What does it say? | |||||||
| Preamble | Article I | Article II | Article III | Article IV | Article V | Article VI | Article VII |
What does it mean? | |||||||
| Preamble | Article I | Article II | Article III | Article IV | Article V | Article VI | Article VII |
PREAMBLE
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.
PREAMBLE
We the people of the United States create this constitution.
We aim to use this document to improve our government, establish justice, make relations within the country peaceful, protect ourselves, make living conditions good, achieve all the benefits of freedom for ourselves and our children.
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The preamble does not legally guarantee any rights. But the first three words make an important point. They say the people – not a king, or even lawmakers– have the power to form and maintain the government. Americans often use the words “we the people” to show the U.S. is a democracy. Voters elect officials to represent them. But scholars also note that not everyone was historically included in “we the people.” The men who wrote the Constitution in 1787 did not expect everyone to have the same right to participate in the U.S. government. They expected white men who owned property to vote, make laws and become judges and presidents. They did not expect poor men, American Indians, African-Americans and women to play a significant role in government. Over time, changes to the Constitution gave all these groups more political power. |
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ARTICLE I
ARTICLE I: THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Only Congress has the power to make federal laws.
Congress includes the House of Representatives and the Senate.
| House members are: | Senators are: |
| Elected every 2 years | Elected every 6 years |
| At least 25 years old | At least 30 years old |
| Residents of their states | Residents of their states |
| U.S. citizens for at least 7 years | U.S. citizens for at least 9 years |
| Elected by voters in the state | Elected by voters in the states* |
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*In 1787, the Constitution said state legislatures choose senators. But in 1913, the 17th amendment changed how senators are elected. Voters in each state now elect their senators, just as they elect House members. |
The House of Representatives
How do we decide how many members of the House to elect?
The population of a state determines how many representatives it will have in the House. The U.S. population is counted every 10 years.
If a House members dies or leaves office before the term is finished, the state governor calls a special election to choose another member.
| The Constitution of 1787 said each House member would represent no more than 30,000 people. But as the U.S. population grew, so did the House of Representatives. In 1929 Congress voted to limit the number of House members. Today, the House includes 435 members. |
Who is the leader of the House?
The leader is called the Speaker. House members choose who he or she will be.
| Nancy Pelosi was the first female Speaker of the House. She held the position from 2007-2011. |
The Senate
How do we decide how many senators to elect?
Every state has two senators. Each senator has one vote. One-third of the Senate is elected every two years. (As a result, the whole Senate does not change at once.)
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If a senator dies or leaves office, the state's governor can appoint someone to serve temporarily. In 1787, the state legislature appointed a new senator. Today, voters choose a new senator at the next election or in a special election. |
Who is the leader of the Senate?
The vice president is the leader of the Senate.
Senators choose the rest of their officers, including a leader who serves when the vice president is absent.
| The vice president votes on proposals in the Senate only if the senators' votes are equally divided. In 2001 Vice President Dick Cheney broke his first tie in the Senate. |
How are elected officials removed from office?
For the purpose of impeachment, only the House of Representatives can accuse a government official of wrongdoing. The Senate decides if the person is guilty. Two-thirds of the senators must agree on the verdict.
If the Senate finds an official guilty, he or she must leave the position. The person may also be barred from being elected to another federal position.
In addition to the impeachment process, state or federal prosecutors may charge the person with violations of criminal law. The accused person may then go to trial in the regular court system.
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In 1998, the House formally accused President Bill Clinton of lying in court and trying to prevent lawyers from investigating him. He went to trial before the Senate. The chief justice of the United States led the trial. But the majority of senators voted not to convict President Clinton, and he finished his term in office. |
How does the legislature make laws?
The House and Senate can make laws in three ways:
- if both the House of Representatives and the Senate pass a bill and the president signs it.
- if both the House of Representatives and the Senate pass a bill and the president does not do anything with it in 10 days.
- if both the House of Representatives and the Senate pass a bill, the president vetoes it, and two-thirds of House and Senate vote again to pass it.
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In 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt signed a law creating the Tennessee Valley Authority. A bill can become a law without the president’s signature or veto unless the House of Representatives and the Senate adjourn within 10 days after it is passed. |
Together, the House and the Senate are called Congress.
Congress must
- operate together and in the same place.
- meet at least one time every year.
- have a majority of members to vote on and pass laws.
- keep and occasionally publish an official record of what it does and how it votes. Some parts of the record may remain secret.
- formally approve and keep a record of any money it spends
Congress can
- decide when, where and how representatives and senators are elected.
- decide whether an elected representative or senator is qualified to serve. But, Congress has to permit elected officials to serve if they meet the requirements of the Constitution.
