The
United States Constitution
is the highest
law
of the
United States of America
. It was signed on
September 17
,
1787
by the
Constitutional Convention
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Later, it was put into effect, or
ratified
, by
representatives
of the people of the first 13
states
.
[1]
When nine of the states ratified the document, they created a
union
of
sovereign
states, and a federal
government
for that union. That government started on
March 4
,
1789
, which took the place of the
Articles of Confederation
.
The Constitution of the United States is the oldest
federal
constitution now in use.
[2]
Of all the countries in the world, only
San Marino
's constitution is
in part
older, from 1600. Some countries also have an "uncodified" constitution containing older documents, such as the
United Kingdom
, and also
Saudi Arabia
, which claims the
Quran
as its constitution.
Since 1787, changes have been made to the United States Constitution 27 times by
amendments
(changes). The first ten of these amendments are together called the
Bill of Rights
and came into effect in 1791. The most recent, the 27th amendment, came into effect in 1992, although it was proposed already in 1789. Making an amendment is very difficult, and demands a two-thirds majority vote in
US Congress
and ratification (agreement) by three-fourths of all 50 states. However, the Supreme Court has changed its interpretation of the constitution, which in effect changes what the text means and how it effects other laws, more often than actual amendments.
When it was signed in 1787, the Constitution had a
preamble
and seven main parts, called articles.
The Preamble
states:
- We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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.
The Preamble is not a law. It gives the reasons for writing the Constitution. The Preamble is one of the best-known parts of the Constitution. The first three words, "We the people," are used very often. The six intentions that are listed are the goals of the Constitution.
Article One
says that the
United States Congress
(the
legislative branch
) will make the
laws
for the United States. Congress has
two parts
, called "Houses": the
United States House of Representatives
and the
United States Senate
. This Article says who can be
elected
to each part of Congress, and how they are elected.
The House of Representatives has members elected by the people in each
State.
The number of members from each State depends on how many people live there. Each member of the House of Representatives is elected for two years.
The Senate has two members, called the legislators, from each state, no matter how many people live there. Each Senator is elected for six years. The original Constitution allowed the
state legislatures
to choose the Senators, but this was changed later by the
Seventeenth Amendment
.
Article One also says how the Congress will do its business and what kinds of laws it can make. It lists some kinds of laws the Congress and the states cannot make.
Article One also makes rules for Congress to
impeach
and remove from office the
President
,
Vice President
,
judges
, and other government officers.
Article Two
says that the President, Vice President, and
executive offices
(the
executive branch
) will carry out the laws made by Congress. This article says how the President and Vice President are elected, and who can be elected to these offices. The President and Vice President are elected for four years by a special
Electoral College
chosen by the states. The Vice President takes over as President if the President dies,
resigns
, or is unable to serve.
Article Two also says that the President is the
Commander-in-Chief
in charge of the
United States military
. He can make
treaties
with other countries, but these must be approved by two-thirds of the Senate. He appoints
judges
,
ambassadors
, and other
officers
, but the Senate also must approve these appointments. The President can also
veto
bills
. However, Congress can override the veto and make the bill into a law anyway.
Article Three
says there will be a
court
system (the
judicial branch
), which includes the
Supreme Court
. The Article says that Congress can decide which federal courts, besides the Supreme Court, are needed.
Article Three says what kinds of "cases and
controversies
" these courts can decide. It also requires trial by
jury
in all
criminal
cases, and
defines
the
crime
of
treason
.
Article Four
is about the states. It says that all states must give "full faith and credit" to the laws of the other states. It also says that state governments must treat citizens of other states as fairly as they treat their own citizens, and must
send arrested people back
if they have been charged with a crime in another state and fled.
Article Four also says that Congress can make new states. There were only 13 states in 1787. Now there are 50 United States. It says Congress can make rules for Federal
property
and can govern
territories
that have not yet been made into states. Article Four says the United States must make sure that each state has a
republican
form of government, and protect the states from
invasion
and
violence
.
Article Five
gives two ways to amend, or change, the Constitution.
