Constitution What It Says What It Means Archives Annenberg

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... The preamble is the introduction to the Constitution. It outlines the general goals of the framers: to create a just government and to ensure peace, an adequate national defense and a healthy, free nation. With its first three words, “We the People,” the preamble emphasizes that the nation is to be ruled by the people— not a king or a dictator, not the president, Supreme Court justices, members... The U.S. Supreme Court held in 1905 (Jacobson v.

Massachusetts) that the preamble is not a source of federal power or individuals’ rights. Rather, all rights and powers are set out in the articles and amendments that follow. 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 framers of the Constitution separated the powers of government into three branches, granting legislative power (the power to pass laws) to Congress, executive power (the power to administer the laws) to the president,... The unique and limited powers of Congress are contained in Article I. The framers believed that this separation of powers would ensure that no one person or group of persons would be able to create, administer and enforce the laws, and that each branch would be...

Under this scheme, Congress cannot give its lawmaking powers to the executive or judicial branch. The courts are charged with ensuring that the three branches act independently and do not overreach their delegated powers. But in some instances, two branches of government are required to work together. For example, the Senate must approve the president’s appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the president has the power to veto acts of Congress or to pardon convicted criminals. This interactive guide to the U.S.

Constitution provides the original text of each article and amendment and the meaning of each in plain language. You have XXXXXX left today. Thanks for being a member! ❤️ You’ve run out of fast downloads for today. You downloaded this file recently.

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On December 8, 2004 President Bush officially signed Constitution Day into law. The law mandates that each year, on September 17th, schools and colleges that receive federal money are required to teach the Constitution. The new law was championed in Congress by Sen. Robert Byrd who famously carries around a copy of the document in his pocket. Sen. Byrd became increasingly alarmed at the lack of civics education-specifically relating to the Constitution-in our public schools and he wanted to take action.

Lightweight, easy to use and easy for everyone to understand The United States Constitution: What it Says, What it Means is an excellent way for students and citizens of all ages to read and... Justice Learning (www.justicelearning.org), is a comprehensive on-line resource that offers wide-ranging non-partisan materials relating to civics education. The Constitution of the United States contains a preamble and seven articles that describe the way the government is structured and how it operates. The first three articles establish the three branches of government and their powers: Legislative (Congress), Executive (office of the President,) and Judicial (Federal court system). A system of checks and balances prevents any one of these separate powers from becoming dominant. Articles four through seven describe the relationship of the states to the Federal Government, establish the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, and define the amendment and ratification processes.

Article I assigns the responsibility for making laws to the Legislative Branch (Congress). Congress is divided into two parts, or “Houses,” the House of Representatives and the Senate. The bicameral Congress was a compromise between the large states, which wanted representation based on population, and the small ones, which wanted the states to have equal representation. Article II details the Executive Branch and the offices of the President and Vice President. It lays down rules for electing the President (through the Electoral College), eligibility (must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old), and term length. The 12th and 25th Amendments modified some of these rules.

Article III establishes the Judicial Branch with the U.S. Supreme Court as the federal court system’s highest court. It specifies that Federal judges be appointed for life unless they commit a serious crime. This article is shorter than Articles I and II. The Federal Convention left much of the work of planning the court system to the First Congress. The 1789 Judiciary Act created the three-tiered court system in place today.

Article IV outlines states’ powers in relationship to each other. States have the authority to create and enforce their own laws but must respect and help enforce the laws of other states. Congress may pass Federal laws regarding how states honor other states’ laws and records. The National Archives and the Center for Civic Education partnered to create DocsTeach, a series of lesson plans that use primary sources to teach about different periods of U.S. history and the Constitution. eBooks illustrate American history and government through National Archives documents.

The website contains numerous links to state and regional primary sources and presidential libraries as well as professional development for teachers. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land in the United States of America and is the world's longest surviving charter of government. It replaced the Articles of Confederation which served as the United States' first constitution. The Articles of Confederation gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it had no enforcement powers and could not regulate commerce or print money. The states’ also had disputes over territory, taxation, and trade which the Confederation Congress was unable to control. Finally, in 1787, Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels in an unsuccessful attempt to seize weaponry at the Springfield Armory and overthrow the government.

The weak federal government found itself unable to finance troops to put down the rebellion which was eventually put down by the Massachusetts State militia and a privately funded local militia. Shay's Rebellion demonstrated the weakness of the federal government and the problems with the Articles of Confederation. This led Congress to organize a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention, therefore, was originally intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, but from the beginning individuals such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wanted to create a new system of government. The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. The Constitutional Convention resulted in the creation of a new frame of government, The Constitution of the United States.

On September 17, 1787, 39 delegates signed the Constitution with George Reed signing for John Dickinson of Delaware, who was absent. The Constitution is composed of seven articles which establish the powers of the branches of the federal government and the rights and responsibilities of the state governments. The Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788 and went into effect on March 4, 1789. As stated previously, the Constitution is composed of seven articles. The first three articles of the Constitution establish the separation of powers doctrine and divides the federal government into three separate branches: the executive, the judicial, and the legislative. Article I establishes the legislative branch of the federal government with a bicameral Congress.

Article II establishes the executive branch and the powers of the president. Article III establishes the judicial branch and the Supreme Court of the United States. Article IV establishes the relationship between states and the relationship between the state governments and the federal government. Article V describes the process for amending the Constitution. Article VI establishes the supremacy clause of the Constitution which articulates that when state law is in conflict with federal law the federal law preempts state law. Article VII establishes the ratification process of the Constitution.

Twenty-seven amendments have also been made to the Constitution. The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights outlines personal freedoms and rights and limitations on the government's power in judicial proceedings. The Tenth Amendment also establishes that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. Check out the rest of our guide to the Constitution of the United States for fun facts, resources, and information. We also have an interactive timeline of the Constitution which provides information about specific moments in United States history and information about some of the most important amendments to the Constitution.

The interactive timeline also links to resources available in the CSU Stanislaus University Library.

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