The Constitution of the United States

The Preamble (or introduction) of the Constitution.

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

How it all works

Legislative Branch The legislative branch is called Congress and is made up of two Houses (parts): The House of Representatives and the Senate.

The House of Representatives The Senate There are two senators for each state, which means of course there are 100 Senators. Senators must be at least 30 years old. Senators are elected to a six year term. States with the largest populations have the most representatives in the House. House members must be at least 25 years old or older to serve. House members are elected to a two year term. There are 435 members in the House of Representatives.

The Executive Branch The executive branch is headed by the president. The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected to a four year term. The president can (now) only serve two terms. The president must be a citizen by birth The president must be at least 35 years old

The Judicial Branch The Judicial Branch of the federal government is headed by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices are nominated by the president and approved by the Senate. There are (now) 9 Supreme Court justices, who are appointed for life.

Federalism The power of government is split between the states and the federal government. If the Constitution does not have a law regarding an issue, the states can make their own decision regarding that law. State law, however, cannot contradict federal law.

Amendments = change in the Constitution There have been 27 amendments to the Constitution. The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights.

Understanding & Remembering the Constitution Constitution/Preamble http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHp7sMqPL0g&feature=related 3 Branches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5M50xBz1cU I’m Just a Bill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0 Constitution Project Samples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBEeRLQpO6w https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxn4326DgvznSlZxeDV1Nk40VllUSzluMldsbGtfTFFkdDlz/view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOBrgAxM1lg

The main point of this passage is that the Revolutionary War was not fought to gain the right to a democracy, but rather to preserve the democracy that had always been established. In Massachusetts, and in other colonies, a period of salutary neglect allowed the colony to govern itself. They created their own state legislature and held town meetings—a tradition that dated back to the Mayflower compact. * * * * * (A) There were many compromises in the United States Constitution. One example of this is the office of the President. Some delegates believed the president should have a life term or that the office should be passed down through his family. Others believed this plan made the office much too powerful. The compromise was made that the president could run for a four-year term and be re-elected any number of times. In this way, an unfit ruler would not be re-elected. (B) Anti-federalists were opposed to this idea, believing this gave the president too much power. In general, the Anti-federalists believed the central government was too strong, and believed a president who could be indefinitely re-elected would potentially become another king.