AN INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW TO THE

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

Don Stepherson V. Calda, Ph.D.
The supreme law of the United States.

It is the foundation and source of the legal authority

underlying the existence of the United States of America
and the Federal Government of the United States.

It provides the framework for the organization of the

United States Government.
US Constitution Quick Facts
• Signed into being on September 17, 1787

• 3 Parts
o Preamble: Introduction, establishes the purpose of
government
o Articles: 7 articles which provides guidelines for how the
government will operate
o Amendments: 27changes to the original document
The events leading to the Constitution
✓American Revolution raged from 1775, when shots were first fired at
Lexington and Concord, until 1783 when the Treaty of Paris
✓July 4, 1776, 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the
Declaration of Independence.
✓November 1777, the Articles of Confederation, written by John Dickinson,
was established.
✓Constitutional Convention in 1787—to amend the Articles, not create a new
system of government.
The events leading to the Constitution
➢Virginia Plan or Randolph Plan proposed a radical new form of
government, one in which the national government was significantly
more powerful than that found under the Articles.
➢New Jersey Plan or Paterson Plan. This plan looked very similar to
the Articles, because it proposed a unicameral or one-house
legislature with equal representation regardless of state population
and favored the small population states
➢Great Compromise or Connecticut Compromise, resulted from
the Constitutional Convention represented a radical departure from
the government under the Articles.
Virginia Plan: Great Compromise:
◦ Separation of powers ◦ Hybrid of VA and NJ Plans:
◦ Bicameral legislature based on ◦ Bicameral legislature:
population
◦ House of Reps based on population
◦ Federal government had increased
◦ Senate based upon equal
powers representation
New Jersey Plan: ◦ Three-Fifth’s Clause:
◦ Unicameral legislature where every ◦ Slaves count as 3/5’s of a person for
state received equal representation. representation purposes & taxes.
Basic Principles of the Constitution
Popular Sovereignty
◦ Government power resides in the people
Limited government
◦ Government is not all powerful, can only do what the people let it.
Separation of Powers
◦ Helps prevent one branch from becoming too powerful
◦ Checks and Balances
Federalism
◦ Division of power among national and state governments
Power of Judicial Review
◦ The power of the courts to test the validity of the executive and legislative acts in
light of their conformity with the Constitution.
Dual Sovereignty
Dual Sovereignty means that whatever the
federal government does not make a law about,
the states can act however they choose.
That is why there is different state laws
regarding the age of drinking alcohol, driving,
the death penalty, and many more.
What are the Checks and Balances?
Who Wrote It?
James Madison is considered
“the father of the
Constitution.”
His important contributions:
◦The Virginia Plan
◦Separation of Powers
◦Bill of Rights
Why was it written?
After the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation
set up the structure of the US Government.
The federal government was extremely weak and this
created many problems such as:
1. No separation of powers – only unicameral legislature.
2. Weak central government – states had most power.
3. Congress did not have the power to tax – this means they could not
get their finances in order.
Why was it written?
More problems with the Articles of Confederation:
4. In order to change the Articles, all thirteen states had to approve of the
changes. This made it essentially impossible to make any changes.
5. For any major laws to pass they had to be approved by 9 or the 13 states
which was difficult.
6. Congress did not have the power to regulate commerce which caused
competition between states. It also caused diplomatic issues when
states refused to pay for goods their received from other nations.
 13 COLONIES/STATES

The 13 original states were New

Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia.
Why was it written?
Shays’ Rebellion:
◦An uprising of farmers in
Massachusetts – led by
Daniel Shays.
◦Helped convince leaders
that a strong central
government was needed.
"A scene at Springfield, during Shay's Rebellion, when the
mob attempted to prevent the holding of the Courts of
Justice."—E. Benjamin Andrews, 1895
 When was it written?

May 25th to September 17th, 1787

Philadelphia
Intention was to revise Articles of Confederation
Ended up replacing the Articles and creating a new government
Called the “Constitutional Convention.”
Ratification Debate
Needed 9 of 13 states to ratify or official
approve of the Constitution before it went
into effect.

