The Constitution. A lot of people know that it’s the basis for how the Unites States is run and how laws are made. However, I come across a lot of people that purport to quote from the Constitution and do so inaccurately, don’t know that certain things are covered in the Constitution, or quote it without ever reading it. This, most often, happens when people talk about the "Separation of Church and State". Did you know that that combination of words doesn't exist in the Constitution. Even our Congressmen haven't read or at least don't understand the Constitution. One instance is when Senator Chuck Schumer said “...you know, we have three branches of government: we have a House, the Senate, we have a President...”. And he’s running our government?
I would like you to keep in mind that in this series of articles I will be paraphrasing the Constitution in plain English and will adding in my two cents when I deem fit ( most of this will come when I write about the Amendments). If you would like to read the Constitution word for word you can go to http://www.askheritage.org/free-pocket-constitution/ and order your free pocket Constitution and Deceleration of Independence (which I highly suggest, I mean, it’s FREE) or you can go to http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html and you can read it online. A lot of these first two posts (The Preamble and The Articles) will be straight from the second citation. However, I had already written an article VERY similar and thought theirs was worded better.
Let's get started, shall we?
The Constitution consists of a preamble, 7 articles, and 27 amendments. The preamble
explains why it was written. The seven articles lay out the three branches of government
and the rules they have to follow, and the basic way the U.S. government will operate. The
27 amendments guarantee the rights of the people and give more specific rules under
which the government will operate.
The Preamble:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establishJustice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the generalWelfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain andestablish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The Preamble to the United States Constitution is an introductory statement outlining the fundamental purpose and principles the Constitution is meant to serve. It expresses in general terms the intentions of its authors, and is sometimes referred to by courts as evidence of what the Founding Fathers thought the Constitution meant and what they hoped it would achieve.
Here is a list of the clauses in the Preamble in plain English:
- We the people of the United States – these words make it clear that the authors of the Constitution wanted “the people” to be the ultimate authority – “popular sovereignty” or people power.
- form a more perfect Union – to create a better government than the Articles of Confederation, which was the constitution that existed at the time.
- establish Justice – to create a justice system, including courts, to bring order to the nation
- insure domestic Tranquility – to bring peace at home, inside the country
- provide for the common defense – to create and maintain a national defense against other countries
- promote the general welfare – to help establish and maintain a healthy economy, population and society
- to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity – to bring freedom and liberty to the people now and in the future
- do ordain and establish – to invest with authority, to create and give The People’s power to
Citations:
joegerarden (2011). Senator Schumer's 3 Branches of Government: House, Senate & President. Retrieved February 14, 2011 from the You Tube web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbw1JQbe-_E&feature=related
Debbie Twyman & Craig Whitney. Constitution in Plain English. Retrieved February 13, 2011 From the Debbie Twyman and Graig Whitney Film arts and Social Studies web site:
0 comments:
Post a Comment