The Constitution of the United States By Mrs. Hicks

This is the Preamble (or introduction) of the Constitution.

This is the actual Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution was written in 1787 by 55 men we call the Framers of the Constitution. These men included George Washington and Ben Franklin.

What is the Constitution? The Constitution says how the government works. It creates the President. It creates the Congress. It creates the Supreme Court.

The Constitution sets up the government. The government is split into three parts or branches. One branch is the Congress. The Congress makes laws. The people elect the members of Congress. The next branch is the President. The President enforces the laws. The last branch is the Courts. The courts decide what the law means when there are questions. All of the parts have to work together. Just like the Framers agreed on the Constitution, the parts have to agree on the laws. No part has too much power. The power is shared. This helps protect the people.

How it all works

The Constitution gives us rights and freedoms as citizens of the United States. Watch the next four slides and think about what freedoms these pictures show.

The law is the set of rules that we live by. The Constitution is the highest law. It belongs to the United States. It belongs to all Americans.

The Constitution, which is over 200 years old, can be seen in Washington, D.C.