Chapter Overviews

Chapter 3: The Constitution

Chapter Overviews

[logo] Essential Question
How do the specific parts of the Constitution work to create limited government and an effective democracy?

Section 1 Structure and Principles
The U.S. Constitution is divided into three parts—the Preamble, the articles, and the amendments. The Preamble explains why the Constitution was written and the purposes of government. Article I established the legislative branch and spells out Congress's procedures for making laws. Article II created the executive branch to carry out the laws passed by Congress. Article III established a Supreme Court to head the judicial branch and outlines the jurisdiction it and other federal courts hold. Article VI explains the relationship of the states to one another and to the national government. Article V spells out the ways that the Constitution can be amended. Article VI establishes that the Constitution is the “supreme Law of the land.” Article VII addresses ratification of the Constitution. The Constitution rests on six major principles of government: popular sovereignty, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, and limited government.

Section 2 Three Branches of Government
The legislature consists of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Congress's expressed or enumerated powers include passing laws that deal with economic matters such as levying taxes, borrowing money, and regulating commerce. Other powers provide for defense, such as declaring war and raising armed forces. The final enumerated power is the elastic clause, which lets Congress stretch its powers to meet unanticipated situations.

The Founders recognized the need for a strong executive to carry out the acts of Congress. The Constitution grants the president broad but rather vague powers. Specific powers include functioning as commander in chief of the armed forces and state militias; appointing heads of executive departments, ambassadors, and federal judges with the consent of the Senate; making treaties with foreign nations with the Senate's advice and consent; and meeting heads of state. A federal bureaucracy helps the president “faithfully execute” the laws passed by Congress.

The American judiciary is made up of two different court systems. The federal court system derives its power from the Constitution and federal laws. The 50 state court systems derive power from the various state constitutions and laws. Federal court jurisdiction is limited by the subject matter of the case and parties involved in a case. Federal courts try cases that involve federal laws, foreign treaties, international law, bankruptcy cases, and interpretations of the Constitution.

The principle of separation of powers intends that there will be some conflict among the three branches of government as a way to ensure liberty.

Section 3 Amending the Constitution
Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed and ratified in two ways. An amendment is proposed at the national level but is ratified in a state-by-state process. One method of proposing an amendment is by a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. The other way is for two-thirds of the states to ask Congress to call a convention. One method for ratifying a proposed amendment is for the legislatures in three-fourths of the states to vote on it. The other method is for the states to hold special conventions and then have three-fourths of the conventions approve it.

Amending the Constitution is a direct method of adapting the document to modern times. But the Constitution can also be adapted in a number of indirect ways. Congress can affect interpretation of the Constitution by changing laws or using its other powers. The president, too, adjusts the interpretation of the Constitution through actions such as conducting foreign affairs through executive agreement and aggressively requesting legislation from Congress. Through its power of judicial review, the Supreme Court plays a key role in interpreting the Constitution, either by practicing judicial restraint or supporting judicial activism.

Section 4 The Amendments
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. They protect individual rights by limiting government powers. The First Amendment protects the freedoms of religion, speech, and the press, and the rights of assembly and to petition the government. The Second Amendment protects the rights of states to maintain a militia and of citizens to bear arms. The Third Amendment restricts quartering of troops in private homes. The Fourth Amendment protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” The Fifth Amendment includes protections for people accused of crimes: the right to a grand jury and protections against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and government seizure of property without just compensation. It also requires that the national government follow due process of law.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees additional rights to the accused: to have a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to hear and question witnesses, and to be defended by a lawyer. The Seventh Amendment assures the right to a jury trial in civil cases. The Eighth Amendment protects against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment. The Ninth Amendment provides that people's rights are not restricted to those specified in Amendments 1 through 8. The Tenth Amendment restates that any powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states and to the people.

The Civil War Amendments—Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen—were the result of that conflict. The Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment, similar to the Fifth Amendment, prohibits a state from depriving a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the government from denying a person's right to vote on the basis of race.

The later amendments (Sixteen through Twenty-seven) were added in the twentieth century. They deal with a range of topics that reflect some of the changes that occurred in American society during that period—advances in the status of workers, African Americans, and women to mention a few.