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Constitution Of The United States U S Senate

Leo Migdal
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constitution of the united states u s senate

Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the United States Constitution is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government. Its first three words – “We The People” – affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. The supremacy of the people through their elected representatives is recognized in Article I, which creates a Congress consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The positioning of Congress at the beginning of the Constitution affirms its status as the “First Branch” of the federal government. The Constitution assigned to Congress responsibility for organizing the executive and judicial branches, raising revenue, declaring war, and making all laws necessary for executing these powers. The president is permitted to veto specific legislative acts, but Congress has the authority to override presidential vetoes by two-thirds majorities of both houses.

The Constitution also provides that the Senate advise and consent on key executive and judicial appointments and on the approval for ratification of treaties. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers successfully separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and... More a concise statement of national principles than a detailed plan of governmental operation, the Constitution has evolved to meet the changing needs of a modern society profoundly different from the eighteenth-century world in... To date, the Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992. The first ten amendments constitute the Bill of Rights. The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (popularly known as the Constitution Annotated) contains legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution, based primarily on Supreme Court case law.

The Constitution of the United States of America, S.PUB.103-21 (1994) (PDF), prepared by the Office of the Secretary of the Senate with the assistance of Johnny H. Killian of the Library of Congress in 1994, provided the original text of each clause of the Constitution with an accompanying explanation of its meaning and how that meaning changed over time. Note: The following text is a transcription of the Constitution as it was inscribed by Jacob Shallus on parchment (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and... 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... All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of...

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected,... At the Federal Convention of 1787, now known as the Constitutional Convention, the framers of the United States Constitution established in Article I the structure and powers of Congress. The delegates who gathered in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787, first to revise the existing form of government and then to frame a new Constitution, debated the idea of a Congress made up... One house would be, in the words of Virginia’s George Mason, the “grand depository of the democratic principle of government.” To counter this popular influence in the national government, James Madison of Virginia proposed... This became the Senate. The characteristics of the Senate—the basis of representation, the number of senators per state, the qualifications for office, the terms of service, and the powers that the body exercises—were the product of fierce debate...

The framers looked to precedents in the British system of government and the state constitutions. The plan for the new government, including the Senate, was developed over the course of the convention by delegates working in committees. A Committee of Eleven (also called the Grand Committee), appointed on July 2, proposed a solution to an impasse over representation in the House and Senate. On August 6 a Committee of Detail produced a draft Constitution that summarized the principles already agreed upon by the Convention. Another Committee of Eleven (sometimes called the Committee on Postponed Parts) was appointed on August 31 to address questions still left unresolved by the Convention. Finally, a Committee on Style and Arrangement proposed the language for the version of the Constitution signed by the delegates on September 17.

The Senate has changed significantly over the course of its history, but its unique role in the federal government remains anchored in the nation’s founding document. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State. [U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 3, clause 1] During the summer of 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention (LOC) in Philadelphia established equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives. Called the “Great Compromise” or the “Connecticut Compromise,” this unique plan for congressional representation resolved the most controversial aspect of the drafting of the Constitution.

PDF Related Link: Constitution of the United States

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