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THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION“The Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon”…George Washington “It’s the GPS for government our country should never abandon”…Mr. P Eleven years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, 55 delegates from 12 states convened in Philadelphia to create a new government. They would accomplish this task by writing a constitution for our new country, The United States of America. Meeting in Independence Hall from May 25 to September 17, 1787, they sought to establish a new government that would accomplish the following:1. “form a more perfect Union” 2. “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” (Posterity means us.)3. guarantee to all individual citizens the unalienable rights identified in the D. of I. 4. preserve a REPUBLICAN form of government that reflected the ‘consent and will of the governed’. Not just any government would do. It had to meet the 4 criteria listed above! There were no other options. (YOU WILL BE ASKED TO LIST THESE ON A future quiz. The challenge was great, but so was the wisdom of our Founders! Their solution was to create a government whose specific powers and responsibilities would be carefully listed and described in a WRITTEN CONSTITUTION. It was a brilliant solution! The powers of the new government would be divided among 3 separate divisions or branches. 3 BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENTThis new Constitution would create an ‘energetic executive’, a bicameral legislature, and an independent judiciary which together would make up the 3 Branches of government. 1. An ENERGETIC EXECUTIVE refers to the office of President, the head of the EXECUTIVE BRANCH of government. The term ‘energetic executive’ refers to an elected President who has many responsibilities but does NOT include great personal power! (The President is NOT born into the office nor is he a king or dictator!)2. A BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE refers to Congress with its SENATE and HOUSE OF Page 2 REPRESENTATIVES that make up the LEGISLATIVE BRANCH of government.3. An INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY, the JUDICIAL BRANCH, refers to our system of courts including the SUPREME COURT and many lower level courts dispersed across the country. Independent refers to the fact that neither the President nor Congress controls the work of the JUDICIAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT. Judges do NOT answer to politicians nor are they ruled by politicians. So, the new Constitution created 3, separate, distinct ‘Branches of government’:THE 3 BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT1. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH led by the PRESIDENT2. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, CONGRESS made up of the House and Senate) 3. THE JUDICIAL BRANCH with the SUPREME COURT, the most powerful court in the country KEY QUESTION: Why were 3 Branches of Government created rather than just one government body to conduct all government business? KEY ANSWER: TO LIMIT THE POWER OF GOVERNMENT. After their experience with England, Americans did NOT want another all-powerful government! Having 3 Branches of Government was a way of ‘TYRANNY PROOFING’ American citizens from a government that might grow too powerful. NOTE THE RESTRAINT ON POWER WRITTEN INTO THE CONSTITUTION:1. THE 3 BRANCHES HAVE SEPARATE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. These duties do NOT overlap. 2. THE 3 BRANCHES WERE EQUAL IN POWER even though they had separate responsibilities. SEPARATE BUT EQUAL BRANCHES WERE KEY so that one branch of government could not rule over another branch of government and become too powerful. Also built within the structure of the Constitution is the concept of FEDERALISM which divides authority among the national government headquartered in Washington D.C. and individual state governments. That the delegates could agree on such a system was, according to George Washington, “little short of a miracle.” An even bigger miracle, however, was the emphasis by the FOUNDERS on trying to TYRANNY PROOF this new government. Page 3Creating 3 SEPARATE BUT EQUAL BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT was purposefully done because the founders along with American citizens did NOT want a powerful government that one day might rule over them or take away their individual freedoms. --------This idea of tyranny in government is very well expressed by 3 different individuals who possessed great wisdom: ‘Elections alone do NOT insure freedom. Our representatives are human too and are born with the same selfish impulses that make governments necessary.”...Veterans’ Day Speaker at Hillsdale College “‘If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”…James Madison, Father of the Constitution, Author of the Bill of Rights, President of the United StatesJohn Loche, English philosopher in the late 1600’s, wrote this about government: “Government is needed because people are sinful. Therefore, government is needed to protect us from each other. But government is people, and people are sinful. Therefore, citizens would at some point need PROTECTION FROM THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT.” “Elected officials are sinners like everyone else and will be tempted to better themselves rather than taking care of the citizens who elected them.” …Mr. P The Founders “built good government from reflection and choice rather than being formed by accident or force.”…Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers Never in history had a group of individuals convened to form a new government. All other governments had been created by the general of a victorious invading army or by a ruler or dictator who imposed his will on the citizens. Never before had a government been invented and implemented that actually sought to govern for the good of its citizens. The quote from Alexander Hamilton above simply says that after our Founders ‘reflected’ back on their own experiences, they freely chose to establish a republican form of government. Page 4 COMMENTS ON THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION “It is the single greatest founding governmental document in the history of the world.”“The Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1789, has now provided the framework for the most powerful, successful, and free nation on the planet for the past 230 years. Americans haven’t always lived up to the promises of the Constitution; America’s history has been a constant battle to fulfill those promises. But the principles undergirding our Constitution are eternal, and eternally true.” The wisdom of their actions is still experienced everyday by American citizens. Praise be to God for allowing us to live in the greatest, freest, and wealthiest country in the world! ................
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