The US Constitution By KH

Part 1 – The Preamble The Preamble was the Founding Fathers’ way of informing future generations of their motives and intent in writing the Constitution, as well as a way of establishing the most basic principles necessary for consideration of the Constitution. The opening words of the Preamble are “We the People of the United States”, which are perhaps the most well-known words in the Constitution. These words are critical to understanding that the Constitution was designed to establish a government empowered by the will of the people and for the good of the people.

Part 2 – The Articles

Articles of the US Constitution I. The Legislative Branch II. The Executive Branch III. The Judicial Branch IV. The States V. Amendment VI. Debts, Supremacy, Oaths VII. Ratification

Article I: The Legislative Branch The principal mission of the legislative body is to make laws. It is split into two different chambers – the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress is a legislative body that holds the power to draft and pass legislation, borrow money for the nation, declare war and raise a military. It also has the power to check and balance the other two federal branches.

Article II: The Executive Branch This branch of the government manages the day-to-day operations of government through various federal departments and agencies, such as the Department of Treasury. At the head of this branch is the nationally elected President of the United States. The president swears an oath to ‘faithfully execute’ the responsibilities as president and to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States’. Its powers include making treaties with other nations, appointing federal judges, department heads and Ambassadors, and determining how to best run the country and run military operations.

Article III: The Judicial Branch Article III outlines the powers of the federal court system. Determines that the court of last resort is the US Supreme Court and that the US Congress has the power to determine the size and scope of those courts below it. All judges are appointed for life unless they resign due to bad behaviour. Those facing charges are to be tried and judged by a jury of their peers.

Article IV: The States This article defines the relationship between the states and the federal government. The federal government guarantees a republican form of government in each state, protects the nation and the people from foreign or domestic violence, and determines how new states can join the Union. It also suggests that all the states are equal to each other and should respect each other’s laws and the judicial decisions made by other state court systems.

Article V: Amendment Future generations can amend the Constitution if the society so requires it. Both the states and Congress have the power to initiate the amendment process.

Article 6: Debts, Supremacy, Oaths Article VI determines that the US Constitution, and all laws made from it are the ‘supreme Law of the Land’, and all officials, whether members of the state legislatures, Congress, judiciary or the Executive have to swear an oath to the Constitution.

Article VII: Ratification This article details all those people who signed the Constitution, representing the original 13 states.

Part 3 – Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights include the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists were critical of the Constitution because it lacked a strong defense of basic civil rights. James Madison introduced 12 amendments to the document in 1789, 10 of which were passed into law and became known as the Bill of Rights. These amendments spelled out certain basic rights such as the right to free speech, the right to bear arms and freedom from excessive fines or cruel punishments.

You need to know for Benchmark

Popular Sovereignty The right of the people to decide about issues by voting

A major way the Texas Constitution differs from the US Constitution is Texas Limits governors powers more than the US limits the Presidents powers

Republicanism is reflected in both the US and Texas Constitutions by Outlining how representatives are elected to the legislature

Judicial Branch of both Texas and US check the powers of the legislature by Declaring laws unconstitutional

Sources http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-7-articles-of-the-us- constitution.html http://classroom.synonym.com/three-sections-constitution-united- states-8503.html