Civics 101: The United States Constitution
The United States Constitution
Last month, I gave you a simplified breakdown of the differences between City, State, and Federal governments and our respective responsibilities. This time, I’d like to dive into the U.S. Constitution - the foundation of most of the debates engulfing society today.
First, some story time. Here’s a quick story (in bullet form) about James Madison - the man I believe should be attributed to the eventual success of getting the Constitution created and ratified:
For example, in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 (in Philadelphia), Madison insisted that George Washington (a popular figure that surpassed any level of stardom we have experienced in today’s society) was listed as a delegate there.
Washington, who tried to retire from public life after the Revolution, was uncertain whether he wanted to go to the Convention, but ended up going thanks to Madison’s recruitment skills.
Madison was strategic and thoughtful, while also an effective, practical politician.
But more importantly, Madison did something even more critical.
It’s easy to forget, but the original goal of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was to make some changes to the existing “Articles of Confederation” so that the country didn’t fall apart (the country was in turmoil after the Revolution).
Some framers described the problems as an “excess of democracy” - which meant that not having a king was good, but the states, per the Articles of Confederation, yielded too much power that was causing chaos.
The Constitutional Convention was supposed to begin May 14, 1787, but everyone was late so they didn’t reach a quorum (minimum of 7 states) until May 25. Rhode Island never showed. New Hampshire didn’t have the money to send their delegates until mid-July (lol).
Virginia’s delegation arrived first and strategized with the delegates from PA. Madison asked Virginia to submit their own plan (a list of 15 resolutions called the “Virginal Plan”).
Brilliantly, what the Virgina Plan really did was it threw out the Articles of Confederation and start from scratch. This was Madison’s audacious plan because it removed old biases and allowed everyone to start with first principles of how government should operate.
This “Plan” was concocted and approved before most other states even arrived in Philadelphia. Many of the “small” states were appalled and threatened to leave.
The small states only stayed because Madison engineered a compromise in the topic of representation: small states wanted equal representation for both House and Senate - but compromised by having just the House be proportional and Senate be equal representation across all states. This is the same system of representation we still have today.
The rest is history. Thank you, James Madison.
As the years have passed, people’s understanding of the Constitution - a remarkable, 235-year old document - has dwindled. Misinformation and manipulation of its words and meaning has spread. So what is the Constitution? What does it say? What does it do? I’d like to help break this down for you today.
The Constitution was written in 1787. The goal was not to make the country more free, but rather to get the country out of its recession with a strong national government that can make, and enforce laws and collect taxes. THAT WAS ITS INTENDED, ORIGINAL GOAL: financial efficiency and a common defense in case England returned (which they did in the War of 1812).
The Constitution is basically a structure of government; 4,400 words written on parchment (i.e. a type of paper coated with silicone to give it a non-stick, heat-resistant surface) and consists of a preamble (describes the purpose of the document and the federal government) and 7 articles that describe the way government should be operated.
The legislation is bicameral (i.e. two-house), with representation that is proportional to a state’s population. The words “democracy” is never mentioned, rather the document defines our country as a federal republic, which loosely means that we’re a collection of states governed by elected representatives. The first 3 words are the most important (“we the people”) because it declares that the people hold all the power.
Note: Nearly 20% of the population was enslaved. The Southerners wanted all of their slaves to be counted in the apportionment of their populations. Northerners made the argument that slaves were livestock (like horses or oxen) and shouldn’t count as a whole person because they didn’t want the South to have a disproportional amount of power (and because of white supremacy). The South made the argument that women couldn’t vote at the time, but were counted as whole people, so slaves should be too (because they wanted more power). Madison came up with the “3/5ths Compromise”= a slave would be counted as 3/5ths of a person. Without this compromise, the South would have walked out.
The Preamble:
Self-explanatory, it states: "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."
Article 1 - focuses on the Legislative Branch (two whole pages out of the 4 parchments):
The framers (i.e. the Founding Fathers) were delegates to the Constitutional Convention and helped to draft the document. They intended for Congress to be the dominant branch of government; thus, the majority of powers lie in Article 1. The Legislative Branch makes laws in a bicameral manner with checks and balances, and they can also borrow money for the nation, declare war, and raise a military.
Article 2 - focuses on the Executive Branch:
The framers had the hardest time agreeing on this concept of a “President”. The method of selection (i.e. the Electoral College) is still highly debated today. The executive branch's powers include the president, Vice-President, Cabinet, and Departments under the Cabinet's Secretaries. They all carry out the laws by Congress, make treaties with other nations, appoint federal judges, department heads, and ambassadors, and determine how best to run the country and military operations. This article also covers the electoral process, term limits of the president, and who is eligible to run.
Article 3 - focuses on the Judicial Branch:
This section has the fewest words, yet most broad powers. It outlines the powers of the federal court system. The article states that the court of last resort is the U.S. Supreme Court and that the U.S. Congress has the power to determine the size and scope of those courts below it. All judges are appointed for life unless they resign or are charged with bad behavior.
