WE THE PEOPLE, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

By R. A. Pearson

During the months of May to September of 1787, 55 men from 12 states (Rhode Island did not send a delegation), known as the Founding Fathers or Framers, met in Philadelphia and developed a new form of government for the United States known as the Constitution. The convention was originally called to amend the weak and incompetent Articles of Confederation put in place in 1782; however, this idea was soon scraped in order to form a new government framework based on a federal system.

George Washington, a delegate from Virginia and hero of the Revolution, was selected to chair the convention. James Madison, also of Virginia, realizied the importance of the event, took important notes (the Madison “Diary”) and worked on important issues and compromises throughout the convention. He is often called the “Father of the Constitution.” The Constitution was born in compromise, because only by compromising could all the disagreements, mainly between smaller states and larger states, be resolved. Ben Franklin, the oldest delegate present, said the he was not sure if the plan was perfect, but that it was probably as perfect as it could be. When the convention ended and the Constitution was published to the nation, 39 men had signed the document.

The Constitution had to be approved by 9 of the 13 states. Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution; Georgia was the forth state to approved the document on January 4, 1788. Two important states, Virginia and New York, approved the Constitution (as the 10th and 11th states) in the summer of 1788. These states did so only after the promise of the addition of a Bill of Rights to the Constitution and even then with a close vote at their conventions. Two other states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, took a long time to agree to the Constitution, but in the end, they realized it was in their best interest to join the new government.

The Constitution established three branches of government, each with its own duties and responsibilities. Article One created the legislative branch to enact laws; Article Two established an executive branch to carry out the laws; and Article Three created a federal judiciary to regulate basic federal law. Several other Articles dealt with relationships between the states, federal debt and assumption of debt from past U.S. governments, and how the Constitution would be amended and ratified.

Article One of the Constitution established the legislature or Congress, a bi-cameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Representation in the House was based on a state’s population based on the census taken every ten years. In the Senate every state had two votes. The powers of the Congress were set forth in Article I, section eight, and include: the power to lay and collect taxes; to borrow money on the credit of the United States; to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states; to coin money, regulate the value thereof; to raise and support armies; to provide and maintain a Navy; to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; and to declare war. Article Two, section two gave the Senate advise and consent powers over treaties and did not exclude treaties that would end wars.

Article Two created the executive branch which included the president and the vice president. The Constitution states, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.” These are the powers given to the president.

As for the vice president the Constitution simply relegated him to preside over the Senate. In Article One it reads, “The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.” This is the only constitutional power delegated to the vice president. The vice president was to assume the duties of the president in case of the president’s death, impeachment, resignation, or “inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office.” The 25th Amendment changed the actual terms of the presidential succession so the vice president actually became president in case of the removal, death or resignation of the President.

Article Three created the Supreme Court to hear cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party. It was to be an appellate court in all other cases. Congress would create lower courts as needed. The Supreme Court was not originally given the right to declare laws and actions of the administrative branch unconstitutional, but voted itself this right in the historic case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803.

As the new government went into power, The First Congress proposed twelve amendments, ten of which were approved as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights protected the individual citizen providing freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, right to a trial by jury, and protection from unreasonable search and seizure to name a few. The Bill of Rights named many rights of a free citizenry; however, the Founding Fathers knew they could not list them all so they included the Ninth Amendment to include freedoms not listed in the first eight. It reads, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” There are those who would argue the word privacy is not included in the Bill of Rights and it is not; however, one can surely argue it is and always has been covered by the Ninth Amendment.

In America we just went through a rather long primary process. One of the good things about this process was seeing and hearing all the lesser candidates, a few of whom were labeled kooks, nut cases, or idiots from the lunatic fringe. These included Republican Congressman Ron Paul, Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and former Democratic Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska. However, all of these men spoke of the Constitution and how the government had strayed from its principles, something many Americans are beginning to believe. They spoke of the warrantless searches, which circumvented the FICA courts, the President going to war without a declaration of war by Congress, the unlawful detentions at Guantanamo Bay, and many other ills from the current administration.

However, the Clarion Issue contends this has been an ongoing process and needs to be addressed. More and more power has been given to the president over the years. There has not been a declared war since World War II. Americans now look to the president as the commander-in-chief of the economy and expect him to fix our personal finances when we over-spend on our credit cards. This is an election year, Americans need to not only know the issues, but to know the Constitution as well.

The Constitution begins with the well-known phrase “We the people” meaning the power in the United States emanates from the citizens of the country. Many people vote, but few people know what that august document really says. At lunch several months ago I was talking to some politically savvy people about immigration when one person said we needed to pass a law to make it illegal for their children born in the U.S. to be citizens. I asked, “What about the Constitution?” The person replied, “That’s not in the Constitution!” I said, “Have you ever read the 14th Amendment?” (Amend. XIV Section I reads in part, All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.) Maybe the kooks, nut cases, or idiots from the lunatic fringe are not so extreme as they once seemed. At least they seem to know what the U.S. Constitution really says. It is your Constitution, it is your government, and it is your country. Don’t take the Clarion Issue’s word for what it says and what it means, the powers it gives, and who it gives them to. Read it and study it for yourself.