Homeschool Study Guides - The United States Constitution

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US Constitution

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The Foundation of the U.S. Government

The Constitution is the document that created the present government of the United States of America. It was written in 1787 and went into effect in 1789. The Constitution established the three branches of the U.S. Government:

The Executive Branch - headed by the President
The Legislative Branch - the Congress (Senate and House of Representatives)
The Judicial Branch - the Supreme Court (and other federal courts.)

The Constitution is the work of many of the great minds of their day and still stands as a model of cooperation and the art of compromise.

The Preamble to the Constitution
The Constitution begins with a short introduction called the "Preamble." Note: the Preamble states that the government of the United States was established by the people.
"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 the Constitution of the United States of America."

High resolution image of the Preamble

The Articles
The Constitution contains seven Articles each of which is summarized below. Note: the first three Articles establish the three branches of the U.S. Government.

Article 1, Legislative Branch

Creates the Senate and House of Representatives and describes their function and power.

Article 2, Executive Branch

Creates the Office of the President and the Electoral College and lists their powers and authority.

Article 3, Judicial Branch

Creates the Supreme Court and gives Congress the power to create lower courts.
Defines the powers of the courts and certain crimes.

Article 4, The States

Defines the states' powers and the relationship of the states to each other and to their citizens.

Article 5, Amending the Constitution

Describes procedures to change - or amend - the Constitution.

Article 6, Federal Law

Makes the Constitution the supreme law of the land - over any state law or constitution.

Article 7, Ratifying the Constitution

Establishes procedures to approve - or ratify - the Constitution.

Full text of the Constitution

Amendments to the Constitution
The authors of the Constitution had the foresight to understand that the Constitution might need to be changed or - Amended - in the future. Article 5 describes methods on how the Constitution can be amended. Under the first method, an amendment must be approved by a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Additionally, the amendment must be approved by three-fourths of the states (at least 38 states.) In the second method, two-thirds of the states may call a special constitutional convention. Amendments proposed by such convention must then be ratified by the legislatures in three-fourths of the states. To date, despite thousands of proposed amendments, the Constitution has only been amended twenty-seven times and all amendments have originated in Congress. Note: the president has no legal role in amending the Constitution.

Amendments to the Constitution

The authors of the Constitution had the foresight to understand that the Constitution might need to be changed or - Amended - in the future. Article 5 describes methods on how the Constitution can be amended. Under the first method, an amendment must be approved by a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Additionally, the amendment must be approved by three-fourths of the states (at least 38 states.) In the second method, two-thirds of the states may call a special constitutional convention. Amendments proposed by such convention must then be ratified by the legislatures in three-fourths of the states.

To date, despite thousands of proposed amendments, the Constitution has only been amended twenty-seven times and all amendments have originated in Congress. Note: the president has no legal role in amending the Constitution.

The Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments
The Constitution of the United States granted the federal government so much power that several states demanded a list of amendments to guarantee individual rights against intrusion by the federal government. These first ten amendments were adopted in 1791 and contain what are the basic freedoms that citizens of the United States enjoy today. Because they describe basic rights these amendments are known as the Bill of Rights and are summarized below:
1.	Guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press.
2.	Guarantees the right of the people to own and bear firearms.
3.	Guarantees that soldiers cannot be lodged in private homes unless the homeowner agrees.
4.	Protects citizens against unlawful search and their property against unlawful search and seizure.
5.	Protects the rights of people on trial for crimes.
6.	Guarantees people accused of crimes the rights to a speedy, public trial by jury.
7.	Guarantees people the right to a trial by jury for other types of cases.
8.	Prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments."
9.	States that specific rights listed in the Constitution do not take away the rights that may not be listed in the Constitution.
10.	Establishes that any powers not specifically given to the federal government belong to the states or the people.

Full text of Amendments 1-10

Other Amendments
A selection of other interesting and important Amendments are summarized below:
13.	1865 - Ends slavery in the United States.
14.	1868 - Establishes the Bill of Rights as protection against actions by state governments. Guarantees equal protection under the law for all citizens.
15.	1870 - Guarantees that a person cannot be denied the right to vote because of race or color.
16.	1913 - Paved the way for collection of a federal income tax.
19.	1920 - Gives women the right to vote.
22.	1951 - Limits the president to two, four year terms of office.
24.	1964 - Outlaws the poll tax in federal elections. (A poll tax is tax people paid before voting.)
25.	1967 - Gives the president the power to appoint a new vice president if the vice president dies or leaves during a term in office. The selection requires the approval of Congress.
26.	1971 - Lowers the voting age to eighteen.

Full text of Amendments 11-27

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