- decide how to do its business and punish members
| In 1968, Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American woman elected to Congress. |
Members of Congress cannot
- be arrested for crimes while they are working in or traveling to and from the Capitol buildings.
- be sued or arrested for doing any part of their official work.
- create and then take another job in the federal government, or vote to increase the salary of a federal job and then take the position.
- also hold a U.S. government job at the same time.
- use royal titles
- accept gifts from foreign governments without approval
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The Constitution requires officials to tell prisoners why they are being detained, except during invasions or rebellions if public safety requires that this right be suspended. But during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln permitted soldiers to detain without trial someone who tried to interfere with government troops. Later, the Supreme Court declared that only Congress had the power to suspend the right of "habeas corpus" -- Latin for "show me the body." |
Congress has the power to
- tax every state equally.
- spend money.
- borrow money.
- regulate trade between the states.
- regulate trade with foreign nations and American Indian tribes.
- make laws governing immigration and conferring citizenship on immigrants.
- make laws related to people who cannot pay their debts.
- make money from valuable metals, such as gold and silver.
- regulate how much U.S. and foreign money is worth.
- punish people who make false money.
- protect artists' and scientists' legal rights to the things they create.
- create a system of courts lower than the Supreme Court.
- punish crimes committed on the ocean.
- punish crimes that violate international law.
- declare war.
- permit sailors on private ships to attack an enemy's ships.
- make rules about how enemies' property can be seized.
- build and support a military.
- build and support a navy.
- make a system of rules for soldiers.
- have authority over the militia.
- have a seat of government that is not part of any state, and to operate in and control that area.
- make laws that it needs to carry out its powers.
| Congress also has the power to create post offices and a system to deliver mail. Here, Dennis Kucinich, a member of Congress from Ohio, urges Congress to help the U.S Postal Service. |
Congress does not have the power to
- ban U.S. participation in the international slave trade before 1808.
- pass a bill that allows someone to be punished without a trial.
- pass a bill that makes something a crime after someone does it, or changes the punishment of a crime after someone commits it.
- tax the goods a state ships for sale in other states, or make sure one state's port makes more money than another's.
Article I also limits some of the powers of the states.
The states cannot
- Create money
- Make something a crime after someone has done it, or change the punishment of a crime after someone has done it
- Interfere with contracts people have already made
- Give anyone a royal title
| States cannot support an army during peacetime without the consent of Congress. |
States also cannot do the following, unless Congress approves it
- Make laws – except related to examining goods – about trade between the states or other nations.
- A state cannot tax ships that use its ports.
- Make treaties with another state or country.
- Make war, unless the state is invaded.
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ARTICLE II
ARTICLE II: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
A president will manage the affairs of the country.
The president must have been born in the the U.S., be at least 35 years old and be a U.S. resident for at least 14 years.
The president will be paid a salary. The amount cannot change during the president’s term. And, the president may not receive any additional compensation from the government.
The president will be removed from office if convicted of treason, bribery or other serious crimes.
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The Constitution says the president is elected for a term of four years. George Washington, the country's first president, was reelected and served two terms, from 1789-1797. |
What does the president do?
- be the Commander in Chief of the military.
- pardon crimes under federal law.
- nominate and appoint ambassadors, Supreme Court judges and other public officials.
- give the Congress a report on the state of the Union.
- enforce the law.
| The president recognizes other nations and is the country's top diplomat. The president also makes treaties with other nations; however, a majority of two-thirds of senators must approve the treaty. Here, President Ronald Reagan signs a treaty with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. |
How is the president elected?
A group of electors from every state will choose the president and vice president. The number of electors each state has equals the number of senators and representatives it has in Congress. For example, a state with two senators and six representatives will have eight electors.
However, senators, representatives and other government officials may not serve as electors.
Congress decides when the state electors will give their votes for president. The day will be the same for all states.
| In 2013, Barack Obama accepted the job by saying, as all presidents do, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." |
How is the vice president elected?
In 1787, the person who received the second highest total of votes became the vice president. Today, political parties may nominate a candidate for vice president along with a candidate for president. The pair are elected at the same time and serve the same four-year term.
What happens if the president dies?
When a president dies, the vice president becomes the president. But if neither the president nor the vice president can do the job, Congress will decide who becomes president.
| Eight presidents have died in office. Four died of natural causes, and four were killed. Here, Lyndon Johnson becomes president after John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963. President Kennedy's widow watches the new president take the oath of office. |
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ARTICLE III
ARTICLE III: The Judicial Branch
The American court system interprets the laws. In other words, the courts say what the law means.
The judicial power of the United States is held by the Supreme Court of the United States, and in any lower courts Congress creates.
