The Importance Of The United States Constitution
The United States Constitution is the single most important document in American history for a variety of reasons. Not only does it provide the framework for our government to operate, but it also states the rights and liberties each citizen has. The Constitution strikes a unique balance between power at the national level and at the state level, not allowing for the national government to become so strong that it tramples the rights of states or individuals. In a world where we see so much instability in many countries, it makes one really appreciate what we do have even though we might not all agree on the same issues facing us. As far as individual rights and liberties go, some of the most important ones can be found in the first amendment
of the Constitution. Many of the rights found in the first amendment were rights that were deprived of the colonists while the colonies were still under English rule. While our rights stated in the Constitution are not necessarily in danger from a foreign government anymore, there were still fears among the framers that a strong national government may one day return us to the same situation that we were under with the British crown. In order to protect individual rights and liberties from an oppressive central government, the framers used the principles of separation of powers along with checks and balances. The framers of the Constitution designed the government to be in three separate branches; the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch. Each of the three branches of government has powers separated between them. The executive branch enforces laws, the judicial branch interprets laws, and the legislative branch makes laws. To keep any one branch from becoming more powerful than the others, the framers installed checks and balances for each branch to check the power of another branch of government. For example, the legislative branch checks the executive branch by having the power to impeach. On the flipside, the executive branch has the power to veto bills that come from the executive branch. All around the world in so many different countries, entire governments seem to change almost as often as we elect people to Congress here in the U.S. Whether that’s coups in the Middle East or in South America. For 240 years the United States has been able to keep our government the way it was intended to be. Of course it is not perfect, good things in life rarely are. As citizens we may disagree on how to solve the issues that face us, but at the end of the day we all believe in the same principles that make our country as great as it is.
of the Constitution. Many of the rights found in the first amendment were rights that were deprived of the colonists while the colonies were still under English rule. While our rights stated in the Constitution are not necessarily in danger from a foreign government anymore, there were still fears among the framers that a strong national government may one day return us to the same situation that we were under with the British crown. In order to protect individual rights and liberties from an oppressive central government, the framers used the principles of separation of powers along with checks and balances. The framers of the Constitution designed the government to be in three separate branches; the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch. Each of the three branches of government has powers separated between them. The executive branch enforces laws, the judicial branch interprets laws, and the legislative branch makes laws. To keep any one branch from becoming more powerful than the others, the framers installed checks and balances for each branch to check the power of another branch of government. For example, the legislative branch checks the executive branch by having the power to impeach. On the flipside, the executive branch has the power to veto bills that come from the executive branch. All around the world in so many different countries, entire governments seem to change almost as often as we elect people to Congress here in the U.S. Whether that’s coups in the Middle East or in South America. For 240 years the United States has been able to keep our government the way it was intended to be. Of course it is not perfect, good things in life rarely are. As citizens we may disagree on how to solve the issues that face us, but at the end of the day we all believe in the same principles that make our country as great as it is.