- Congress can write a change, if two-thirds of the members in each House agree.
- The state governments can call a
convention
to write changes, although this has NOT happened since 1787.
Any change that is written by Congress or by a convention must be sent to the state
legislatures
or to state conventions for their approval. Congress decides whether to send a change to the legislatures or to conventions. Three-fourths of the states must approve a change for it to become part of the Constitution.
An amendment can change any part of the Constitution, except one?no amendment can change the rule that each state has an equal number of Senators in the United States Senate.
Article Six
says that the Constitution, and the laws and treaties of the United States, are higher than any other laws. It also says that all federal and state officers must swear to "support" the Constitution.
Article Seven
says that the new government under the Constitution would not start until conventions in at least nine states approved the Constitution.
Since 1787, Congress has written 33 amendments to change the Constitution, but the states have ratified only 27 of them.
The first ten amendments are called the
Bill of Rights
. They were argued over during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, but it wasn't until 1791 that they were ratified by two-thirds of the states.
[3]
These ten additions or changes all limited the power of the federal government. They are:
Number
|
Year
|
Description
|
1st
|
1791
|
Congress must protect the rights of
freedom of speech
,
freedom of the press
,
freedom of assembly
, and
freedom of petition
. Congress cannot create a
national religion
.
|
2nd
|
1791
|
"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."
- People have the right to keep and carry
weapons
, such as
guns
.
|
3rd
|
1791
|
The
government
cannot send
soldiers
to live in private homes without the permission of the owners.
|
4th
|
1791
|
The government cannot get a
warrant
to
arrest
a person or search their
property
unless there is "
probable cause
" to believe a
crime
has been committed.
|
5th
|
1791
|
The government cannot put a person on
trial
for a
serious
crime
until a
grand jury
has written an
indictment
. If a person is found not guilty in a trial, they cannot be put on trial again for the same crime. The government must follow
due process
of
law
before
punishing
a person or taking their property. A person on trial for a crime does not have to testify against himself in
court
.
|
6th
|
1791
|
Any person who is accused of a crime should get a speedy trial by a
jury
. That person can have a
lawyer
during the trial. They must be told what they are charged with. The person can question the
witnesses
against them, and can get their own
witnesses
to testify.
|
7th
|
1791
|
A jury trial is needed for
civil
cases
.
|
8th
|
1791
|
The government cannot require excessive
bail
or
fines
, or any
cruel and unusual punishment
.
|
9th
|
1791
|
The listing of individual rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights does not include all of the rights of the people and the
states
.
|
10th
|
1791
|
Anything that the Constitution does not say Congress can do should be left up to the states, or to the people.
|
After the Bill of Rights, there are 17 more changes to the Constitution that were made at different times.
Number
|
Year
|
Description
|
11th
|
1795
|
Citizens
cannot
sue
states in federal courts. There are some exceptions.
|
12th
|
1804
|
Changed the way the
President
and
Vice President
are
elected
.
|
13th
|
1865
|
Ended
slavery
in the United States.
|
14th
|
1868
|
Every person born in the United States is a
citizen
. States must follow due process of law before taking away any citizen's rights or property.
|
15th
|
1870
|
A citizen's right to vote cannot be taken away because of
race
, the color of their skin, or because they used to be slaves.
|
16th
|
1913
|
Congress can put a
tax
on
income
.
|
17th
|
1913
|
The people will elect
Senators
. Before this, Senators were elected by state
legislatures
.
|
18th
|
1919
|
Made a law against
drinking alcohol
, called
Prohibition
.
|
19th
|
1920
|
Gave
women the right to vote
.
|
20th
|
1933
|
Changed the days for meetings of Congress and for the start of the President's term of office.
|
21st
|
1933
|
Ended the Prohibition law of the Eighteenth Amendment. States can make laws about how alcohol is used in each state.
|
22nd
|
1951
|
A person may not be elected President more than two times.
|
23rd
|
1961
|
Gave the people in the
District of Columbia
the right to vote for President.
|
24th
|
1964
|
Made it
illegal
to make anyone pay a tax to have the right to vote.
|
25th
|
1967
|
Changes what happens if a President dies, resigns, or is not able to do the job. Says what happens if a Vice President dies or resigns.
|
26th
|
1971
|
Makes 18 years old the
minimum
age for people to be allowed to vote.
|
27th
|
1992
|
Limits how Congress can increase how much its members are paid.
|
- Amar, Akhil Reed (2005). "In the Beginning".
