The US Constitution is more than two hundred years old. This strong old woman helped her country survive many times of crisis. And now there is a storm on political open spaces, as it was before, and more than once, sometimes it even came to scandals. But on guard is the phenomenal and amazing US Constitution of 1787. So everything has always been and, hopefully, will continue to be in order. And with the country, and with its branches of power.
We people
What were the people of America on whose behalf the US Constitution was written? In articles with legal subjects hardly anyone referred to a television series. But once you need to start: look at the magnificent "Deadwood", you will see the very same "we, the people." The series is not about the constitution, but about the lousy town of gold miners, where bandits and crooks lived, and where murder was the main way of doing business.
The need for general "rules of the game" was born precisely then, in such places. “Negotiate or not survive” - the slogan has become the main driving force behind the creation of a common law. The US Constitution was born and raised on earth, it was not lowered from above at the initiative of highbrow intellectuals. This explains the phenomenality of the document - it is popular, it is from "we, the people." This does not mean that the former bandits wrote their proposals to the main law on long winter evenings. The Constitution was not created from scratch - at first it was in each of the states of the Confederation and went through a hard run-in among its bandits. This is the second factor in the phenomenality of the US Constitution of 1787.
Ten year training
Back in the midst of the Civil War (the fact speaks for itself: a unifying law was needed like air) in 1777 (exactly ten years before the US Constitution), a distant ancestor of the modern code of laws called “Articles of the Confederation” was adopted, which described the rights of states and central organs. Everything was very weak: starting with the authority of the central organ of the Congress of the Confederation. Congress was not able to enact any general law: one state could block any initiative. But in the states of the Confederation, life was in full swing: each of them had its own constitution and the right to change it - that’s where the articles and sections were run in, these were the first US constitutions. Confederation members could set their taxes and customs duties, which ultimately led to serious economic problems and losses. The first sign in creating a full-fledged general law was the economic problem - it was necessary to remove customs barriers between states as soon as possible.
Create is still flowers
The signing took place in Philadelphia in 1787 - a fact known to everyone. And the fact that before signing the delegates fell into a seemingly complete impasse, but the Great (Connecticut) compromise was found, and the Connecticut delegate came up with lawyer Roger Sherman, was known by few.
Roger Sherman truly saved the adoption of the US Constitution by delegates to the Philadelphia Convention. He found a solution to the problem, which became a stumbling block in the discussion of further steps. The main debate was between delegates of large and small states. Large states insisted on proportional representation in Congress (if the population is large, then there are more representatives). The smaller states fought for equal representation regardless of the size of the population.
Roger Sherman found a compromise: one House of Representatives was elected by territorial type, the other (Senate) was formed from delegates on an equal basis.
Ratify - Berries
Ratification lasted more than two years, the participants involved were divided into "federalists" and "anti-federalists." The latter feared the emergence of a central tyrannical power, I recall the power of the British king. The constitution came into force only in 1790. Voting took place in each state is very difficult. In the latter, Rhode Island, the majority of votes was minimal - 34 against 32. New York also hardly adopted a new law: 30 votes against 27.
Who invested in the Constitution
For all the nationality of the basic law (it was more expressed in the stage of “running in” regional preparations and the willingness of the population to accept and support it), it was written by outstanding intellectuals who used not only their developments, but also the works of world classics. The French thinker Montesquieu, for example, "invested" in the Constitution with ideas about the separation of powers. The famous theory of the social contract of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau formed the basis of the preamble to the Constitution.
The skeleton of the future Constitution was the Connecticut Basic Laws. Something was gleaned from the British Magna Carta.
The name of the main author cannot be found - he is not, and this is also symptomatic. The coordinator of a group of thirty developers was James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, who, in addition to the Constitution, led the work on the famous Bill of Human Rights.
The essence of the US Constitution
The document has only seven articles. It is still the shortest constitution in the world. If we talk about the main advantage of the US Constitution in principle, then this is the legendary system of checks and balances - the separation of powers into executive, legislative and judicial. The descriptions and powers of these branches are contained in the first three main articles of the Constitution.
The most important part is the principles of the US Constitution regarding the equality of states and their relationship with the federal government - the foundation of federalism. They are presented in the fourth article.
The last three articles describe the procedures for amending the Constitution, the mandatory support of the Constitution by all citizens of the country, and the rules for the entry into force of the same Constitution.
As a result, the US Constitution approved:
- The presidential republic as a form of government.
- Principles of presidential election.
- State rights in the form of a federal structure of the country.
- Separation of powers.
- A system of checks and balances.
Amendments: famous and not so
A total of 31 amendments were adopted, but only 27 were “working, " that is, only 27 were ratified. The first ten amendments made up a single package - it was the famous Bill of Rights, which was submitted in pursuit of the Constitution itself - even before its full ratification.
Amendment No. 13: abolition of slavery. That says it all.
Amendment No. 15: suffrage for non-ferrous people and former slaves. Comments are not needed here either.
Amendment No. 16: Introduction of the federal income tax. With it, the United States began to gain strength and power as a state.
Thanks to the 18th amendment, we have the cult trilogy “The Godfather” with many other excellent films and books on the same topic - Prohibition, bootlegging, the mafia, off-scale crime. “Church instead of whiskey” - this idea crashed completely. As a result, the ban on alcohol was lifted by the 21st amendment after fourteen nightmare years.
Amendment No. 19: suffrage for women. No comments.
The famous 22nd amendment also has a vivid historical background. It was written and introduced immediately after the death of US President Franklin Roosevelt in 1947. He was the only one to be elected to the presidency four times. What is the amendment about? Of course, the presidential term limit is no more than two terms of four years each, without comment.
Amendment No. 26: age reduction with the right to vote to 18 years. The Vietnam context and numerous anti-war protests have become the historical context for this most important amendment (it’s already possible to fight and die, but voting is still not allowed).
The last 27th amendment is also unique and, perhaps, the most indicative from the point of view of the psychology of American parliamentarians. The amendment went the hard way towards its ratification of 203 years, it is the same age as the Constitution itself. It is clear why it has been ratified for so long: now senators and congressmen cannot raise their own salaries. They can do this only for the next parliamentarians.
Bill of rights
A package of ten amendments was written and put to a vote almost immediately after the Constitution itself. This is the main document on the personal and political rights and freedoms of citizens of the country. Americans are no less proud of the Bill than the Constitution itself. Freedom of religion, of the press, of assembly, of the word … The same Bill permitted the carrying of weapons.
Thanks to the fourth amendment, neither police nor FBI agents can enter a citizen’s home without a warrant. The following few amendments give the right to a jury trial and describe important details of the US trial. The judicial branch, led by the Supreme Court, has enormous powers in the United States and is actively involved in both the political and economic spheres of life for citizens and governments.
Thus, the rights in the US Constitution are set forth separately, in detail, concisely and comprehensively. The Bill of Rights is as famous a document as the Constitution. It is the basis of human rights declarations in many countries and at the UN.
Burn the US national flag? It's possible
An interesting episode is the numerous and unsuccessful attempts to amend the inviolability of the national symbol - the US flag. The last of them took place in 1995. Student protests after Donald Trump's unexpected victory in the presidential election included the burning of the US flag.
Donald Trump called for the punishment of the demonstrators. Despite the insult to such actions, congressmen, as well as the majority of other citizens, adhere to the opinion on the inviolability of the rights recorded in the Constitution.
