US Constitution Worksheet Essay

Review Questions for Mid-Term 1) What constitutional clause allows laws enacted by the federal government to take priority over conflicting state laws?

The president, who is the head of the executive branch, is elected by the entire nation and serves four years. According to article II of the Constitution the president has the power of execution and enforcement of laws passed by the congress, choose cabinet members and officials, he is the head of state and the commander and chief of the armed forces. The vice president is also a part of the executive branch and is a position to take presidency in case something happened to the president. In contrast, the judicial branch officials are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. In article three of the constitution the judicial branch is established and to let the congress to determine the judicial structure, the jurisdiction of the federal courts and the number of Supreme Court Justices.

“While the authors of the United States Constitution are frequently portrayed as noble and idealistic statesmen who drafted a document based upon their conception of good government, reality is that the constitution reflects the politics of the drafting and ratification process. Unfortunately, the result is a document that is designed to produce an ineffective government, rather than a government that can respond to issues in a timely fashion.” In support of this conclusion, the issues of slavery, The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, and the civil rights struggle keenly demonstrate the ways in which our constitution hinders the expediency and effectiveness of America’s government. The constitution’s provisions towards voting eligibility and

A constitution is a written document that sets forth the fundamental rules by which a society is governed. Throughout the course of history the United States has lived under two Constitutions since the British-American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. First in line was the Articles of Confederation (1789-1789) followed by the Constitution of United States of America (1789-present). The Articles of Confederation was the first formal written Constitution of America that specified how the national government was to operate. Unfortunately, the Articles did not last long. Under the words of the Article’s power was limited; Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. Also the articles stated

The US Constitution states “We The People of the United states in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for more 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.” The main purpose of the U.S Constitution is to establish the basic rights of all American Citizens. This follows that every United States Citizens have equal rights. Belonging to a minority group because of culture, religion or race does not assert that one is unconstitutional. In times of war, evacuation of minority groups only in NOT constitutional; however, evacuation of ALL United

A 3rd Article of the Constitution talks about the Judicial Branch. It says that there will be a court and then a “supreme” court that will make many decisions. It later says what kind of cases the federal government gets to hear. The framers wrote detailed descriptions for this Article so that the Judicial system new what cases they got and what cases the federal government got. Without the description, the federal government could possibly override the Supreme Court and get all of the cases. The framers also saw that this Article would need provisions because new cases would arise and new courts would come around.

In 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America worked together to identify the best way to elect the President (Patterson, 2013). The ideas suggested varied and ranged from selection by members of congress chosen by lottery, to a popular vote of the people. By the end of the Convention the matter had yet to be settled as the framers fore saw that many of the suggestions were prone to corruption, error, and were very chaotic. The issue was passed down to the Committee on Postponed Matters, who in turn created the system that is used today and is commonly known as Electoral College (Kazin, 2011). The Electoral College was outlined by the Committee to up hold the views of the founding fathers, who were the framers of the Constitution.

Article Five of the Constitution gave the procedure for amending the Constitution, that little did the founders know would be used almost immediately. In order for an amendment to be proposed either two-thirds of Congress must deem the amendment necessary or two-thirds of the state legislatures must call for a convention to propose an amendment. Once the amendment was proposed it would take three-fourths of the states to ratify the amendment. This article also ensured that no amendment could be passed that deprived a state of its equal vote in the senate. The interesting part of this Article is

If an issue raises between states Articles states to use the system of negotiation. Now the federal court deals with state to state issues. With passing laws before the Constitution, the Articles wanted 9/13 to pass any law. After it states 50%+1 of both of the houses plus the president needs to sign it. Also in the Articles term limit for legislative office is no more than three out of every six years. In the constitution there isn’t a term limit. The Chair of legislature is the president according to the Articles but in the constitution, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Vice President of the Senate.

3b. Which amendment states that the powers not specifically delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states?

28. To what extent was the United States Constitution a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation? (2005B)

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.”

The constitution was established by men who had experienced the dictatorships of Europe and had escaped from its grasp. They sought to establish a form of government that would never allow a dictatorship or tyrant ruler to hold power over the people like in the places they had fled. With their creation of the foundation of what our government is today they created a system where 3 branches were all of equal power and each could be overruled by another which prevented any branch becoming superior of another. The separation of powers provides a system of shared power called Checks and Balances.(2) The three branches are legislative, judicial and executive and they each have specific powers to

Constitution, and “appoints federal judges by advice and consent of the Senate” (SITE, p.). The judicial branch is comprised of the Federal, District, and Appeals Courts, which judge cases concerning federal law, but the Supreme Court decides if the law agrees with the U.S. Constitution. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080521155230AAz04SP

The framers of the Constitution knew that the document was going to be changed over time because if not, it would lead to a future revolution. The writers wanted it to be stable enough to provide a long lasting framework for the government. Although the framers knew that the Constitution would change over time they made the constitution difficult to change but possible. Whenever the framers thought that it was necessary to amend the Constitution, they would need to propose an amendment that would require a quorum of two- thirds vote from both houses of Congress, or a national convention called by two- thirds of several states. Following the first step of amending the Constitution, the proposed amendment has to be approved by either the state legislatures or the state conventions depending on how congress first proposed the amendment, in three-fourths of the states.