The Constitution: Principles, Articles, Amendments, and Informal Changes

1. 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”

2. PARTS • PREAMBLE: Introduction to the Constitution; it lists the six basic principles for our government • ARTICLES: The articles laying out the framework for our government (seven) • AMENDMENTS: Changes made to the Constitution after the initial ratification

3. Basic Principles These six principles are the ideas and standards that our government is based on and functions according to. • Popular Sovereignty • Limited Government • Separation of Powers • Checks and Balances • Judicial Review • Federalism With these in mind, why did the framers include the Preamble in the Constitution?

4. Popular Sovereignty • People are the ONLY source of government’s power • “We the People…do ordain and establish” • Government’s power comes from the people, and the people have given government permission to govern by the constitution

5. Checks and Balances • Checks and balances is a way for the government to give each branch power over the other two • The idea is to keep one branch from becoming more powerful than the others and controlling government • Why would the framers want to ensure one branch did not become too powerful?

6. Limited Government • The idea that government is not all powerful and can be limited • Government can do only those things the PEOPLE have given it the power to do • States that government must obey the law • The entire Constitution is a statement of Limited Government When did the idea of Limited Government begin?

7. Judicial Review • Has the power of the courts to determine whether what government does is in compliance with what the Constitution says • Basically, if a case is brought to the courts questioning a law or some other government action, the court must look at the law and determine if it violates the Constitution • If it does, the courts declare it unconstitutional, and the law or action is thrown out and no longer in effect (Null and Void)

8. The Articles There are 7 articles in the second section of the Constitution, each accomplishing different things • Article 1: The legislative article lays out the structure and powers of the legislative branch • Article 2: The executive article lays out the structure and powers of the executive branch • Article 3: The judicial article establishes a national judiciary and gives Congress the power to create additional court systems • Article 4: Deals with the relationships between states • Article 5: Provides methods for amending the Constitution • Article 6: Deals with the National Debt • Article 7: Provides provisions for ratification of the Constitution

9. Amending the Constitution • Article V provided four methods to amend the Constitution • An amendment is a change to the Constitution or clarification of something in the Constitution

10. The Four Methods Method 1: • Proposed by a 2/3 vote in each house of Congress • Ratified by ¾ of the state legislatures Method 2 • Proposed by a 2/3 vote in each house of Congress • Ratified by conventions in ¾ of the states • Method 3: • Proposed by a national convention called by Congress at the request of 2/3 of the states • Ratified by ¾ of the state legislatures • Method 4: • Proposed by national convention called by Congress at the request of 2/3 of the states • Ratified by conventions in ¾ of the states

11. Amendments, continued • There is no time limit for ratification of an amendment once it is proposed • Congress may set a time limit if they so choose • Example: The 27th amendment was proposed in 1789 as part of the Bill of Rights, however it was not ratified until 1992, 203 years later!!! • 26 of the 27 amendments have been added through method 1 • The 21st amendment was added through method 2 in 1933 • This 21st amendment is the only amendment that cancels out another • It repealed the 18th amendment, which outlawed the sale and consumption of alcohol

12. Amendments, continued • The amendments are divided into three groups (click the group below to see the amendments in each group) BILL OF RIGHTS – Amendments 1 through 10 CIVIL WAR AMENDMENTS– Amendments 13 through 15 LATER AMENDMENTS– Amendments 16 through 27 (Amendments 11 and 12 are generally considered to be an extension of the Bill of Rights, and therefore not included in any of the three groups)

13. Informal Amendments The Constitution can be informally changed through 5 methods • Basic Legislation of Congress • Actions of the President • Supreme Court Decisions • Activities of the Political Parties • Custom

14. Basic Legislation • Congress may pass laws that spell out or add detail to one of the Constitution’s brief provisions Ex. 25th Amendment provides for Presidential succession beyond what the original Constitution stated • Congress can add to the Constitution through the way it uses its powers Ex. Constitution says Congress has the power to regulate “foreign and interstate commerce,” but does not define what that is. Congress has passed thousands of laws dealing with all different aspects of trade.

15. Executive Action • The manner in which various Presidents have used their power has also contributed to the growth of the Constitution Ex. Congress can declare war, but President is Commander in Chief and can send military where he chooses.

16. Court Decisions • Part of the job of the courts is to interpret the Constitution. These interpretations have changed the Constitution over the years. Ex. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the courts ruled that separate facilities for different races were Constitutional. Later in Brown v. Board of Education, the court struck down this ruling and stated that separate facilities are Unconstitutional.

17. Party Practices • The Constitution makes no mention of political parties, yet they have changed the way politics are handled in this country for as long as the country has been around. Ex. The Constitution makes no mention of how candidates would be chosen to run for President, yet parties have been nominating candidates since the 1796 election.

18. Custom • Various customs and traditions have contributed to the Constitution over the years, many thanks to George Washington himself. Ex. The Constitution makes no mention of the President’s cabinet, but Washington had one, so every President since him has had one. Ex. Washington stated that President’s should serve no more than 2 terms, so none did until FDR in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

19. Review • What are the three parts of the Constitution. • The ________ lists the six basic principles. • According to popular sovereignty, who is the source of government’s power? • Judicial Review gives the courts power to? • Why do we have checks and balances? • How can we amend the Constitution? Which one has been used most often? • Which amendments are included in the Bill of Rights? The Civil War Amendments? The Later Amendments? • Give an example of the President informally changing the Constitution through executive action • Give an example of an informal change through custom

20. Later amendments The later amendments include all those passed since the 3 civil war amendments • 16th Amendment – Income Tax • 17th Amendment – Popular Election of Senators • 18th Amendment – Prohibition of Alcohol • 19th amendment – Voting rights for women • 20th Amendment – Set dates/times for end of terms, sets conditions in case of the death of a President-elect • 21st Amendment – Repeal of the 18th amendment (prohibition) • 22nd amendment – Set limit at two terms maximum for a president Click to go Back to last slide

21. Civil War Amendments The Civil War Amendments were passed as a direct response to the outcome of The Civil war. They all deal with slavery in one way or another. • 13th Amendment – Outlawed slavery and Involuntary servitude in the United States of America • 14th Amendment – Helped make former slaves citizens of the U.S. and gave them all the rights that being a citizen entails • 15th Amendment – Written to give former slaves the right to vote, however was not entirely successful in doing so for nearly 100 years Click to go Back to last slide

22. Bill of Rights The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to list out the basic rights of all Americans so these rights could not be violated as they were in the years of British rule under King George III • Amendment 1: Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly, and Petition • Amendment 2: The right to bear arms • Amendment 3: Protects against the Quartering of Troops • Amendment 4: Protects against illegal search and seizure of personal property • Amendment 5: Insures due process, protects against eminent domain, provides rules for criminal hearings, and protects against self-incrimination • Amendment 6: Right to a speedy and public trial and right to trial by jury • Amendment 7: Provides stipulations for civil trials • Amendment 8: Protects against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment • Amendment 9: States that the rights listed in the Constitution are not all the rights given to the American people • Amendment 10: States that all powers not granted to the National government or forbidden to the states, belong to the states Click to go Back to last slide