A huge debate emerged between two

sides:
◦ Federalists
◦ Anti-Federalists
Federalists v. Anti-Federalists
Federalists: Anti-Federalists:
◦ Supported the Constitution ◦ Supported a weaker central
and a strong central government – felt too much power
government was taken away from the states
◦ Alexander Hamilton, James ◦ Opposed the Constitution
Madison, John Jay ◦ Wanted a Bill of Rights included
◦ Federalist Papers – series ◦ Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry
of articles written in defense
of the Constitution
Ratification
Officially adopted after
ratified by New
Hampshire.
Once the new
government convened,
they added a Bill of Rights
to the Constitution.
Structure of the Constitution
Preamble:
◦ Statement of purpose
Articles:
◦ I: Legislative Branch
◦ II: Executive Branch
◦ III: Judicial Branch
◦ IV: Relations Among the States
◦ V: Amendment Process
◦ VI: Federal Power
◦ VII: Ratification
Amendments:
◦ 27 Total
◦ 1st ten are the Bill of Rights
Article I: Legislative Branch
Bicameral: Important Powers:
◦ Senate ◦ Make laws
◦ 2 Senators for each state ◦ Set taxes
◦ House of Representatives ◦ Declare war
◦ Based on population ◦ Override Vetoes
◦ Borrow money
Reps serve for 2 year terms ◦ Regulate international and national
Senators serve for 6 year trade
◦ Print money
terms
The House of Representatives
States with the largest populations have the most representatives in the House.
House members must be at least 25 years old or older to serve.
House members are elected to a two year term.
There are 435 members in the House of Representatives.
The Senate
The Senate is the other part of the Congress
There are two senators for each state, which means of course there
are 100 Senators.
Senators must be at least 30 years old.
Senators are elected to a six year term.
Article II: Executive Branch
President and Vice President
are elected to 4 year terms Important powers:
◦ Commander-in-Chief
Qualifications: ◦ Grant pardons
◦ At least 35 years old ◦ Make treaties
◦ 14 year resident of the US ◦ Appoint federal officers
◦ Natural born citizen ◦ Ensure laws are executed
Elected by the Electoral
College
Article III: Judicial Branch
Supreme Court judges
Important Powers:
serve for life unless ◦ Decides cases of Constitutional law
impeached. and federal law
Judicial power rests with ◦ Cases involving ambassadors go
straight to Supreme Court
US Supreme Court and ◦ Judicial Review comes later (1803 –
other courts created by Marbury v. Madison)
Congress
The Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch of the federal government is
headed by the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court justices are nominated by the
president and approved by the Senate.
There are 9 Supreme Court justices, who are
appointed for life.
Other Important Articles:
Article V: Amendments:
◦ Amendments are proposed
when 2/3 of House and Senate
deem it necessary Article VI: Federal Power
◦ Amendments are proposed ◦ Supremacy Clause: Federal law
when 2/3 of states deem it is supreme to state law
necessary ◦ No religious tests for public
office
◦ Amendments must be ratified
by ¾ of state legislatures or by
conventions in ¾ of states
AMENDMENTS
1st Amendment (1791):
Guarantees the right to the freedoms of speech, press, and religion. Protects the right to
petition the government.
2nd Amendment (1791):
Guarantees the people's right to own and bear arms for their defense.
3rd Amendment (1791):
Citizens cannot be forced to quarter soldiers during times of peace.
4th Amendment (1791):
Citizens cannot be forced to subject themselves to seizure and search without a search warrant
and probable cause.
AMENDMENTS
5th Amendment (1791):
Prohibits abuse of governmental authority in legal procedures. Establishes rules for indictment by
eminent domain and grand jury. Guarantees the due process rights. Protects citizens from self-
incrimination and double jeopardy.
6th Amendment (1791):
Guarantees fair and speedy jury trial and the rights to know the accusation, the accuser, and to find
counsel and witnesses.
7th Amendment (1791):
Reserves individuals' rights to jury trial depending on the civil case, and cases already examined by
not be re-opened by another court.
8th Amendment (1791):
Forbids exorbitant bails and fines and punishment that is unusual or cruel.
AMENDMENTS
9th Amendment (1791):
Reserves the rights of citizens which are not specifically mentioned by the U.S. Constitution.
10th Amendment (1791):
Reserves powers that are not given to the U.S. government under the Constitution, nor
prohibited to a State of the U.S., to the people and the States.
11th Amendment (1795):
State sovereign immunity. States are protected from suits by citizens living in another state or
foreigners that do not reside within the state borders. Ratified: Feb. 7, 1795
12th Amendment (1804):
Modifies and clarifies the procedure for electing vice-presidents and presidents.
AMENDMENTS
13th Amendment (1865):
Except as punishment for criminal offense, forbids forced-slavery and involuntary servitude.
14th Amendment (1868):
Details Equal Protection Clause, Due Process Clause, Citizenship Clause, and clauses dealing with
the Confederacy and its officials.
15th Amendment (1870):
Reserves citizens the suffrage rights regardless of their race, color, or previous slave status.
16th Amendment (1913):
Reserves the U.S. government the right to tax income.
AMENDMENTS
17th Amendment (1913):
Establishes popular voting as the process under which senators are elected.
18th Amendment (1919):
Denies the sale and consumption of alcohol.
19th Amendment (1920):
Reserves women's suffrage rights.
20th Amendment (1933):
Also known as the "lame duck amendment," establishes date of term starts for Congress
(January 3) & the President (January 20).
AMENDMENTS
21st Amendment (1933):
Details the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. State laws over alcohol are to remain.
22nd Amendment (1951):
Limit the terms that an individual can be elected as president (at most two terms). Individuals
who have served over two years of someone else's term may not be elected more than once.
23rd Amendment (1961):
Reserves the right of citizens residing in the District of Columbia to vote for their own Electors
for presidential elections.
24th Amendment (1964):
Citizens cannot be denied the suffrage rights for not paying a poll tax or any other taxes.
AMENDMENTS
25th Amendment (1967):
Establishes the procedures for a successor of a President.
26th Amendment (1971):
Reserves the right for citizens 18 and older to vote.
27th Amendment (1992):
Denies any laws that vary the salaries of Congress members until the beginning of the next
terms of office for Representatives.
Read and Understand:
1. McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316
2. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483
3. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436,
4. Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137
5. Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393
6. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113
7. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335
8. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643