The United States celebrates Constitution Day on September 27, the day our nation’s founders came together, framed, and signed the Constitution of the United States. This was an incredible act of defiance against the norms of the day, where kings and queens ruled over the common people. With the signing of the US Constitution, our founders spat in the face of tradition in favor of a liberal idea where all people are free to make their own living, decisions about life, and have control of their futures.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” These words open the constitution, they form what we call, “The Preamble” and they are the most important words in the document full of important words. In the preamble, We, the People of the United States do declare that this is our nation. A nation that respects the rule of law – whether we like the ruling in a courtroom or not, it is a just ruling – and we assert that we will always defend the peace of our American homeland, whether that means through military action or through the passage of law. We also acknowledge that we are not perfect, that the constitution will need some amending from time to time to keep it relevant and it will need staunch defenders to keep the constitution strong.
The US Constitution is made up of seven articles, each one dealing with a different topic of our government, a Bill of Rights that makes up the first ten amendments to the constitution, and 17 other amendments to total 27 amendments. The first article of the constitution is about the legislative branch – the congress, who makes and passes laws for our nation. It is no mistake that the constitution talks about congress before it speaks on the president. This is intentional, congress is a law-making body that is made up of individuals selected by their neighbors.
Thanks to “The Great Compromise”, also known as the “Connecticut Compromise” which was adopted by the framers, the United States has two groups that make up congress: The House of Representative’s; and the US Senate. There was a massive argument at Independence Hall debating how to make the system fair for small and large states. In the House of Representatives, every single member was elected by the people of their respective state and each state’s delegation was determined on the population of the state – larger states get an advantage or smaller states because they get more representation. The US Senate allowed every state to have two members – making it fair for big and small states – but the members were not traditionally elected, they were chosen by the state legislatures who were elected. It wasn’t until 1913 that senators were elected directly by the people of their state, this was only made possible thanks to the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.
There have been a number of amendments that secure the rights of American citizens. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the constitution, creates a large number of freedoms and rights for Americans. From Freedom of Speech to Freedom of Religion and the Press, to the rights of Americans to redress their governments, even to the protection of criminals.
One of the greatest rights bestowed upon Americans in the constitution is the right of women to vote. Women were not included, originally, in the right to vote. In 1920 the 19th Amendment was ratified and women earned, after serious fighting and effort, the right to vote.
The US Constitution is so important and vital to our daily lives, and we here at the Cibola Citizen are proud to have the opportunity to highlight just a few of the wonderful strengths our constitution has. The rights of Americans should never be under attack, we are all brothers and sisters under the same blue sky and the bond of patriotism to unite us. God Bless the United States of America, may we always be on the path toward creating A