. It also protects the right to religious beliefs and practices and prevents the government from creating or favoring a religion. The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, and the Third Amendment prevents the government from forcing homeowners to allow soldiers to use their homes.
The Fourth Amendment bars the government from unreasonable search and seizure of an individual or their private property, while the Fifth Amendment provides several protections for people accused of crimes, including the right against self-incrimination and the right to a fair and speedy jury trial. The Sixth Amendment provides additional protections for people accused of crimes, such as the right to a public trial and to be informed of criminal charges, while the Seventh Amendment extends the right to a jury trial in Federal civil cases.
The Ninth Amendment states that listing specific rights in the Constitution does not mean that people do not have other rights that have not been spelled out, and the Tenth Amendment states that the Federal Government only has those powers delegated to it in the Constitution.
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Amendments
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it came into operation on March 4, 1789. The first 10 amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are known as the Reconstruction Amendments.
Amending the Constitution is a complex process. Congress has enacted statutes governing the amendment process, and when an amendment is sent to the states for ratification, the Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering that process. An amendment becomes operative once it has been properly ratified, and the archivist issues a certificate to that effect.
The US Constitution can only be amended through an extraordinary legislative process of national proposal and state ratification. Amendments must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. So far, the Twenty-first Amendment is the only amendment ratified through this method, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment and ending the prohibition of alcohol.
The Supreme Court affirmed Congress's authority to set a ratification deadline in 1939. Without a deadline, an amendment can be ratified indefinitely after being proposed. Approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress since 1789. Members of the House and Senate propose around 200 amendments during each two-year term of Congress.
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Frequently asked questions
The preamble of the US Constitution sets out the intentions of the framers and the purpose of the document. It outlines six goals: establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defence, promoting general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to the people and their posterity.
The phrase "We the People" represented a new idea: that the people, not the states, were the source of the government's legitimacy. This phrase was coined by Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, who chaired the convention's Committee of Style.
The US Constitution delineates the framework of the federal government through its first three articles, which embody the doctrine of the separation of powers. The federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of a bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President and subordinate officers; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
The judicial power of the United States is vested in the Supreme Court and inferior courts established by Congress. The judges of these courts hold their offices during good behaviour and are compensated accordingly. The judicial power extends to cases arising under the Constitution, laws of the United States, and treaties made under their authority.
The US Constitution includes provisions to protect individual liberties, such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceably assemble and petition the government. Additionally, it guarantees the right to keep and bear arms and establishes uniform laws throughout the United States.
