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THE UNITED
STATES CONSTITUTION ~ Shorter overview
| The Articles: |
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| 1: Congress |
| Article 1 provides for
the establishment of Congress, composed of the
Senate and the House of Representatives, and related
rights. |
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| 2: The Executive Branch |
| Article 2 creates the
executive branch of government headed by the
President, elected, along with the Vice President,
for a term of four years (see
president;
electoral
college). |
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| 3: The Judiciary |
| Article 3 provides for
a judiciary and defines
treason.
Besides its enumerated powers, the judiciary has the
inherent authority to interpret laws and the
Constitution with an authority that must be deferred
to. Article 3 also guarantees trial by jury in
criminal cases and lays the basis for federal
jurisdiction. The Eleventh Amendment (1798), which
prohibits suits against any state by citizens of
another state or foreigners (see
sovereignty),
was passed in reaction to the Supreme Court’s
accepting jurisdiction of a suit against a state by
a citizen of another state. |
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| 4: The States |
| Article 4 deals with
the relations of the states (see
conflict of laws),
providing that “Full faith and credit shall be given
in each State to the public acts, records, and
judicial proceedings of every other State.” Section
2 prohibits any state from discriminating against
citizens of other states, or in favor of its own. It
also provides for the extradition of criminals. The
article guarantees a republican form of government
to every state and provides for the admission of new
states as well as the government of territories. |
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| 5: Amending the
Constitution |
| Article 5 provides for
amending the Constitution. The supremacy of the
federal Constitution and of federal law over those
of the states is the heart of the federal system and
is established by Article 6. Article 6 also provides
for an oath of office for members of the three
branches of the federal government and the states
and specifically forbids any religious qualification
for office. Article 7 declares that the Constitution
should go into force when ratified by nine states. |
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| The Bill of Rights |
| The First Amendment
guarantees the freedom of worship, of speech, of the
press, of assembly, and of petition to the
government for redress of grievances. The
Supreme Court has held that freedom of speech does
not include the right to refuse to testify before a
Congressional investigating committee and that most
organized prayer in the public schools violates the
First Amendment. |
| The right to bear arms
openly—adopted with reference to state militias—is
guaranteed by the Second Amendment, while
freedom from quartering soldiers in a house without
the owner’s consent is guaranteed by the Third
Amendment. The Fourth Amendment protects
people against unreasonable search and seizure, a
safeguard only recently extended to the states. |
| The Fifth Amendment
provides that no person shall be held for “a capital
or otherwise infamous crime” without indictment, be
twice put in “jeopardy of life or limb” for the same
offense, be compelled to testify against himself, or
“be deprived of life, liberty, or property without
due process of law.” The phrase “due process of
law,” which appears in the Fifth Amendment, is also
included in the Fourteenth Amendment. |
| The Sixth Amendment
guarantees the right of speedy and public trial by
an impartial jury in all criminal proceedings, while
the Seventh Amendment guarantees the right of
trial by jury in almost all common-law suits.
Excessive bail, fines and “cruel and unusual”
punishment are prohibited by the Eighth
Amendment. The Ninth Amendment states that
“The enumeration in the Constitution of certain
rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.” |
| By the Tenth Amendment
“The powers not delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or
to the people.” Powers reserved to the states are
often termed “residual powers.” |
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| The Other Amendments |
| Of the succeeding sixteen
amendments, the Eleventh, Seventeenth, Twenty-second
and Twenty-third Amendments have already been
discussed under Articles 1, 2, and 3. The Twelfth
(1804) revised the method of electing President and
Vice President. The Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth
(1868), and Fifteenth (1870) are the Civil War and
Reconstruction amendments; they abolish slavery,
while guaranteeing civil rights and suffrage to U.S.
citizens, including former slaves. The Sixteenth
Amendment (1913) authorizes the
income tax.
Prohibition
was established by the Eighteenth Amendment (1919)
and repealed by the Twenty-first (1933). The
Nineteenth (1920) grants
woman suffrage.
The Twentieth (1933) abolishes the so-called
lame-duck Congress and alters the date of the
presidential inauguration. The poll tax and any
other tax made a requirement for voting in primaries
and elections for federal office was outlawed by the
Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964). The Twenty-fifth
(1967) establishes the procedure for filling the
office of Vice President between elections and for
governing in the event of presidential disability.
The Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) lowers the voting
age in all elections to 18. The Twenty-seventh
Amendment (1992), first proposed in 1789,
establishes procedures for Congressional pay
increases. |
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"Alone, we are nothing.
As part of a group that does not achieve, we are
nothing." Together, We Are The People.
Let's stand together!
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