Part Five: The United States Constitution

The "PREAMBLE" of the Constitution: 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.

1. The Constitution of the United States of America is the fundamental law of the federal system of government. It defines the organization of the government, its functions and powers in general, its subdivisions and officers, and how these functions and powers are to be exercised.

2. The Constitution has three main principles, which are:
   • Inherent rights, or rights that anyone living in the United States has.
   • Government by the people, for the people and of the people.
   • Separation of powers in the different branches of government.

3. Inherent Rights - The founding fathers believed that the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was very important. This right is the basis for all of the rights listed in the Constituion and its amendments.

4. The oldest federal constitution in existence was framed by a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen original states in Philadelphia in May, 1787 (Rhode Island failed to send a delegate).

5. George Washington presided over the session, which lasted until September 17, 1787.

6. The draft (originally a preamble and seven Articles) was submitted to all thirteen states and was to become effective when ratified by nine states.

7. The Constitution went into effect on the first Wednesday in March, 1789, having been ratified by New Hampshire, the ninth state to approve, on June 21, 1788.

8. The 13 states that ratified the Constitution were:
   • Delaware
   • Pennsylvania
   • New Jersey
   • Georgia
   • Connecticut
   • Massachusettes
   • Maryland
   • South Carolina
   • New Hampshire
   • Virginia
   • New York
   • North Carolina
   • Rhode Island

9. The framers of the Constitution were especially concerned with limiting the power of the government and securing the liberty of citizens. The separation of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, the checks and balances of each against the others, and the explicit guarantees of individual liberty were all designed to strike a balance between authority and liberty.

10. The main text of the U.S. Constitution comprises the following seven articles:
    • Article I vests all legislative powers in the Congress - the House of Representatives and the Senate.
    • Article II vests executive power in the president of the United States.
    • Article III places judicial power in the hands of the Supreme Court of the United States and other inferior courts ordained and established by the Congress.
    • Article IV deals, in part, with relations among the states and privileges of the citizens of the states.
    • Article V provides for procedures in proposing amendments to the Constitution.
    • Article VI defines public debts and the supremacy of the Constitution.
    • Article VII gives ratification terms.

11. Amendments to the U.S. Constitution may be proposed either by a two thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a national constitutional convention called by Congress on petition by two thirds of the states.

12. Twenty-six amendments have been added to the Constitution since 1789. The most significant limitations of government's power over the individual were added in 1791 in the Bill of Rights (ratified on Dec 15, 1791) which consisted of the following first 10 Amendments.
    • The 1st Amendment guaranteed protection of such substantive rights as freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition, while providing complete religious freedom and separation of church and state.
    • The 2nd Amendment guaranteed the citizen's right to bear arms.
    • The 3rd Amendment forbades the government to quarter soldiers in private homes during peacetime without permission.
    • The 4th Amendment guarantees freedom from unwarranted search and seizure.
    • The 5th Amendment guarantees against being tried twice for the same crime, self-incrimination, and the loss of liberty or property without due process of law.
    • The 6th Amendment guarantees right to a speedy and fair trial with adequate counsel.
    • The 7th Amendment guarantees trial by jury in most cases.
    • The 8th Amendment guarantees protection against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.
    • The 9th Amendment guarantees the rights of people other than those mentioned in the Constitution.
    • The 10th Amendment stipulates that any power not given to the federal government by the Constitution is a power of either the state or the people.