John Marshall John Marshall is considered one of the most influential Supreme Court Justices in American History

The Constitution, an overview

The Preamble The Preamble of the United States Constitution sets out all of the key principles that the U.S. government will be based upon. It is the opening document to the Constitution.

The Articles The Articles divide the Constitution into separate parts. There are seven articles. The first three outline the powers of the three branches of government. The final four deal with relations among the states, how to make an amendment, national supremacy, and ratification of the Constitution.

Limited Government The principle of limited government was put into place because the founding fathers did not want America to end up with a powerful monarchy like the one which they had just gotten away from. This principle states that the government can only do what the people allow it to do.

Popular Sovereignty Popular Sovereignty and limited government are closely related. They both state that the people should be the ones who control the government, not the government should control the people.

Separation of Powers Separation of powers was put into place so that one branch of the government does not become too powerful. It balances out the power between the three branches; legislative, executive, and judicial. Congress (Legislative) passes the laws while the president (Executive) carries them out, and the courts (Judicial) interprets the laws.

Checks and Balances The system of checks and balances prevents one branch of government from getting too powerful. Each branch has power to trump one of the other branches, but they all have on that trumps themselves so that one group will not control the country.

Judicial Review Judicial review is the power that the Judicial Branch holds over the other branches. It is the power that the courts have to decide whether a law or any other government action can be declared unconstitutional.

Federalism Federalism deals with the separation of powers between the federal government and the state governments. It was created as a compromise between those who wanted the federal government to have all the power, and those who wanted the state government to have more power.

Natural Rights Natural Rights are considered to be the rights that you are born with. According to the Declaration of Independence the three natural rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Marbury v. Madison William Marbury was a Federalist who was supposed to be appointed to a position in the government. He did not receive his commission so he took James Madison to the supreme court in order to force them to have the commission delivered. It turned out that the case was unconstitutional and was dismissed.

Writ of Mandamus A writ of Mandamus is a supreme court action ordering a government official to act on an issue. They were ruled to be unconstitutional in the case of Marbury vs. Madison.

Ought versus Shall The Constitution had some language that was open for interpretation, so James Madison decided that instead of using the word ought and ought not, that shall and shall not would be more appropriate.

Introducing an Amendment One method for introducing an amendment is by a two- thirds vote in the Senate and the House of Representatives. This is the most popular way. The other method is by two-thirds of the state legislation requesting an amendment convention to be called. Once one is called amendments may be proposed. No amendments have been ratified in this way.

Ratifying amendments There are also two ways to ratify amendments. The first way is three-fourths of the state legislatures must vote in favor for ratification. The second is special conventions can be called and three-fourths of the states must approve.

Commerce Clause The commerce clause gives Congress the power to regulate interstate and international trade. IT is sort of a controversial topic because some believe that Congress has added to the Constitution in order to define what foreign and interstate commerce includes.

Informal amending of the Constitution Informal amendments deal with the perception of the Constitution. It is not a real amendment it just changes the way the Constitution is interpreted.

Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

Bill of Rights The first amendment deals with freedom of religion, press, speech, assembly, and the right to petition the government. The second deals with the right to bear arms.

Bill of Rights The third amendment says that in a time of peace no citizen shall be ordered to quarter soldiers. The fourth amendment talks about the privacy of the people in the country.

Bill of Rights The fifth amendment says that no person shall be tried for the same crime twice. Amendment six deals with the right to a speedy, and fair trial.

Bill of Rights The seventh amendment guarantees the right to a trial by jury. The eighth amendment disallows cruel and unusual punishment.

Bill of Rights The ninth amendment guarantees natural rights not specifically stated in the Constitution. The tenth amendment deals with state’s rights.