17 Other Amendments To The Constitution example essay topic

The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were the two most important documents in shaping the United States of America. They both were equally important in doing this. Although, they both had different ways of accomplishing their goals. The Declaration of Independence was basically the "why" we were doing this. The Declaration of Independence listed the main grievances we had with the homeland, along with the specific principles concerning the rights of man.

Finally the official claim of independence. The U.S. Constitution was a blueprint of "how" we were going to accomplish this goal. The Constitution listed the values and laws we would abide by to make our country the greatest in the world. The articles are the ideals of what our country is supposed to be.

The amendments became ways to perfect this document over the years. As recent as 1992 we have been perfecting this work in progress. Throughout this paper, you will see how these two completely different documents shaped the country into what it is today. They both had an important hand in doing this, even though; they took different avenues to accomplish this goal. The Constitution of the United States is the basis for the machinery and institutions of the U.S. Government. It is the world's oldest charter of national government in continuous use.

It was written in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention. The Constitutional Convention convened in the midst of the political crisis that followed the American Revolution. The Constitution was an effort to ease tensions and to create a single political entity from the 13 independent former colonies. In 1788, the Constitution became the law of the land after nine states ratified it.

The United States Constitution has 27 amendments, and today, has remained the law of the land. To implement the ideas in the Constitution, the Founders established three branches of government; the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The functions of these branches are described in the first three articles of the Constitution. Article I is the longest article in the Constitution. This article establishes the national legislature called Congress.

The Founders divided Congress into a Senate and a House of Representatives because they were afraid of placing too much authority in any one institution. Article II establishes an executive department headed by a president and a vice president. The article further describes the powers of the offices, the manner of election, and the qualifications for office. The special significance is the president's constitutional role as commander in chief of the nation's armed forces.

Article directs that the federal judicial power be placed in a Supreme Court and in other courts directed by Congress. This third and brief article also lists the kinds of cases that fall desperately under the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Along with the preamble, the first three articles of the U.S. Constitution are the most familiar parts. There are four additional articles to our Constitution. Article IV to the Constitution sets up cooperative arrangements between the states and the federal government regarding fugitives and criminals, and requires that the states respect one another and their citizens. Article IV also establishes the process by which territories become states, and guarantees a republican or representative form of government for all of the states.

The next article, Article V, establishes procedures for amending the Constitution. The Founders developed a method for changing the Constitution so that it could be adapted to changing times. Article VI is a catchall article; its most important section established the Constitution and the laws of the United States as "the Supreme Law of the Land". The final article is Article VII. This one establishes procedures that were used in 1788 and 1789 for the approval and subsequent adoption of the document by the states. As soon as the Constitution was accepted, both individuals and states insisted on additions to protect the people from possible abuses by the new Federal government.

In 1790, Congress and the states ratified ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. These ten amendments guarantee personal liberties and prevent the federal government from infringing on the rights of citizens and of states. Besides the Bill of Rights, there have been only 17 other amendments to the Constitution in more than 200 years of its existence. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association and assembly. It also protects the rights of citizens to worship as they please and the right not to be forced to support someone else's religion. We, as citizens also have the right to demand a change in government policies.

The Second Amendment gives the people the right to keep and bear Arms. The Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment does not preclude certain government regulations on gun ownership, such as the laws prohibiting ownership of firearms by felons. The Third Amendment states that the government cannot quarter soldiers in private residences during peacetime without the resident's permission, and during wartime only according to laws. This amendment had been irrelevant since the end of the American Revolution. The Fourth Amendment prohibits the police and other government officials from searching people's homes or offices or seizing their private property without reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has been committed. In most cases, police may search only with a warrant stating so from a judge.

The Fifth Amendment has five important protections against arbitrary government actions. First, no one may be prosecuted for a federal crime without first being indicted by a grand jury. Second, a criminal suspect may be prosecuted only once for each crime. Third, a person cannot be forced to testify against him or herself in any criminal case, this is called the right against self-incrimination. The fourth protection is due process of law, and the fifth and final protection is that the government may not take anyone's private property unless it is necessary for a public purpose and unless they pay a fair price for it.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees people accused of crimes the right to a speedy and public trial. This amendment also states that an accused person must be told of the charges against them, and to have witness testify on their behalf at a trial, and to have a lawyer assist them in their legal defense. The Seventh Amendment does not apply to the states and guarantees the right to a jury in some types of federal, civil (noncriminal) trials. The Eighth Amendment states that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines are imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted upon a person. "Cruel and unusual punishments", has no fixed meaning, and so decisions interpreting the clause are sometimes controversial. The Ninth Amendment states that just because certain rights are not mentioned in the Constitution does not mean that they do not exist.

