All About The Constitution
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The Constitution of the United States is the highest law in the land: it's a written statement of the core principles of the American government. It might not have a map on the back that directs us to the national treasure, but we can't have everything.
| 18th-Century Literature | 18th-Century American Literature |
| American Literature | 18th-Century American Literature |
| History | Celebrate Freedom Week |
| Language | English Language |
| Reading Informational Text | Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance Analyze seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance Reasoning in seminal U.S. texts for both legal purposes and public advocacy |
| Social Studies | Government Policy |
| Texas EOC | U.S. History EOC Assessment |
| U.S. History EOC Assessment | History |
Transcript
it's really no shocker that our founding fathers would want
to come up with a set of rules for america
Should they get two hundred dollars when they pascoe What
is surprising is how well the constitution has hung in
there for over two hundred twenty years I don't look
a day over two hundred so let's take a good
look at this resilient blueprint for democracy constitution of the
united states of america After america won its independence from
britain it's leaders had to put together a central government
Toronto what do we do now The first attempt at
a constitution the articles of confederation was a nice try
but inadequate How dare you So the constitutional convention was
convened to reform it in philadelphia in may of seventeen
eighty seven Thank you The convention was attended by fifty
five leaders from twelve states Needless to say when you
get that many people in the same room disagreements are
bound to happen Okay but the delegates plowed ahead In
the end they created a federal government that was more
structured and more powerful but still respectful of the rights
and freedoms of individuals Oh yeah James madison often called
the father of our constitution was a key player in
keeping the rest of the delegates on task He knew
that they would never agree on everything And we're going
to make money but needed to agree on the important
stuff The country would be a federal system of government
with three distinct branches Legislative executive and judicial It would
have a serious of checks and balances to keep everyone
honest And states and individuals were to retain some exclusive
powers a year You probably think it was all downhill
from there yet But there was a lot of dispute
about whether or not there should be a single president
and how long he should stay in the office as
long as i want it would be quite a while
before this guy would come along to resolve the issue
of slaves right Yeah Or before this gal came along
to fight for the rights of women Bring it on
But the new constitution did cover a lot of ground
It established two bodies of legislation in the house and
the senate a supreme court and the ability to add
amendments in the future It also made it pretty clear
who was in charge Oh yeah brother Since most colonists
were fed up with the monarchy our founding fathers insured
from the first words that this was a popular sovereignty
whose power came on lee through the consent of the
people being governed Yeah After four months of debates and
compromise the delegates were more than ready to head for
home I know i am But there was one thing
missing from this first constitution Am i missing something A
bill of rights at it His amendments one through ten
The bill of rights was ratified in seventeen ninety one
Restricting government's ability to infringe upon individual rights and guaranteeing
personal freedoms were twice in a row Since its ratification
and seventeen eighty nine the u s constitution has been
amended twenty seven times with twenty six still standing His
law Yeah it's been an inspiration for countless other countries
and is the oldest written constitution in the world Oh
what's your secret Not bad for a bunch of old
guys stuck in a room without the internet huh What 00:04:38.562 --> [endTime] is that Oh yeah Stop twisting jim