The US Constitution: Preamble, Articles and Amendments.
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Transcript of The US Constitution: Preamble, Articles and Amendments.
The U.S. Constitution is one of the most important documents in
history. It establishes the government of the United States, and its first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights, assures every U.S.
citizen the rights we have all come to hold dear.
The Preamble'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.'
Unless you are in the 4th grade, you will probably never be asked
to recite this again. It is important for people to
understand the stated purpose of the constitution.
Article IArticle I of the constitution
establishes the legislative branch of our government. This is the Congress. The constitution
establishes two houses for the Congress: The House of
Representatives and The Senate. The primary purpose of the Congress is to
make laws.
In the House, representatives are elected every 2 years and must be at least 25 years old, have been a U.S.
citizen for 7 years and must reside in the state from which they are chosen.
The House has the sole power of impeachment. This means that the
House can put the president on trial for breaking the law.
In the Senate, senators are elected every 6 years and must be at least 30
years old, have been a U.S. citizen for 9 years and must reside in the state from which they are chosen. The vice president of the United
States is the president of the Senate, but the VP has no vote unless there
is a tie that needs to be broken.
The Senate holds the trial if the House chooses to impeach the
president. The punishment can only go as far as throwing the
president out of office and barring them from holding other
government offices.
According to Article I, it is also Congress' job to raise money
(that means tax), pay U.S. debts, and it is Congress' job to provide for defense (this means maintain
the military).
Article IIArticle II of the constitution
establishes the executive branch of government; that means the
president. The president's job is to enforce the laws established by
Congress.
The president is elected for a 4-year term, must be a natural
born U.S. citizen (that means to be eligible to become the
president, a person must be born in the United States).
To be president, a person has to be at least 35 years old and must have been residing in the U.S. for
the last 14 years.
The president is Commander in Chief of the military, has the
power to make treaties (with the consent of the Senate), has the power to pardon and appoints ambassadors, judges and other
officials, but these appointments must be ok'd by Congress.
Article IIIThe judicial branch of the
government is established by the 3rd article of the constitution. The job of
the judicial branch of the government is to interpret the law.
The judicial branch of the government is made up of the Supreme Court and the lower
federal courts.
The Supreme Court deals with cases involving constitutional
law, treaties, ambassadors and cases outside the state
jurisdiction, like maritime cases, cases between states or
individuals in another state. Judges appointed to the Supreme
Court serve for life!
Review Articles I - IIISo, let's review Articles I-III. The first 3 articles of the constitution establish the branches of the U.S. Government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. This
brilliant system is designed to divide the powers of the government so that
each branch keeps the others in check.
The Congress makes laws, but the president can veto those laws,
and if the president does sign those laws, the courts can find
those laws unconstitutional and render them void. Congress can override a presidential veto, but the courts can still knock them
down.
If the courts keep rendering laws void, the Congress can amend the
constitution. If the proposed amendment passes by a 2/3
majority, then the courts are bound by the constitution.
Articles IV - VIIMoving on, Article IV - this deals with the relationship of the states
and admitting new states. It establishes the relationship
between states and the federal government; it says that states have to honor the laws of other
states.
As an example, if a couple is married in New York, their
marriage is also recognized in Virginia. It also outlines the rules for admitting new states into the
Union.
Article V is all about amending the Constitution. Article V
establishes the amending process for the Constitution. Article V states, like I said earlier, that a 2/3 majority of both the House and the Senate have to agree in
order to amend the constitution.
Article VI says that the constitution is the highest law of the land. This means that federal
and state officers and judges must uphold the constitution.
Article VII is just names. It's just all the guys who signed the
constitution. It just confirms the ratification of the document.
The Bill of RightsNext, the Bill of Rights; the Bill
of Rights is very important. Every American, whether able to
recite them or not, enjoys the protections laid out by the
founders, and the constitution would never have been signed
without these first amendments.