The Tenth and final Amendment in what are called, "The Bill of Rights", states that an individual is free to act without permission of the federal government in areas outside the scope of the federal government's powers. These first ten amendments to the United States Constitution have been crucial to the political and legal development of the U.S. As stated earlier, there have been 17 other amendments added to the Constitution in more than 200 years, and of these, some of the most important are the 15th, 19th, and 26th amendments. These amendments respectively gave blacks, women, and 18-year-olds the right to vote. Also important are the 17th and 22nd amendments.

The 17th gave people the right to elect United States Senators, and the 22nd amendment restricted the number of terms a president can serve, to two. The 14th amendment is an important safeguard for minority rights. It extends the protections of the Bill of Rights to individual residents of states. In the same way that the Bill of Rights limits federal power, the 14th amendment limits the power of the states over their citizens.

The last amendment to the United States Constitution was the 27th, and since 1992, our Constitution has not been amended, thus proving that our Constitution is an ever-changing blueprint, whether it is amended often or not so often. Many events led to the colonies declaring their independence from Britain. After the French and Indian War, Britain decided to take more control of the colonies. Because of their war expenses, Britain was in debt. Britain wanted the colonies to pay a share of their defense. In addition, it was difficult for Britain to fully govern the colonies.

Britain decided to keep a 10,000-man army in America to maintain order, to protect the colonies from outside threats and to assist in the collection of taxes levied on the colonies. Britain passed the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765. These taxes were to pay for one-half of the army. The colonies resisted these taxes especially the Stamp Act that levied taxes on legal documents and many paper products.

Angry colonists formed a patriotic organization called the Sons of Liberty and encouraged Americans to resist the tax by whatever means necessary. The colonists eventually began boycotting British products and the Stamp Act was repealed. Another problem in the colonies was that the British thought that the colonies were properly represented even though the colonies had no rights to vote for members of the House of Commons. In 1967, Britain passed the Townshend Acts, which was a tax on various imported items into the colonies. Again, the colonies resisted by boycotting British items (Morris, 1984). Eventually British relented and repealed all of the Townshend taxes except for tax on tea.

On December 16, 1773, a group of men, dressed as Indians, dumped East India Company tea into Boston Harbor, an act that became known as the Boston Tea Party. To punish the colonists for this destruction of property, Parliament in 1774 passed a series of laws that the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. These measures curtailed the powers of the Massachusetts assembly and local town meetings, closed the port of Boston, required colonists to provide housing and supplies to British soldiers and allowed the governor to move the trial of British officials from Massachusetts in capital cases for acts committed in the line of duty (Gilje, 1993-1998). The Intolerable Acts not only outraged the people of Boston, but also colonists who lived outside the city. The colonists believed that the British did not have the right to limit local government and they resisted being placed under more strict British control. The Continental Congress was formed to debate the extent to which the colonies should carry their resistance to Great Britain (Gilje, 1993-1998).

On October 14, 1774, they passed the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. This declaration listed grievances to be sent to the king of England. It also stated that Parliament could not tax the colonies. On October 20, the congress also set up committees from each colony called the Continental Association. These committees were to enforce the boycott of British imports and ban exports if the Intolerable Acts were not repealed by Parliament. They tried to remain loyal British subjects, however, a lack of understanding on both sides led to resolutions that are more hostile.

On April 19, 1775, General Thomas Gage, the royal governor of colonial Massachusetts, ordered British troops to march on the small towns of Lexington and Concord, not far from Boston. The soldiers were told to capture resistance leaders and destroy arms and supplies. A battle began when the British troops exchanged fire in Lexington with a small company of minutemen. The Americans were defeated in Lexington, but won a victory at North Bridge in Concord (Gilje, 1993-1998).

In July of 1775, the Second Continental Congress tried one last time to plead with the king to repeal the Intolerable Acts, but they were ignored. King George proclaimed the colonies to be in a state of rebellion and ordered his loyal subjects to "bring the traitors to justice" (Gilje, 1993-1998). In January 1776, a pamphlet was published called Common Sense by Thomas Paine. This pamphlet convinced many Americans of the need for independence. Paine also strongly advised that Americans write a proclamation for independence. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia representative, proposed a resolution in the Continental Congress "that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States" (Gilje, 1993-1998).

