“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the 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.”
I remember memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution as a child, and I can still recite those words. Lately we have been hearing a lot of talk about the Constitution of the United States, so I thought it might be time to review some of what we all learned in school about our nation’s founding document.
1787. That is the year of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States of America. We have the world’s oldest constitution that is still in use, and it is also the shortest. Its brilliant design has become the model for many other nations. What makes the Constitution, the “supreme law of the land,” so special?
The Constitution is broad enough that it can adapt to changing needs in our society. It divides powers between federal and state governments and between the three branches of federal government. This makes it difficult for any person or group to obtain power without first seeking to compromise and reach consensus with others.
Under the Articles of Confederation, which we followed right after the Revolutionary War, states essentially acted as thirteen separate nations, with only a loose national policy. It soon became obvious that this would not work, that the states needed to be united to have any power. Therefore, a new constitutional convention was called.
So many divisive issues! How to pay for war debt? What about slavery? Should more populated states have more power? All these issues required debate and compromise.
Article One of the Constitution establishes the Legislative branch, Congress, which is given the power to make laws. The Great Compromise was the establishment of two houses: the House of Representatives would be based on population and the Senate would have equal representation from each state. New laws would have to be passed by each house of Congress.
Article Two establishes the executive branch, which includes the President and the Vice-President. They are charged with carrying out and enforcing federal laws, and they generally do this through administrative agencies. The Electoral College and impeachment are explained in Article Two. Section 2 mentions executive departments and officers, and we now have fifteen departments in the President’s Cabinet, all authorized by Congress.
The Judicial branch is established under Article Three of the Constitution. This section creates the Supreme Court and the federal court system. The courts interpret and enforce our laws.
Article Four of the U.S. Constitution, often called the “Full Faith and Credit” clause, outlines the relationship between states, including the requirement that each state respects the laws and judicial proceedings of other states. This section also addresses the admission of new states.
The Constitution can be amended by following the procedures outlined in Article Five.
Article Six of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Constitution and federal laws as the supreme law of the land, binding state and federal officials to uphold it, and prohibits religious tests for holding public office.
Finally, Article Seven explains how this new Constitution would be ratified, which, of course, each of the original thirteen states did.
Another thing that makes our Constitution a brilliant document is the separation of powers and checks and balances. We will discuss those in a future column. Meanwhile, let’s be grateful to James Madison, Gouverneur Morris, and George Washington for their leadership in creating the Supreme Law of our land!