The Role of the United States Constitution

Written By: Anna Pafenberg

You will hear many Americans reference a document called the Constitution, sometimes referencing it about freedoms and rights, but what is this document, and why is it so famous? The United States Constitution was designed with the intention of setting up basic rights and laws for the citizens of the United States when the country was first created. Basically, the document which was written in 1787, granted powers to the federal governments as well as ensured certain rights for people that lived in the country.

One group, called the Federalists, wanted the federal government to be strong and have many powers. Another group, called the Anti-Federalists, wanted the opposite. This group preferred stronger state governments that have more power as units than one large government. Each party had different reasons for their opinions, but overall they each thought the other's idea would lead to corruption. The founding fathers who wrote the document got ideas from writers like John Locke, who believed that people have the right to overthrow their corrupt government and have the right to property. The writings were also inspired by other documents such as the Magna Carta which was a charter of rights from England.

The Anti-Federalists wanted a guarantee that their document called the Bill of Rights would appear in the Constitution. These ten rights guaranteed the people of the United States, in simpler terms, are:

• Freedom of Speech

• The right to bear arms

• The right to not quarter soldiers (Let them stay in residents homes)

• No searches without a warrant

• Due process of law

• Right to a jury

• The right to not be tried twice for the same crime

• No cruel or unusual punishments

• Residents have rights even if the Constitution does not list them

• Any power not specified by the Constitution will be given to the states

Many more amendments have been added since the ratification of the original document, there are twenty seven right now! The founding fathers wanted a guarantee that these amendments could be interpreted differently or added to as the country changes or modernizes. In order to do this, the Constitution detailed that there are two ways to add new amendments. For a proposal, ⅔ of Congress, both the House and Senate, must approve. Then, ⅔ of state legislatures must approve as well. There are other ways to add amendments, but that is the simplest way to understand. 

The Constitution gave specific powers to a legislative branch, or Congress, an executive branch, the President and their advisors, and the Judicial branch, which includes the Supreme court. These three branches all have specific powers to make sure that other branches do not have too much power while doing their jobs. The goal of this is to stop a monarchy from happening like that of the old King from England. These powers are called checks and balances. One branch of government checks the others from having too much power, which creates a balance.

Overall, the Constitution created the building blocks for many laws and procedures in the United States. Without this document, certain rights of the people would not be guaranteed and our government would have a lot of power.