Apollinas

Why? 

Because it is the foundation of our country and it outlines all of our rights as citizens.  Its amendments protect us from each other and most importantly from the government.  It is also the framework for the organization of our government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.  It is the supreme law of our Land.

We, the American people, are the creators of our nation and the source of our governmental authority.  It is the responsibility of each generation of Americans to learn and uphold the principles of the Constitution.

Give me some facts.

Okay.  It was as adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of “The People”. It contains 7 articles. It has been amended 27 times, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.

What does it say?

A lot.

It begins with the Preamble:  “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.”

Then it goes right into the articles – there are 7 Articles: 

• Articles 1-3 are devoted to the 3 branches of government, Legislative, Executive and Judicial, respectively. 
  • It specifies the powers and duties of each of the three branches and it reserves all unenumerated powers to the respective states and the people, thereby establishing the federal system of government.
• Article 4 outlines states’ powers and limits.  Article 5 is how amendments can be ratified.  
• Article 6 establishes the Constitution, and the laws and treaties of the U.S. made according to it, to be the supreme law of the land. 
  • It also validates national debt created under the Articles of Confederation and requires that the states’ constitutions and laws should not conflict with the laws of the federal constitution and that in case of a conflict, state judges are legally bound to honor the federal laws and constitution over those of any state. 
• Article 7 sets forth the ratification requirements: the Constitution would not take effect until at least nine states had ratified the Constitution in state conventions specially convened for that purpose, and it would only apply to those states that ratified it.

 Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 to 10):

• 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law…” It addresses the rights of freedom of religion (prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion and protecting the right to free exercise of religion), freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.
  • Amendment referred to when speaking of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.
  • Think of this as the “freedom of thought” Amendment.  It was put into place in order to protect our right to think freely and believe what we choose.  No thought police.  No government coercion.  We are autonomous human beings, free to think, believe and say as we choose. 
• 2nd: guarantees the right of individuals to possess weapons, “right to bear arms”
• 3rd:prohibits the government from using private homes as quarters for soldiers during peacetime without the consent of the owners
  • This Amendment was cited in the landmark case, Griswold v. Connecticut, in support of the Supreme Court’s holding that the constitution protects the right to personal privacy. There is no explicit “Right to Privacy” in the Constitution, it was found in the “penumbras” (shadows) of the text. (In essence, the Justices ‘read between the lines’)

• 4th: guards against unreasonable searches, arrests, and seizures of property without a specific warrant or “probable cause” to believe a crime has been committed.
  • Some rights to privacy have been inferred from this amendment as well

• 5th:  forbids trial for a major crime without being indicted by a grand jury; prohibits double jeopardy (repeated trials), with very limited exception; forbids punishment without due process of law; and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to testify against himself (“pleading the Fifth”).
  •  This is regarded as the “rights of the accused” amendment, known as the Miranda rights after the Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona.
    • Eminent Domain: It also prohibits government from taking private property for public use without “just compensation”, the basis of eminent domain in the United States.

• 6th: “Right to a fair trial” amendment. It guarantees a speedy public trial for criminal offenses, requires trial by a jury, guarantees the right to legal counsel for the accused, and guarantees that the accused may require witnesses to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused. It also guarantees the accused a right to know the charges against him.
  • In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fifth Amendment prohibition on forced self-incrimination and the Sixth Amendment clause on right to counsel were to be made known to all persons placed under arrest, and these clauses have become known as the Miranda rights.
• 7th: assures trial by jury in civil cases.
• 8th: forbids excessive bail or fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
• 9th: declares that the listing of individual rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights is not meant to be comprehensive; and that the other rights not specifically mentioned are retained by the people.
• 10th: States’ Rights – reserves to the states respectively, or to the people, any powers the Constitution did not delegate to the United States, nor prohibit the states from exercising.

There are 17 other amendments that came after the Bill of Rights.

Later Amendments (and summary highlights):

Fun Facts (not really that fun but good for trivia game purposes)

1. The U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution still in use by any nation in the world. (Except for the Statutes of 1600, the main part of San Marino’s Constitution. San Marino, by the way, is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world.  Its geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of Italy).
2. The first U.S. Constitution was called the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union”.
3. Knowledge of its drafting and construction comes primarily from the diaries left by James Madison (4th President, often called “Father of the Constitution” and the author of the Bill of Rights), who kept a complete record of the proceedings at the Constitutional Convention.
4. The Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress 11 years earlier, on July 4, 1776.

The Founding Fathers understood the potential of people living in a free, democratic society.  They were also aware of human nature, the tendency of power to corrupt and the necessity of governmental checks and balances.  When Thomas Jefferson said, “Every generation needs a new revolution”, he intimated that we need to fight for democracy just as generations before us did.  If we are not vigilant, all that you and I enjoy in this country, paid for by the courage and hard work of people years before us, will cease to exist.