U.S. GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE: THE CONSTITUTION : MAIN PRINCIPLES Self-government is the most important principle in the Constitution of the United States. The Founding Fathers saw that they needed to have a system which would make sure that everyone had a voice in the local, state and national governments. They wanted to have a system that could be changed when necessary. They wrote this system into the Constitution of the United States in 1787. It has lasted more than 200 years, through many changes in the world and the country. To this day the Constitution provides the basis for the United States government. The Constitution is often called the supreme law for two reasons: • No other laws may contradict any of its principles; and, • …show more content…
For example, the laws passed by the Congress cannot contradict the Constitution. The laws are checked by the court system and are sent to the President for approval. STRUCTURE OF THE CONSTITUTION Chapter 11 of the United States History book describes how the Constitution was written in 1787 and the many compromises that were made when it was written. Americans have been devoted to defending the principles in the Constitution, changing it only as much as needed to adapt to the changing world. The Constitution has two main sections: the document and the amendments. The Document This part of the Constitution never has been changed. It lists the reasons why the Constitution was written and sets up the structure or system of government. Its different parts are: • the Preamble, which gives the philosophy of the government (The Appendix has a copy of the Constitution.); and, • the Articles: - Article I set up the legislative branch and listed its duties and powers; - Article II set up the executive branch and listed its duties and powers; - Article III set up the judicial branch and listed its duties and powers; - Article IV set up a uniform relationship between the states; - Article V set up the procedure for amending or changing the Constitution; - Article VI set up the Constitution as the supreme law of the country; and, - Article VII set up how the Constitution would be ratified by the states.
When America first became a country, the government used the Articles of Confederation to govern the States, then known as the colonies. They later discovered that it did not give the central government enough power and made it weak. So, one day at a Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Founding Fathers came up with the Constitution for the new, growing country, and We the People. After they debated, discussed, and compared points and topics, they finally ratified the Constitution and Bill of Rights in 1791. The Preamble, also known as the introduction to the US Constitution, provides significant constitutional interpretation for
Constitution DBQ After the revolutionary war, the Articles of Confederation were written and in effect for 6 years. Then they realized that they needed to be revised. During the constitutional convention, they were just supposed to revise the Articles of Confederation. Instead they went away with the Articles and started to write a new constitution. Many people didn’t think the new constitution would guard against tyranny, but it did.
The Constitution was made to avoid tyranny. They wanted to create a government that avoids having too much power to a person or a group. They also wanted to create a government that wasn’t to weak to support the nation. The Constitution guards against tyranny by creating checks over the branches, giving power to the central government and the states, and creating the three branches separate and distinct.
The US Constitution, written in Philadephia in 1787 by the Founding Fathers was the product of the revolutionary war of independence, with it’s foundations strongly influenced by the works of political theorists such as Montesquieu and Locke. The Founding Fathers favoured a government that prevented any individual or particular group becoming tyrannical. Furthermore, they strongly opposed the notion of excessive government power, seen as the potential threat to individual freedom, wanting to protect minorities as well as the population as a whole, from arbitrary or unjust rule. Consequently, the Founding Fathers outlined main provisions within the US constitution in order to avoid tyranny: the separation of powers, a federal structure of
The Constitution played a huge role in framing the United States. The document was written on September 17, 1787. Many delegates came to Philadelphia from all around the country to write the Constitution. There were many reasons why the Constitution is so important. Our founding fathers wanted to form a more perfect union and establish justice for our country.
The very first original constitution of the United States was the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation had weaknesses and so the states decided to meet in secret and come up with a new constitution, the U.S Constitution. The Constitution of the United States has seven basic principles: federalism, checks & balances, republicanism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, limited government, and individual rights. Each and very principle has its own importance and process, but checks and balances will be more thoroughly discussed.
In 1866, the United States went to war with Mexico, where thousands of Mexicans and Americans died. The refugees were escaping tyranny. The constitution was written in 1788 to create a government with enough power to act on a national level, the constitution keeps one person or a group of people from getting too much power from our nation. To guard against tyranny, the constitution uses methods such as: federalism, separation, checks and balances, and the Bill of Rights. The first method that the constitution used was federalism.
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, yet there was a struggle to ratify it that went on until 1790. This Constitution was created in order to replace the Articles of Confederation, because many people agreed that the articles were not right in keeping the United States in order. The Constitution is made of many rules that have helped the country to stay in order, but on the other hand some of these rules have
The United States Constitution was an important document that changed history and a flexible document that could adapt to future challenges for many reasons. This important document replaced the Articles of Confederation, which had many problems from the beginning. Over time, the Constitution has also been amended to meet the challenges in the future.
The purpose of our new constitution is to create a government structure, while also having provisions to keep the government in check and keep the people protected from the government. It also helps to to form a more perfect union,establish justice,ensure domestic tranquility,provide for the common defense,promote the general welfare,secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
The United States Constitution of 1787 was drafted at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which addressed the problems of The Articles of Confederation. The U.S Constitution of 1787 was a document that was used to establish the organization, function, and the power of the government which later replaced The Articles of Confederation. The U.S Constitution suggested that the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land and that it was designed to centralize and increase the government power. On the other hand, Texas Constitution was ratified in 1876, demonstrating a decentralized in the government power.
The Constitution of the United States, signed September 17, 1787, is the basis of all government in the United States. It provides the general setup of the government through a system of checks and balances, the powers of each individual branch, and the standards to which the government should adhere. The US Constitution creates a blanket under which states
During the early years of our nation, there was struggle to finding a government that worked for the people. In the late 18th century philosophers began to strongly criticize the governments that were being dominated by monarchy and imperialism. The new beliefs in democracy, freedom for individuals of society, and the importance of human interactions led to the makings of the Constitution. Even though the ideas coming from everyone was far from an agreement, they were certain on their admiration of direct democracy and the restraints on that democracy. Their challenge in creating a government, was to strike a balance between liberty and order. Many documents built the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. For example, Second Treatise of Civil Government, The Spirit of Laws, Social Contract, The Virginia Declaration of Rights, and Common Sense.
The Constitution of the United States of America was ratified in the year 1787. Ever since that date, the document has enforced the laws set forth and created a base for the country to stand upon. The Constitution was created to provide strict, but amenable guidelines that Americans could follow, which could result in a functional country. Aside from the fact that the Constitution was written over two hundred years ago, the document is still necessary and relevant to modern times. The three branches of government, the First Amendment, as well as the Fourth Amendment, are all still present in today’s America. Many of the rules in the Constitution are still accordant to society today, primarily because of the perceptive founding fathers who created them.
The creation of the US constitution was prompted my many different things going on. What established America’s national government and fundamental laws is the U.S constitution. It also guarantees basic rights for its citizens. The U.S constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pa. The first document before the U.S constitution was the Articles of Confederation, with that the government wasn’t very strong and the states didn’t act like they do today. In 1787, at the 1787 convention, delegates made a decision to make a stronger federal government that consisted of the executive, legislative, and the judicial branches. That wasn’t it either, it also had a system of checks and balances because they did not want one branch to be able to overpower another branch. The ten amendments of the Bill of Rights guarantees protections for people like religion and freedom of speech. In total, there are twenty-seven constitutional amendments.