Article 4 - focuses on States and citizenship
The major concept here is “full faith and credit” which basically means that all states must respect the acts, records, and judicial proceedings of another state. It also deals with interstate felons, how new states can join the union, and federal government protecting states.
Article 5 - focuses on the amendment process for changing the Constitution
The process balances the need to ensure that it’s not too easy (cannot look like everyday law) or too hard to change (cannot be too restrictive as to trigger a new revolution). It requires a 2/3rd majority of the Congress (67) OR state conventions to PROPOSE an amendment, and then a 3/4th majority of the states (38) to approve it. That’s a high bar. 11,000 amendments have been introduced in Congress, BUT only 33 have gone to the states to be ratified & ONLY 27 have received the necessary approval from the states to actually become amendments.
In my opinion, this article is proof that the Founding Fathers built-in an acknowledgment that the words and ideas of 1787 are not applicable to 2022. The PEOPLE give the Constitution its power.
Article 6 - focuses on the Supremacy clause
This says that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, including over other State Constitutions. This article also states that America will pay all debts from before the Constitution was written. It also covers the oath clause which states that they cannot make a person swear that they follow a certain religion.
Article 7 - focuses on the Ratification of the Constitution
Ratification basically means the process to make this Constitution “stick”. 9 states needed to vote yes on this Constitution to ratify it.
Let’s talk about the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution. It was written by James Madison and ratified on December 15, 1791. Before we dive in, here’s a shocking fact and a quick story.
Shocking fact: Did you know that when the Bill of Rights was ratified it didn’t even apply to the states? In other words, the federal Congress could not pass a law limiting your liberties, but your state COULD - and this was upheld in a 1833 Supreme Court case.
It wasn’t until 1925 that SCOTUS ruled that, via the 14th amendment, the Bill of Rights did actually apply to the states. Shocking! It took great movements from citizens, mainly the Labor movement and the Civil Rights movement, to finally have many of those federal protections apply to the states.
Quick story: The Bill of Rights was brought up but never discussed that hot summer of 1787. Madison did NOT want a Bill of Rights - he didn’t think it was essential and referred to the act of writing it as a “nauseous project” (lol). His main point was that the Constitution was the structural guarantee of our rights. He believed that protecting people’s rights should be the job of the states (many states at the time had their own constitutions and many had their own bills of rights). He was also hesitant to write the Bill of Rights because of the risk of not including a written right that people actually possess (i.e. it may mean that it’s not a right if it’s not listed?). During Madison’s political campaign for a Congress seat, he asked every state what they wanted in a bill of rights and he ended up making a list of 200 civil liberties! 12 were submitted but only 10 got ratified.
Bill of rights:
Amendment 1: Free speech, religion, press, petition and assembly
Amendment 2-3: Militia and conditions under war
Amendment 4-8: Rights of the criminally accused. Dedicating half of the first ten amendments is a LOT of emphasis for the rights of the criminally accused. The reason why is because THEY were criminally accused - they had the power of a whole English government going against an individual who’s accused of a crime
Amendment 9: The Constitution does not include all of the rights of the people and the states. Answers Madison’s fears of “missing” rights
Amendment 10: Any power not given to the federal government is given back to the people
Additional Constitutional Amendments:
Amendment 11 (1795): Citizens cannot sue states in federal courts. (There are some exceptions).
Amendment 12 (1804): The President and Vice President are elected on a party ticket.
Amendment 13 (1865): Slavery is illegal in the United States.
Amendment 14 (1868): Every person born in the USA is a citizen. An immigrant can become a naturalized citizen.
Amendment 15 (1870): All US male citizens have the right to vote.
Amendment 16 (1913): Congress can tax income.
Amendment 17 (1913): The people can elect US Senators.
Amendment 18 (1919): Alcohol is illegal. (Prohibition).
Amendment 19 (1920): All US female citizens have the right to vote.
Amendment 20 (1933): The President is inaugurated in January. Congress begins to meet in January.
Amendment 21 (1933): Alcohol is legal. Each state can make laws about making, selling, and drinking alcohol. Fun Fact: This is the ONLY constitutional amendment that repeals another constitutional amendment.
Amendment 22 (1951): The President cannot serve for more than two terms.
Amendment 23 (1961): The US Citizens in the District of Columbia have the right to vote for President.
Amendment 24 (1964): It is illegal to make a citizen pay a voting fee or take a reading test to vote.
Amendment 25 (1967): If the president dies or cannot serve, the vice-president becomes president. If both die, the Speaker of the House becomes president. Fun fact: It can also be used for a temporary handover of power (like if the president is sick); it has been used 3 times for that, once by Ronald Reagan & twice by George W. Bush.
Amendment 26 (1971): US citizens who are 18 years old or older have the right to vote.
Amendment 27 (1992): Congress must limit when and how much its members are paid. This is the last time an amendment was passed! Fun fact: it was proposed in 1792, BUT it wasn’t ratified until 1992.