Monday, November 16, 2009

Overview of the Constitution

The constitution of the United States is the fundamental and organic law of the nation, which establishes the institutions of government, defines the scope of governmental sovereign powers, and guarantees individual civil rights. Our current constitution is a reformation of our country’s original constitution, which was called the articles of confederation, which was established in 1776 after the American Revolutionary war. Under the articles of confederation, the states were given much power and the federal congress was relatively weak and had little power over the states and no power to levy taxes. Obviously there was a need for change and delegates from all states met in 1786 to revise the articles of confederation but ended up drafting a new constitution.
The new constitution split the power of the government into three branches to discourage any branch from abusing power. These three branches were the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. The legislative branch was in charge of creating new laws and consisted of the House of Representatives and the Senate making up congress. The executive branch was for a single person called a president to act as commander-in-chief and enforce the law. The Judicial Branch was to interpret the laws using the Supreme Court. The new constitution had seven articles to outline what each branch does and currently has twenty-seven amendments.
Under Article I of the US constitution it gives the powers of the congress to make laws. The legislative branch is congress, which is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Under the House of Representatives, there are representatives from each state and the number of representatives from each state is according to the population of the state. The current ratio is 1 representative for every 30,000 people. The House represents public opinion. Under the Senate there are only two representatives from each state. The Senate represents the government of the individual states. When deciding on a law both houses must agree for a law to be passed but is checked and balanced by the executive branch where veto power is given.
In Article II of the US constitution is the executive branch. Under the executive branch of government a single person is elected by an electoral college to become the president and be commander-in-chief. The president has the power to control the army, grant pardons, make foreign treaties and appoint judges to the Supreme Court. The president also has the power to veto any bill or law passed by the legislative branch.
In Article III of the US constitution is the judicial branch. Under the judicial branch laws are interpreted and contain the federal court system with the highest court of the land being the Supreme Court.
Under Article IV of the US constitution is the states within the federal structure. The states must adhere to and by the US constitution and must respect other states decisions of citizenship and crimes convicted upon individuals. Article IV also explains how a state can be admitted to the union.
Article V describes the amendment process to the constitution, which is necessary for flexibility, and to adapt to changing times. Amendments are proposed by 2/3 of both the house and the senate or if 2/3 of the state legislators call a convention for proposing new amendments. Amendments must be ratified to become a part of the US constitution and this is done only when ¾ of all state legislators agree to the amendment or ¾ of special ratifying conventions in each state agree.
Article VI describes the legal status of the constitution. It establishes that the government outlined in the constitution is the most powerful government in the land.
Article VII explains the ratification of the constitution. It says how nine of the original thirteen states must agree to it before it is put into effect.
After the seven articles of the constitution follows the twenty-seven amendments. The first ten of which are considered the Bill of Rights where they describe the rights of the individual and the state. The first ten amendments describe the right of individuals to freedom of religion, speech and the press, the right to bear arms, the right against the forced quartering of soldiers, unreasonable searches and seizures, a trial by jury, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, rights of the accused, common law, cruel and unusual punishment, rights that are not enumerated in the constitution are secure, and reserving for the states all powers that are not explicitly granted to the federal government by the constitution.
Following the Bill of Rights, amendments to the constitution include forbidding the citizens of another state or a foreign country from suing the state, and provide that electors state on their ballots the person they want for President and Vice President. Following amendments forbid slavery, forbid states from passing laws depriving any person from life, liberty or property without due process of law, and forbid the U.S. or any state from preventing a person from voting because of race. Amendments that permit income tax, allow people to elect senators, the prohibition of alcohol which later becomes repealed in the twenty-first amendment. Amendments that give the right to women to vote, changes the term of the president, forbids the U.S. to abridge any citizens right to vote because of failure to pay a poll or other tax, sets up a plan for the vice-president to take over when the president can no longer, and the last amendment permits eighteen year olds to vote.

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