...he Constitution first began when the states held a U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 1787, that is where they began to write the Constitution. The goal of this meeting was to improve the Articles of Confederation. At the meeting, some wanted small changes to the Articles of Confederation, while others wanted to rewrite the whole document. They ended up rewriting the whole document, while most were happy with this “improvement” others were infuriated with the new changes. Some of the people rewriting the document served as legislatures or Congress. Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and George Washington were involved in this meeting. George Washington was the president of this convention. I think the U.S Compromise of the Constitution...
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...Constitutions The main difference between codified constitutions and uncodified constitutions is that the codified constitution is entrenched and written down in a single document. For examp+le, The American Constitution is codified and is very easy to find. In fact most households in America will have a published version of their constitution. The uncodified constitution is not written down in a single document (although some laws, rules, etc. may be written down in different places). Britain is an illustration of a country with an uncodified constitution, this is due to a rule termed ‘Parliamentary Sovereignty’ which states that no parliament can bind a future parliament. Another dissimilarity is that a codified constitution has the status of a fundamental law. This means it is used to set up the basic categories of rights and responsibilities both for citizens and for the government. Instead of a normal court and jury, only the Supreme Court can decide whether or not its provisions have been breached. For instance, in Japan, the Fundamental Law of Education was created in 1947 as an agreement for the education system for the country. For states with a codified constitution, laws, rules and principles do not have a grading system; they are all in level with each other. The only difference between the laws are obviously the punishments that become enforced if that law is broken. An uncodified constitution means that laws can be amended more easily than a law from a codified...
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...Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution of the United States The United States has been run under two constitutions since the beginning. It was first operated under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was ratified by Maryland and brought into effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles lasted a little over seven years until it was upheld by New Hampshire on June 21, 1788. It was replaced by the Constitution of the United States. In the Articles of Confederation, the legislature was Unicameral. Each state had two to seven members in congress during the Articles. Under The Constitution the legislature was Bicameral, or broken into two sections, which was the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each state...
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...As President, Abraham Lincoln often stated his wishes on ending slavery, but frequently claimed he could not violate the constitution. In a letter to Senator A.G. Hodges, Lincoln said that “It was in the oath I took that I would to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution”(Doc. H). Lincoln insisted that it was his job to support the constitution but in the end he violated it. In 1862, during the Civil War, Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation, a document that declared “all persons held as slaves with said designated states… are and henceforward shall be free.”(Doc. G) Lincoln violated the constitution by ordering confederate states to free their slaves. The confederate states did not have to free their slaves because the Emancipation Proclamation violated the constitution. Lincoln’s order didn’t do anything for the African-Americans held as slaves and just further angered the south. This shows Lincoln was just another politician and not...
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...What is tyranny? The constitution was written in 1787 in Philadelphia to guard against tyranny. How was tyranny guarded by the constitution? Tyranny is when one person rules over a country with all the power and all the say. The constitution combines federalism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and Balancing Power between the Large and Small States to help guard against tyranny. The first guard against tyranny was federalism which means the power was split up and not all in one person's hands.In the constitution it states “In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” In the United States, the U.S. Constitution gives certain powers to the federal government, other powers to the state governments, and yet other powers to both. Federalism protects against tyranny because if the powers were not split we would be living under a tyranny....
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...To what extent did the constitution ensure the Kaisers power was preserved? To a large extent the Kaiser had all power over Germany and with the desire for changes in the way Germany was run, it resulted in the improvements such as the creation of a constitution which was without a doubt crucial to the consolidation of the Kaisers position. The constitution consisted of 25 federal states, within this there were 4 kingdoms, 12 Duchies, 6 Grand Duchies and 3 free cities. At first the Kaiser had pretty much entire control over all of these states, however each one did have a government which could decide on a healthcare system, education and justice policies. The states were at this point happy with this situation, so on the whole they were content to remain part of Germany. The Kaiser had autocratic control over diplomatic policy and this meant he could even dismiss his own chancellor. He could control the entire political system of Germany as he could select people who agreed with his policies. He also made a rule that in order to rule the Kaiser must be a Prussian, ensuring his control over the German people. His rule also meant he could change the constitution so that these rules had to stay in place. The control of these factors played a big role in keeping his position a stable one. The chancellor was the chief minister of the Reich, the only person who controlled him was the Kaiser with his ability to dismiss state secretaries and anyone else who he didn’t like. He...