The Continental Congress formed a committee, including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, to draft a formal statement of independence. The resolution that would end America's allegiance and political connection to Britain passed on July 2, 1776. The Continental Congress also formed a second committee to prepare a "form of confederation" among the colonies, which became known as the Articles of Confederation, which was ratified in 1781. The Articles of Confederation stated that each state was under self-rule. There would be a central government consisting of one Congress, where each state would have one vote.

Congress could not impose taxes and any action would require approval of nine of the 13 states. Congress could not deal effectively with any serious national problems especially in the repayment of debts from the American Revolution. The economy went into a depression. Farmers were faced with losing their property and jail. This led to farmers uprising. State governments began to forgive debtors of their debts, which angered creditors.

States with seaports began imposing large import and export taxes. The Continental Congress had no power to fight the growing problems facing America. Finally, the states called a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. On May 25, 1787, at least one delegate from each state, except Rhode Island, attended the Constitutional Convention.

The Constitution defines distinct powers for the Congress of the United States, the president, and the federal courts. This division of authority is known as a system of checks and balances, and it ensures that none of the branches of government can dominate others (Lieberman, 1993-1998). The convention sought to resolve conflicts over how the people would be represented in Congress; what to do about slavery; the powers of the president and the procedures for election to the office; and the powers and functions of the federal courts. Regarding representation in Congress, Edmund Randolph proposed the Virginia Plan, which stated that each house of Congress would be divided by the population of each state. This plan would have given all the power to the three most populous states, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. William Patterson's New Jersey Plan gave all states equal representation in a one-chamber Congress.

This meant that a number of small states could band together against larger states. Roger Sherman of Connecticut suggested a compromise that divided Congress into two houses. The upper house, the Senate, would give each state equal representation and the lower house, the House of Representatives, would be divided by the population of each state. The Constitution had problems where slavery was concerned. If slaves were considered part of the southern population then the South would have an advantage by counting slaves as part of the population, even though they had no rights.

The North wanted to ban slaves from being counted in the population, until the South threatened to give up the Constitution altogether. They finally agreed to the infamous clause in Article I that counted slaves as only three-fifths of a person and that barred Congress from ending the slave trade before 1808. There were many debates regarding the presidency. There were debates on whether there should be one leader or many, and whether the president should have the power of VETO. They debated on whether the president should be elected by Congress or by the people. They also debated on the term for presidency.

Finally, they agreed on the following: there would be one single leader, elected to a four-year term and eligible for reelection, with authority to veto bills enacted by Congress. The president was also given command of the military and the power to appoint federal officials, subject to confirmation by the Senate (Lieberman, 1993-1998). The Judiciary plan was complicated and difficult to pass. Pennsylvania's Governor Morris said, "Those who interpret the laws ought to have no hand in making them". The judiciary debate was settled when it was agreed that there would be one Supreme Court and Congress would be permitted to create lower federal courts. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware, on December 7, 1787, followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and South Carolina.

The ninth state to ratify the Constitution was New Hampshire, on June 21, 1788. The ninth ratification made the Constitution legally effective but it was feared that without New York and Virginia, the Constitution would fail. Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788 and New York ratified it on July 26, 1788. North Carolina ratified in 1789 and Rhode Island in 1790. James Madison proposed ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. These amendments safeguard freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion; guarantee a fair, open and speedy trial for people accused of crimes; prohibit cruel and unusual punishments; and provide many other protections against tyrannical government.

The states ratified the Bill of Rights in 1791. The Declaration of Independence sought to end America's dependence on Great Britain and to end Britain's control over the colonies. When a peaceful compromise could not be reached, the Declaration of Independence was written. The first section stated the rights of man. The second section consisted a long list of grievances against King George. The third section formally announced America's independence.

The sole purpose of the U.S. Constitution was to set up a working government where each state was independent but part of a whole nation and that the nation's laws would prevail over state laws whenever necessary. The Constitution states that each branch of government has its own responsibilities and cannot take action in areas assigned to other branches. Congress enacts laws. Enforcement of the laws is for the executive branch. Interpretation of laws is the judicial branch.

The Bill of Rights is primarily for civil rights and civil liberties. The Constitution creates a system of checks and balances. If one branch threatens to become too powerful, other branches may act to block or thwart it.

Bibliography

Gilje, P.A., Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99. "Declaration of Independence", 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation.
Lieberman, J.K., Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99. "Constitution of the United States", 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation.
Morris, R.B., The Making of a Nation, Volume 2, 1775-1789, The LIFE History of the United States, 1984, Time-Life Books.