The Supreme Court directly hears two kinds of cases: cases affecting top public officials, and cases in which a state is either the bringing the case or defending its position. Lower courts hear the other cases, and the Supreme Court can decide whether to revise those rulings.
The federal courts will rule on cases related to the Constitution, U.S. laws, international treaties, diplomats and laws of the sea.
They will also rule on cases involving the U.S. government and cases in which citizens of one state sue citizens of a different state. [The 11th amendment changed this clause. That amendment protects states from being sued by citizens of other states.]
| Judges remain in office until they retire, die or are removed. They are paid for their work. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, pictured here, was appointed in 1981 and served until she retired in 2006. |
What happens if someone betrays the U.S.?
Treason against the U.S. is defined as making war against the country or giving enemies of the U.S. "aid and comfort."
Someone can be charged with treason only if he or she confesses in court, or if two witnesses see the person commit the same treasonous act, and they testify about it in court.
Congress can decide on punishment for treason, but it cannot punish the person's relatives.
| A jury of citizens, such as the one here, rules in all federal crimes, except removing public officials from office. Trials are held in the state in which the crime was reportedly committed. |
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ARTICLE IV
SECTION. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. SECTION. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. SECTION. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. SECTION. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
ARTICLE IV: Full Faith and Credit
Every state must respect other states' court decisions and laws.
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Congress has legal power over all U.S. property and territory. But states may make their own laws about what happens within their borders. They just have to give "full faith and credit" -- in other words, total respect -- to the laws and court orders of other states. |
A state must recognize court rulings and legal records of other states.
If a person commits a crime and flees to another state, local officials must return the fugitive to the state where he committed the crime.
The U.S. may permit new states to join the Union; however, new states cannot be made out of existing states, unless both states and Congress agree.
The U.S. will guarantee every state a republican form of government (a government in which representatives elected by the people make the laws). The U.S. also guarantees every state protection against invasion and, if states ask for it, local violence.
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The original Constitution of 1787 also says escaped slaves must be returned to their owners, even if the slaves flee to a free state. The 13th amendment, which abolished slavery, made this clause legally meaningless. |
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ARTICLE V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
ARTICLE V: AMENDMENTS
The people may decide to change the Constitution.
Two-thirds of Congress may pass a proposed amendment; or, two-thirds of the states may ask Congress to call a constitutional convention.
Three-fourths of either state legislatures or conventions must then approve the change.
| Here, members of the League of Women Voters march to support a proposed amendment permitting women to vote. In 1919, Congress passed the 19th amendment that extended the vote to women. A year later, a majority of the states ratified the change.
Article V also makes some limits to amendments. It says no amendment can deny a state equal representation in the Senate. In other words, every state must have the same number of senators. And, it says no amendment can ban the slave trade before 1808. But time and the 13th amendment outlawing slavery have made this clause legally meaningless. |
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ARTICLE VI
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
ARTICLE VI: THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND
The Constitution, U.S. laws and U.S. treaties are the supreme law of the land. In other words, state judges and state officials must follow the Constitution, federal statutes and treaties even if their own state laws are different.
| Article VI also says government officials must promise to follow and respect the Constitution. But, officials do not have to promise to follow any particular religious beliefs. |
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ARTICLE VII
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
ARTICLE VII: RATIFICATION
Nine of the thirteen states had to ratify -- or, approve -- the Constitution in order to put it into effect.
| The Constitution ends with 39 signatures, including George Washington's. |
Created in a meeting by the unanimous agreement of the states who were there on September 17, 1787, and 12 years after the independence of the United States, we sign our names below:
William Jackson (Secretary)
George Washington, President and deputy from Virginia
DELAWARE
George Read
Gunning Bedford
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom
MARYLAND
James McHenry
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
Daniel Carroll
VIRGINIA
John Blair
James Madison, Jr.
NORTH CAROLINA
William Blount
Richard Dobbs Spaight
Hugh Williamson
SOUTH CAROLINA
J. Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler
GEORGIA
William Few
Abraham Baldwin
NEW HAMPSHIRE
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
MASSACHUSETTS
Nathanial Gorham
Rufus King
CONNECTICUT
William Samuel Johnson
Roger Sherman
NEW YORK
Alexander Hamilton
NEW JERSEY
William Livingston
David Brearley
William Paterson
Jonathan Dayton
PENNSYLVANIA
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robert Morris
George Clymer
Thomas FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouverneur Morris
What does it say? | |||||||
| Preamble | Article I | Article II | Article III | Article IV | Article V | Article VI | Article VII |
What does it mean? | |||||||
| Preamble | Article I | Article II | Article III | Article IV | Article V | Article VI | Article VII |