America's Constitution: A Biography
.
New York
: Random House.
ISBN
1-4000-6262-4
.
- Bailyn, Bernard, ed.
The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle for Ratification
. Part One: September 1787 to February 1788 (
The Library of America
, 1993)
ISBN
0-940450-42-9
- Bailyn, Bernard, ed.
The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle for Ratification
. Part Two: January to August 1788 (
The Library of America
, 1993)
ISBN
0-940450-64-X
- Edling, Max M. (2003).
A Revolution in Favor of Government: Origins of the U.S. Constitution and the Making of the American State
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
0-19-514870-3
.
- Ellis, Joseph (2002).
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
. Vintage.
ISBN
0-375-70524-4
.
- Fallon, Richard H. (2004).
The Dynamic Constitution: An Introduction to American Constitutional Law
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
0-521-84094-5
.
- Farris, Michael P. (July?August 2005).
"Through the Founders' Eyes: Was the Constitution Illegally Adopted?"
.
The Home School Court Report
.
21
(4): 6?10. Archived from
the original
on 2006-08-18
. Retrieved
2006-09-25
.
excerpt from (to be published)
Constitutional Law for Enlightened Citizens
.
- Finkelman, Paul "Affirmative Action for the Master Class: The Creation of the Proslavery Constitution,"
University of Akron Law Review
32 (No. 3, 1999): 423-70.
- Finkelman, Paul
Slavery and the Founders: Race and Slavery in the Age of Jefferson
(Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1996);
- Finkelman, Paul "Slavery and the Constitution: Making a Covenant with Death," in Richard R. Beeman, Stephen Botein, and Edward C., Carter, II, eds.,
Beyond Confederation: Origins of the Constitution and American National Identity
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987);
- Hall, Kermit L. (1984).
A Comprehensive Bibliography of American Constitutional and Legal History, 1896-1979
. Millwood, N. Y.: Kraus International.
ISBN
0-527-37408-3
.
- Kammen, Michael (1986).
A Machine that Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
ISBN
0-394-52905-7
.
- Kelly, Alfred Hinsey; Harbison, Winfred Audif; Belz, Herman (1991).
The American Constitution: its origins and development
(7th ed.). New York: Norton & Co.
ISBN
0-393-96119-2
.
- Levy, Leonard W., ed. (2000).
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
(2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
ISBN
0-02-864880-3
.
- Marshall, Thurgood
, "The Constitution: A Living Document,"
Howard Law Journal
1987: 623-28.
- Mazzone, Jason (2005).
"The Creation of a Constitutional Culture"
.
Tulsa Law Review
.
40
(4): 671.
- Smith, Jean Edward; Levine, Herbert M. (1988).
Civil Liberties & Civil Rights Debated
. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
- Smith, Jean Edward (1996).
John Marshall: Definer Of A Nation
. New York: Henry Holt & Company.
- Smith, Jean Edward (1989).
The Constitution And American Foreign Policy
. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.
- Wiecek, William M., "The Witch at the Christening: Slavery and the Constitution's Origins," Leonard W. Levy and Dennis J. Mahoney, eds.,
The Framing and Ratification of the Constitution
(New York: Macmillan, 1987), 178-84.
- Wiecek, William M., "'The Blessings of Liberty': Slavery in the American Constitutional Order," in Robert A. Goldman and Art Kaufman, eds.,
Slavery and Its Consequences: The Constitution, Equality, and Race
(Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1988), 23-34.
Wikisource
has original writing related to this article:
Official U.S. government sources
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