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...The new Labour government took power in 1997 began to reform the British constitution, introducing the Human rights act, Devolution and some reform of the House of Lords among other less important changes. Unfortunately Labour did not complete those reforms and a great deal was left undone. The question since then is how much has the constitution been reformed and how positive effect these reforms have had. There is no doubt that the HRA has transformed Britain. It created a means by which government and other bodies could be prevented from abusing our rights. The courts were given powers to enforce rights. This has meant that we now have more privacy and have the right to be treated equally under the law. However, the HRA was not made biding on Parliament and so governments can still abuse rights. This has been seen with anti-terrorism acts which give the police great powers including the ability to arrest suspects without trial. The HRA also does not protect us against the growth of surveillance and stop search powers or the prevention of some demonstrations. Similarly, the FOI act has been partly effective as it enabled us to know about the MP’s expense scandal and other aspects of government. However government can still conceal sensitive information thus perhaps the act should have been stronger. The introduction of Devolution as well supported in Scotland and Wales has made a huge difference in those countries as well as in Northern Ireland, the people of those countries...
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...Teacher’s Guide Anatomy of the Constitution Time Needed: One class period Materials Needed: Student worksheets Copy Instructions: Preamble Activity Half Sheet (class set, divided) Student packet (three pages double-sided; class set) Preamble (Transparency) Whose Job Is It? (Transparency) Foldable Activity (class set) Learning Objectives. Students will be able to: explain the structure, function, and powers of the U.S. government as established in the Constitution identify the roles of the three branches of government describe the constitutional amendment process interpret the intentions of the Preamble of the Constitution. STEP BY STEP 1) ANTICIPATE by asking students where the government gets it’s instructions. How does Congress, the President, or federal judges know what to do? Give students a moment to think, then randomly call on students to share their thoughts. 2) DISTRIBUTE one reading packet to each student. 3) READ through the first two paragraphs on page one with the class. 4) DISPLAY the transparency, Breaking it Down: The Preamble and explain the statement, phrase by phrase. The students should add the annotations to their reading. Also note that people living in the 1700s had different rules about capitalization than we do today. 5) READ the rest of page one, continuing through page three with the class. Explain that you will go into greater detail on the amendment process on the next page. 6) READ the information about the amendment process...
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...basic role of governing the structure and the powers of the state. It therefore organises the powers of the state in an attempt to prevent abuses of power by those in power. * Emergence of Constitutional Law - Enlightenment * The term “constitution” was coined recently with the emergence of the new nation state. During the 18th of century, political revolutions in France and the US led to the emergence of the new nation state and the need was felt for a document reflecting the beliefs and the political aspirations of the heralders of the new political and legal order. * Major ideologies (constitutionalism, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke) started perceiving power of the state and freedoms of individuals as being conflicting such that only a proper balance between the two would lead to political and social stability. According to those ideologies, to maximise individual freedoms and liberties, the power of the state had to be curtailed by constitutional norms. This is how the written constitution, in its modern appellation, came about. These constitutions are also called “enlightenment constitutions”. * Written Constitution * Also known as the narrow definition of “constitution” * “a document having a special legal sanctity which sets out the framework and the principle functions of...
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...states constitution overcame the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and provided for the organization of the new government. In the 1700’s, in the thirteen original colonies, the Americans won the Revolutionary war, and they decided they needed a government. The Articles of Confederation is what the continental congress made a plan for as a whole. The constitutional convention was ran by the legislature which caused the great compromises. The constitution was written by delegates and each state had to hold a convention to approve of the constitution but not everyone agreed about the constitution and that it should be ratified. In the late 1700’s the thirteen original colonies needed a government so they came up with the articles...
