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Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 and ratified the following year. It is the second fundamental law of the United States of America, having replaced the Articles of Confederation.
Preamble
The Preamble to the US Constitution contains popular sovereignty. In the past, it was common for power to rest in the hands of many gods such as the Greek gods or one god through a king (divine right of kings).
The Preamble originally read," We the People of the States of . . .”, followed by a listing of the 13 states."[1] Jeffrey Rosen of the Constitution Center has argued that the final draft of the Preamble took away power from State Governments and gave it to the People.[2]
Article 1 (Legislature): 10 sections
Article I is the longest of the 7 Articles of the US Constitution. It has 10 Sections.
The legislative branch is called the Congress; it is made up of the (1) Senate and (2) House of Representatives.
Article 2 (Executive): 4 sections
Article II creates the executive branch of the US government.
Article 3 (Courts): 3 sections
Article III tasks Congress with establishing courts inferior to the federal Supreme Court.
Article 4 (States): 4 sections
Section 1 of Article IV of the US Constitution is known as the Full Faith and Credit Clause.[3] This means that, for example, a court judgment in state will be recognized (given credit) in another state.
Section 2 of Article IV of the US Constitution is known as the Privileges and Immunities Clause.
Section 3 of Article IV of the US Constitution is known as the Admissions Clause.
Section 4 of Article IV of the US Constitution is known as the Guarantee Clause. This means that every state in the Union is guaranteed a Republican form of government as opposed to other forms such as monarchy, theocracy, or direct democracy.
1st Amendment
The First Amendment provides freedom of
- religion,
- speech,
- press,
- assembly, and
- petition.
10th Amendment
The Tenth Amendment provides states' rights.[4]
17th Amendment
The Seventeenth Amendment to Article I provides for the popular election of United States Senators.[5]
See also
- Constitutional Law
- Constitutional Law Chemerinsky/Outline I
- Constitutional Law Chemerinsky/Outline II
- Constitutional Law Paulsen/3rd ed. Outline
- Constitutional Liberties
- Constitutional Law Stone/Outline II
- Constitutional Law Maggs/4th ed. Outline II
References
- ↑ https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/preamble-ic/interps/37
- ↑ https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-government-and-civics/us-gov-the-national-constitution-center/us-gov-the-constitution/v/preamble?modal=1
- ↑ https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-government-and-civics/us-gov-the-national-constitution-center/us-gov-the-constitution/v/article-iv-of-the-constitution?modal=1
- ↑ https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-10/
- ↑ https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-17/
External links
- https://constitution.congress.gov/ Constitution Annotated from the U.S. Congress
