The Constitution of the United States of America
September 17th is Constitution Day, commemorating the day in 1787 when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed one of America’s most important documents. The United States Constitution is the oldest written national constitution still in operation, and many of the nations that have established themselves in the decades since that day in 1787 have turned to this document as a model for their own constitutions. As a document which defines the structure of our Federal government and delineates the rights of the states within the union, and individual citizens within the nation, the Constitution has become a symbol to Americans and to the world of the American government and way of life. What better way to celebrate this important document, its place within our society, and within our history, than to investigate its words up close. Teachers, parents, caregivers, and students, jump on board for a tour of the United States Constitution!
The Preamble
The Constitution opens with a brief and eloquent statement of purpose called the Preamble, which reads:
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 this Constitution for the United States of America.
You can learn more about the Preamble of the Constitution from the EDSITEment lesson plan The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?
Meet the Framers
Who were these delegates who represented “We the People of the United States” when they signed the Constitution? Howard Christy captured his vision of the signing in his painting commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the signing for the U.S. Capitol. By tradition, the delegates to the convention are collectively known as the Framers. How many of them can you name? You can explore biographies of the signers by clicking on each figure to see biographical information. The National Archives also displays a mural painted in 1937 by Barry Faulkner depicting the signers. You might want to further investigate the man who is often called the Father of the Constitution, James Madison. You can learn more about Madison and his role in drafting the Constitution in the EDSITEment lesson plan James Madison: Madison Was There. Americans of all ages have heard of Madison, Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, but have they heard of Oliver Ellsworth? You and your students can learn about a few of the other men who helped draft the Constitution with whom they may not yet be familiar in the EDSITEment lesson plan The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers You May Never Have Met. Two of those who signed the Constitution, George Washington and James Madison, went on to become president of the country. You and your students can delve into the biographies of these men who made history by visiting the EDSITEment-reviewed website American President.
The Long Hot Summer of 1787
The framing of the Constitution took place in Philadelphia over the long, hot summer of 1787. At times it seemed that the Convention would fail as a result of seemingly irreconcilable views among the delegates, especially on the questions of selecting representatives to Congress, the relationship of the national and state governments, and the powers of the president. Agreeement over the form of government that would best secure the future safety and happiness of the young American republic came only after many months of grueling debate and contentious argumentation
In the new EDSITEment lesson plans on The Constitutional Convention of 1787, students examine the roles that key delegates played in drafting the Constitution, and the challenges they faced in the process. They learn why many Americans in the 1780s believed that reforms to the Articles of Confederation were necessary, and the steps taken to authorize the Convention in Philadelphia. They become familiar with the main issues that divided delegates, particularly the questions of representation in Congress and the office of the presidency. Finally, they see how a spirit of compromise, in the end, was necessary for the Convention to fulfill its task of improving the American political system.
The Three Branches: Balancing and Checking the Powers of the National Government
One of the most important aspects of the Constitution is that it establishes the structure of the Federal government into three branches, thereby dividing the powers of the national government among three powerful institutions. The first three Articles of the Constitution establish this three part division, which can be read, both in a facsimile of the original text and in a transcript, by visiting the Charters of Freedom , available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Digital Classroom.
The term separation of powers does not appear in the Constitution but the very form of the document establishes the separation of powers. Why was this principle so important to the Framers? Back in 1776, the leaders of the American Revolution had charged King George III and Parliament with repeatedly abusing the powers of government in their dealings with the American colonies. Thomas Jefferson ennumerated the colonists' grieviances against the King and the Parliament in the body of the Declaration of Independence. The new EDSITEment lesson An Expression of the American Mind: Understanding the Declaration of Independence examines these greviances in the light of the fundamental principles of government set forth in the famous second paragraph of the Declaration.
As a consequence of these ideas, many of the Framers were deeply wary of concentrating too much power into a single branch of the national government. This concern underlies the separation of powers and also gives rise to the institution of checks and balances that each of the three branches have over each other. You and your students can learn more about this important system of checks and balances from the EDSITEment lesson plan Balancing the Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances.
Article One established two bodies—the House of Representatives and the Senate—which together constitute the Congress, which is granted the Legislative power of national government. This is the body that makes the laws that govern the country at the federal level. In order to be sure that these laws represent the will of the country’s citizens, citizens in each of the fifty states elect the members of the House and the Senate to represent them at the federal level of government. You and your students can gain a more in-depth view of the Congress by investigating EDSITEment-reviewed websites CongressLink and THOMAS, linked from the EDSITEment resource American Memory Project (Library of Congress).
