Chapter 3:
The Constitution of the
United States of America
Why Does the Constitution Matter?
The Constitution matters for these
reasons:
 It is the law of the land
 It has lasted as a stable and
secure government for 220
years with only minor changes
required
 Other countries now model their
Constitutions off of ours
A Brief Outline
The Preamble – lays out the
purpose and introduces the
Constitution
The Articles – the substance of
governmental law
The Amendments
Uncle Sam needs
you to study harder!
The Seven Articles
I. The Legislative Branch
II. The Executive Branch
III. The Judicial Branch
IV. Relations Among States
V. The Amendment Process
VI. National Debts, National
Supremacy, Oaths of Office
VII. Requirements for Ratification
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
1. Popular Sovereignty – supreme
power rests with and only with the
people
 Note – Founding Fathers did not
believe in pure popular
sovereignty… they feared direct
democracy of the masses
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
2. Limited Government
 Also called constitutionalism, and rule
of law
 Government is not all-powerful
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
3. Separation of Powers
 U.S. uses a presidential
government, where the
executive and legislative
branches are chosen separately
 Each branch has its own
powers and responsibilities
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
4. Checks and
Balances
 Each branch
is not totally
independent
of the others
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
4. Checks and
Balances
 They have
powers to
override each
other when
necessary
If I had
gotten a
few more
checks…
I’d be the
President.
With that statement, a
lonely tear will slide down
John Kerry’s face every
night, for the rest of his life.
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
5. Judicial Review
 Courts may
determine whether
or not what the
President or
Congress does is
Constitutional
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
5. Judicial Review
 If court declares an
act unconstitutional,
the act is not a law,
and the decision
cannot be
overridden
The Six Basic Principles of the
Constitution
6. Federalism
 The national government is
given certain powers by the
Constitution
 Whatever is left is a power for
the states to use
The Amendment
Process
Two Kinds of Amendments
Formal Amendment Process – an
actual written, numbered
amendment to the Constitution
Informal Amendment Process –
changes made over time without
passing a Constitutional
Amendment
Formal Amendment
Step 1 – Must Be Proposed
Step 2 – Must Be Ratified
2 Ways to Propose an Amendment
1. 2/3 vote in both houses of
Congress

All 27 Amendments were proposed
this way
2. Constitutional Convention
requested by 2/3 of the states

Has not ever been used
2 Ways to Ratify an Amendment
1. 3/4 of state legislatures
approve it

26 of the 27 Amendments were
ratified this way
2. 3/4 of conventions called by the
states approve it

Only the 21st Amendment was
ratified this way
The First Ten
Amendments…
“What’s wrong with giving us a Bill
of Rights? Will it take up too much
paper? “ Patrick Henry
The Bill of Rights
These are awesome!
And you get to memorize them!
The 1st Amendment
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of the Press
Right to Assembly
Right to Petition
2 Parts to Freedom of Religion
Constitution never uses the
words, “separation of church and
state”
Free Exercise Clause – allows
people to freely practice religion
Establishment Clause – prevents
government from establishing or
endorsing any particular religion
The 2nd Amendment
The Right to Bear Arms
Not the Right to Bare Arms
Typical High School Boy
So
does
this
Questions?
mean I can do
whatever I want
with guns?
The 3rd Amendment
No Quartering of Soldiers in
Times of Peace
The 4th Amendment
Protection
Against
Unreasonable
Search and
Seizure
The 5th Amendment
No Double Jeopardy (Can’t be
charged with the same crime
twice)
Protection against selfincrimination
Guarantee of Due Process of Law
The 6th Amendment
Right to a Criminal Trial by Jury
 Trial must be speedy, public
 Must be in the state where the
crime was committed
 Right to legal counsel
The 7th Amendment
Right to a Civil Trial by Jury
 Any case over $20
The 8th Amendment
Protection
Against Cruel
and Unusual
Punishment
The 9th Amendment
Rights Retained by the People
 In other words, just because a
right isn’t listed here in the
Constitution doesn’t mean that
people don’t have that right
The 10th Amendment
Powers Granted to the States
 All powers that are not given to
the national government are
reserved for the states
Informal Amendments
The vast majority of changes to
the Constitution have not
changed the words in the
Constitution
There are five ways these
changes have been made
Basic Legislation
Congress’ laws provide specific
details about the vague purposes
and ideas in the Constitution
Basic Legislation
Congress also
changes its own
powers over time,
based on the words
of the Constitution
Executive Action
Presidents are
always looking for
ways to stretch
and grow their
powers
Thus, presidents
today are much
more powerful
than in the past
Court Decisions
Since Marbury v.
Madison, the
court has had the
power to declare
acts of the
president and
Congress
unconstitutional
Court Decisions
This power is
called judicial
review, and the
court uses it to
tell us what they
interpret the
Constitution to
mean
Party Practices
Political parties did
not exist at the
nation’s start, but
they have become
an almost
necessary element
Party Practices
The electoral
college used to
decide together who
would be the
president. Now,
they just “rubber
stamp” the choice of
voters
Custom
Many customs have developed that
we follow just as strongly as laws
 Senatorial Courtesy – when
nominating a judge, the president
always asks the permission of the
two Senators from the judge’s state
 Cabinet – 15 advisors for the
president are not in the Constitution