Mirror, Mirror…Reading
The U .S. Constitution and Georgia’s Constitution
SS8CG1: The student will describe the role of citizens under the Georgia Constitution.
A. Explain the basic structure of the Georgia state constitution.
The U.S. Constitution was ratified on September 17, 1787. It replaced The Articles
of Confederation, our nation’s first governing document, and it spelled out exactly how our
nation’s government should be set up and run. Two Georgia delegates were present at the
Constitutional Convention of 1787: Abraham Baldwin and William Few.
In order for the U.S. Constitution to become official, nine states out of thirteen had
to formally ratify or adopt it. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the US Constitution on
January 2, 1788. But, now that the Articles of Confederation had been tossed out, the state
of Georgia also had to toss out its original state constitution, The Georgia Constitution of
1777. So, in 1789, a new state constitution was created and ratified to match the new
national constitution.
The structure of the both the U.S. Constitution and the Georgia Constitution are
similar, and they both act like an instruction manual for how to run each government. Both
the U.S. Constitution and the Georgia Constitution begin with preambles that state that the
people give power to our federal and state government and that we, as citizens, can change
our government at any time if needed.
The preamble to Georgia’s Constitution says it this way: “All government, of right,
originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted for the good of
the whole. Public officers are the trustees and servants of the people and are at all times
amenable to them.” In other words, government begins and ends with you and me – the
voters. Any power the government is given comes from the citizens, and the government
should work for the good of all of its citizens. Those persons elected to public office in the
state of Georgia work for the people and are accountable to the voters for their actions.
Right after both preambles, you will find the articles of the U.S. Constitution and the
Georgia Constitution. Articles give basic instructions on how each branch of government
operates and what their responsibilities are. In the GA Constitution, there are eleven
articles. Articles 3, 5, and 6 explain how the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of
the state government are set up. In the US Constitution, there are seven articles. The first
three explain how the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal
government are set up. Each of these branches divides up responsibility in what is known
as the separation of powers. Also, each branch of government was given some power to
limit, control, or prevent the actions of the other branches. We call this system checks and
balances.
At the beginning of each set of articles, you will find a Bill of Rights. It contains
laws that protect the personal rights and freedoms of citizens. The U.S. Bill of Rights,
found in the U.S. Constitution, consists of the first ten amendments. They were not a part
of the original document and were added in 1791, four years after the constitution was
ratified, to protect personal liberties. Georgia’s Bill of Rights can all be found in Article I,
and there you will find twenty-eight rights protected by Georgia law.
After the Bill of Rights, come the amendments. Amendments are the changes or
additions that have been made to each of the constitutions. Not meant to be locked up in a
glass case collecting dust from generation to generation, both constitutions have been and
will continue to be “edited” to reflect the will of the American people. Our founding
fathers had the foresight to make a constitution that could change with the times. Both
constitutions truly are living, changing documents! The U.S. Constitution currently has
been amended (changed/revised) 27 times – thus, it has 27 amendments. Georgia’s state
constitution has 63 amendments, and, in total, Georgia has had 10 different state
constitutions! The most recent Georgia Constitution was approved in 1983.
The Georgia Constitution states the right of the people to change their state
constitution when it says, “The people of this state have the inherent right of regulating
their internal government. Government is created for the protection, security and benefit of
the people; and at all times they have the right to alter or reform whenever the public good
may require it.” This is true for the U.S. Constitution as well as the Georgia Constitution.
For example, during Reconstruction the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, the
fourteenth amendment granted citizenship to newly-freed blacks, and the fifteenth
amendment granted all male citizens the right to vote. The addition of these amendments
illustrates how our government is meant to serve the people, and the constitution allows the
people to change the government when it fails to serve their needs. The Georgia
Constitution also gives voters the right to control state government by electing state
officials, and citizens also may suggest laws that might improve the way the state is
governed.