Article Two created the Executive branch of government, which is charged with implementing the laws established by Congress. In order to carry out this responsibility, Article Two provides for the office of President of the United States and the Vice President. Several EDSITEment lesson plans further explore the President’s role in the Federal Government, including The President's Roles and Responsibilities: Understanding the President's Job and The President's Roles and Responsibilities: Communicating with the President. Another EDSITEment lesson plan, Before and Beyond the Constitution: What Should a President Do?, helps students analyze how George Washington, the first President of the United States under the Constitution, set an example of how to interpret the Constitution’s allocation of Presidential responsibilities.
Article Three establishes the third branch of the Federal government, the Judicial Branch, which consists of one Supreme Court and a number of lower courts. Its main function is to apply the laws made by the Legislative Branch. The EDSITEment lesson plan The Supreme Court: The Judicial Power of the United States considers the Federal Judiciary’s superior court by looking at a Supreme Court case. Judicial Branch: Overview, a link from EDSITEment-reviewed website Digital Classroom, also provides a valuable resource for a more in-depth investigation of the Federal Judiciary. As students learn more about the Judicial Branch of the federal government they should keep in mind that this branch, and the Supreme Court in particular, is responsible for analyzing the constitutionality of the laws passed by Congress and executive decisions. The process of interpretation is not a simple one, and you and your students can learn more about the way in which the high court makes and explains these difficult decisions by reviewing the EDSITement lesson plan Regulating Freedom of Speech.
The Remaining Articles: Federalism, Amendments and the Supreme Law of the Land
The Constitution contains an additional four articles which include a number of additional powers and principles.
Article Four outlines the position and role of state governments under the Federal government and their responsibilities to other state governments.
Article Five lays out the conditions for making Amendments, which are changes, corrections, or additions, to the Constitution.
Article Six establishes the Constitution as the “supreme Law of the Land.” This concept of the Constitution as a "higher law" which cannot be altered by executive mandate or ordinary legislative acts and is enforced by the Supreme Court is examined in the new EDSITEment lesson Magna Carta: Cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution which traces the " higher law" doctrine from its origins in the Great Charter of 1215 between the King of England and his Barons to the supremacy clause in Article Six.
Article Seven contains the procedure for ratification, the date of signature, and the signatures of the representatives to the Constitutional Convention who approved the drafted Constitution.
The system of checks and balances, the general language in which it is written, and the provision for making amendments all allow the Constitution to be adapted and to be re-interpreted in situations that are presented by innovation and change. This flexibility, seen throughout the Constitution, has preserved it as the “supreme Law of the Land” for over 200 years.
Bill of Rights
Of course, it is impossible to please all of the people all of the time, so it is not surprising that not everyone approved the newly-drafted Constitution. Debates over individual and states’ rights led to the drafting and adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, collectively called the Bill of Rights, the text of which is available through the EDSITEment resource Digital Classroom. You will also find a summary of EDSITEment resources specifically relating to the Bill of Rights in EDSITEment’s This Month's Feature for June 2005. The Feature includes an EDSITEment LaunchPad for K-5 students, and another EDSITEment LaunchPad for students in upper grades providing scenarios that illustrate how the Constitution is applied in real-life situations. You and your students can take an in-depth look at the first of these amendments through the EDSITEment lesson The First Amendment: What's Fair in a Free Country. Finally, since the ratification of the Constitution in 1789, seventeen more amendments have been added to it, making the current number of amendments total twenty-seven. You can view Amendments 11-27 through a link on Digital Classroom.
Launchpads
This feature includes an EDSITEment LaunchPad for K-5, and one for 6-12, to help reinforce the students' knowledge of the Constitution.
NEH Constitution Day Celebration
NEH, led by the staff of EDSITEment and the We the People program, has assembled documents, background essays, and a bibliography to help celebrate this day (September 17) and deepen our understanding of the United States Constitution.
Additional Information
- Although we vote for the president and vice-president every four years, the office is actually filled through the votes of the Electoral College. While this is an important process to understand, many Americans are unaware of how this process works. You can learn more about this process through the EDSITEment resource The U.S. Electoral College, which gives a detailed account of the Electoral College and its role in electing the President.
- Exactly how does the Supreme Court interpret the law? You can find many Supreme Court decisions on EDSITEment-reviewed Oyez Project: A Supreme Court Multimedia Database. For advanced readers, you may enjoy reading through the Constitution and a few Supreme Court decisions and then considering, based on the text of the Constitution, if you would interpret these issues in the same way as the Supreme Court Justices. In a classroom setting, this activity could be made into a lively, informative debate in which students could be grouped together to argue for or against the constitutionality of a specific law. This could be followed up with a reading of the actual decision handed down by the court.
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