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...The term constitution has been defined by many scholars, one such scholar defines a constitution as,” a document having a special legal sanctity which sets out the framework and principal functions of the organs of government with the state, and declares the principals by which those organs must operate” . The idea of a constitution is not a new one but is as old as the concept of government. One cannot speak of the government without directly linking it to the constitution which it is founded on. A constitution as noted from the above definition describes what constitutes a government which is the different organs, regulates the actions of the organs of government and restricts the actions of that government based on what is regarded as constitutional acts of that government as provided for in the constitution. A constitution of any state plays an important role in the governing of that state; constitutions worldwide have mostly emerged as a result of the need to start a new chapter in the way that states are governed. This is mostly evident in countries that were once colonised and those that went through revolutions. For those colonised, after attaining independence many adopted constitutions from their colonial masters. Although many of the colonised states of Africa had inherited constitutions from there colonial masters. These constitutions did not stand the taste of time as they were bequeathed on them and was not a true reflection of how the general citizenry of the...
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...of the Constitution Review commission in the constitution making process, the relationship between 1972 constitution and the UNIP constitution. The assignment will also analyse the difference between provisions of article 71(2) (c) of 1991 and 1996 and the relevant case law that brought about the change of the provision. Definitions of CRC will be given and a brief history of the various CRCs will be given and in addition each of the relevant questions will be looked at individually and answered according to the case law and statutes available and relevant to them. A: THE ROLE OF CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSION IN THE CONSTITUTION MAKING PROCESS A constitution review commission is an inquiry into matters of public interest that is appointed by the president. The constitution review commission is normally abbreviated as CRC. A CRC is made in pursuance of the Inquiries Act CAP 41 which states in part that the Act (Inquiries Act) shall provide for the appointment of a commission to inquire into and report on matters referred to them. Article 2 (1) states, “The president may issue a commission appointing one or more commissions to inquire into any matter in which an inquiry would in the opinion of the president, be for the public welfare”. Role of CRCs in constitution making process. The role that CRCs play in the constitution making process can never be over emphasized. These two aspects that is the process of constitutional making and the content of the constitution must not...
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...this view of the modern US constitution. In many ways, the US constitution has changed and shifted since its creation in 1787. It has changed, with power being put into the hands of bodies not specified in the constitution and certain constraints on power no longer existing. All in all, however, the constitution has maintained the very thing it was created for- to limit the power of the government and protect the people from tyranny of the executive. In this sense, the constitution is still very much embodying the vision of the founding fathers and is relatively unchanged given the lengthy period of time they have existed for. The powers of the president remain relatively unaltered and the intricate set of checks and balances established by the founding fathers remains pretty much the same. Several amendments to the constitution have happened more recently than the time of the Founding Fathers and these change the way in which the constitution can be seen as the same. During the presidency of Bill Clinton, there were 18 votes on proposed constitutional amendments, an unusually high number. All these votes occurred during the 6-year period when the Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress. The power of the executive has changed greatly since the creation of the Constitution. The President has taken on some powers not given to him by the Founding Fathers, giving him additional power which is specifically what they didn’t want. An example...
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...have a living Constitution and should we have a living Constitution? A living Constitution is one that changes with times; one that is continuously evolving and adapting to new ways of life and circumstances without being formally amended and changed. On one side of the argument, the answer to the question must be yes: a living Constitution seems like the only realistic option, as every generation faces different issues that must be politically dealt with in ways that are modern and efficient. Our Constitution, the document that was created around 230 years ago and currently resides under a glass bubble at the National Archives, can be amended and changed with the times, however, the amendment process is long, exhausting and most of the times unsuccessful....
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...Canada Constitution vs Unites States Most countries around our world for the most part have a constitution for people to live by or another resource laying out the freedoms for the citizens for the countries. A Constitution of course is the foundation for one’s country that he or she lives in. The constitution or other government rules lay the foundation for the government as well as the citizens that reside in the country. This is especially true for the lands of America and the Monarchy of the providence of Canada. Both nations citizens live by the rights of each constitutions everyday even though in some cases our rights are not always treated as a nation of free people should be. Of course the United States and Canada have different freedoms than other lands but, these freedoms and rights for both countries were not easily achieved wars were fought and to many people died for the cause on both sided of the wars for the lands. The United States constitution was written in 1787 between May and September after the American colonies citizens won their independence from the British rule of the king and queen. The men who wrote the constitution were called the framers, they met and discussed what would be in it which some of the things were not put in it and the articles. There were 55 Framers of the constitution. Among them some familiar names as George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin franklin, alexander Hamilton which he invented the first national bank for the United...
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