The Path to Writing of the U.S. Constitution
The path to writing and approval of the United States Constitution wascomplex and very difficult. A draft document emerged in 1787, but onlyafter intense debate and six years of experience with an earlier federalunion. Even today, the Constitution is continually being interpreted andbrought to courts including the U.S. Supreme Court for decisions. Since theConstitution calls itself the "supreme law of the land," when laws passedby state legislatures or by the U.S. Congress are determined to conflictwith the federal Constitution, these laws have no force. Supreme Courtdecisions over the country's history have increasingly defined thisdoctrine of constitutional supremacy. The Constitution is divided into the Preamble, Articles I through IVand the Bill of Rights. The Preamble and Bill of R
The creation of theBill of Rights took four years of intense debate to be agreed upon. Americans wanted strong assurances that the new government would notdestroy their newly won freedoms of speech, press and religion, nor upontheir right to be free from warrantless searches and seizures. " Although the Constitution has been somewhatchanged since 1789, the principles noted remain the same. " The American Bill of Rights, inspired by Jefferson anddrafted by James Madison, was adopted, and in 1791 the Constitution's firstten amendments became the law of the land. Each branch is tocheck on the excesses of the others. government is clarified in the section "ThePrinciples of Government. The Constitution,together with laws passed by the president and approved by the Senate,stands above all other laws, executive acts, and regulations. ights clearly spell outthe constitutional convention's national ideals. The executive branch executes the laws and policies of the country. Although just onesentence, the Preamble introduces the document and establishes its need forthe country: To build a better Union with a division of power and theagreement between federal and state's rights; to establish justice andassure that all men are created equal; to ensure domestic tranquility sothe country can grow and continually improve itself by protecting thestates against invasion; to provide for the common defense by giving theexecutive and legislative branches the authority to act in impending war;to promote the general welfare by making the country economically andsocially sound; to secure the blessings of liberty to all people byprotecting the rights of all people now and forever. So, theConstitution's framers heeded Thomas Jefferson who argued: "A bill ofrights is what the people are entitled to against every government onearth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, orrest on inference. Checks and balances are used toquestion any action that appears to be outside the parameters of thatbranch.
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