U.S. Constitution

1. By: Pyay San U.S. Constitution

2. Background Information • Many present citizens believe the Constitution is the first system of government that makes the country function like today. However, the Articles of Confederation was the first system of government that led to the creation of the Constitution. Although the Articles of Confederation was created based on the fundamental reason of revolting against the Great Britain which was decentralized government, the newly formed country couldn’t function properly because the national government (Congress) didn’t have the power to directly tax or do anything without consenting with the states. The newly formed country didn’t also have the executive branch to carry out the enacted laws which made it impossible for Congress to barely hold any power over states. Thus the Constitution was created. The Constitution was formed by “the Founding Fathers” that consists of 55 middle aged men. These middle aged men were aristocrats who had an education to be gentlemen. Among them were famous people such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. With brilliance and unusual talent, they were able put together a document, the Constitution, with a centralized government and unassailable fundamental law that political principles, public policies, all solutions of controversies must spring. The Constitution may look perfect but in the end, it is just a piece of document with no thought of its own thus created problems.

3. Key Principles of the Constitutionpart 1 Creation of the Constitution is truly remarkable and admirable that the Founding Fathers were able to think of some possibilities that America might run into. Basic Principles: • One of the key principles of the Constitution is the 3 branches of government; executive, legislative, and judicial branch. Each branches has different role in administrating America. Legislative branch is bicameral branch which consist of Senate and House of Representatives. Each state receives two apiece of Senate while the amount of Representatives are based on population. Congress has their own rights and power that states in the Constitution. One of the power is to create to form a law. However, Congress cannot just create a law, it has to go to the President of the Executive branch to be signed and carry out the law. The President can “veto” the bill if it doesn’t suit his taste. In another word, the President thinks that the law will have negative effect on general population. Even though the President vetoes the bill, Congress can unanimously pass the law and executive branch must carry it out. Congress seems to have advantages but Judicial branch which justifies the law can declare the law unconstitutional meaning that the law is over the limit. The law can only be declared unconstitutional when a case goes to the Supreme Court and the case must relate to the law in some form. All these power and limitations are possible because of check and balance which is constitutional system that limits the branches by checking each other.

4. Checks and Balances

5. Key Principles of the Constitutionpart 2 • Another key principle from check and balance is the power to impeach a government official. This power of Congress is an ultimate power to go up against a corrupt government official. House of Representatives has the power to impeach a government official, but the Senates has the power to try impeachments meaning that the Senates will be the judge and juries. If the case involves impeaching the president, the court requires Chief Justice to preside. The Constitution requires 2/3 of the Senates vote to convict. If the defendant is guilty then the penalty would be removal from office and in some cases holding any official position. • Another key principle is the rule and regulation for presidential election. Under Article II, Section 1, a president will be elected by popular vote and electoral votes. Popular votes depend on how many votes a candidate receive from the voters and electoral college is all of the votes from Senates and House of Representatives. If a candidate receive more votes in electoral college gets all of the votes. In order to decide the winner, electoral college is the most important factor even if a candidate receives more votes in popular vote.

6. Jefferson and Louisiana Purchase • On April 30, 1803, United States purchased more than 2 million sq. km land from France for total of 80 million francs or $15 million which was called Louisiana Purchase. The large piece of land can open up trade routes for western settlers from the rivers and more importantly, people could settle out west for lower land prices. It also means that more resources were available such as fur, land for agriculture. This means that more trade routes were needed to accommodate the expansion. Before Jefferson actually accepted the offer from France, Jefferson was in quandary. Jefferson was a Republican who supported modest centralized government and he had his own principles of upholding the Constitution. He believed that a president doesn’t have the power to interfere with political affairs and uncertain that United States had the power to accept the offer because it is unwritten in the Constitution. The check and balances limits the power that a branch could have and the Constitution is just a piece of document that doesn’t have the will to say whether the government has the right. When Jefferson accepted the term, it shows how much America was loose constructionist. America being a loose constructionist produces controversial such as the slavery issue, present day problem which is health care.

7. Bush vs. Gore In 2000 election, there were many candidates running for president. The most distinct candidates that were most likely to win were George W. Bush and Al Gore. At the end of campaign, Gore was able to receive 500,000 more popular votes than Bush. In Russia, if a candidate has the greatest popular votes then the candidate will automatically be the minister. However, in America, the framers of the Constitution believes that deciding a president just purely on popular votes was reckless therefore the framers compromised the Electoral College system which the Congress is able to vote the president. Unlike popular vote system, whoever receives more votes from Representatives and Senates in a state gets all of the vote. How does this effects the presidential election process? Bush was able to win the 2000 election because he won the Electoral College votes by receiving 271 votes while Gore received 266 votes. What it seems like is that popular votes doesn’t matter in presidential election. The Constitution begins with “We the people” and our America based on democracy which means citizens are in control, not the government. Although the Constitution in people eyes are sacred document, the Constitution unseeingly betrays the people principle, democracy.

8. Blibigeography • http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Impeachment_Role.htm • http://www.house.gov/house/Constitution/Constitution.html • http://people.howstuffworks.com/question4721.htm • http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm