The Constitution is a document that was created to instill the fundamental laws of the United States government by creating three principal branches of the federal government, it divides power between the federal government and the states and protects several individual liberties of all American citizens. This document was put into place on September 17, 1787, and was ratified during the year 1788. The purpose of the ratification of the Constitution was to inform the public of the provisions of the proposed new government. A concern when amending the Constitution was that “An appetite for organic change is one of the worst diseases than can affect a nation”[1] People of the United States commonly do not like the thought of change, but change needed to be made to remain the greatest country of all. Change can be one’s worst enemy because of the reactions of those who do not agree with this change. There would always be a chance that the American people would deny this Constitution resulting in more chaos. In May of 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia to establish the government of the United States. The Constitution was written by James Madison who is known as the Father of the Constitution.
The Constitution was created for the purpose of creating a government that had enough power to act at a national level, without taking away the fundamental rights of the American citizens. The Constitution would limit the government from becoming too powerful and would protect individuals’ rights. “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”[2] This one historic sentence that begins the Constitution explains the reasons for why it would be made and what the purpose of the document is. The Constitution was written to protect the individual rights of American citizens, but also protect us from the government gaining too much power and authority. The Constitution states that “The distinctive note to be sounded at once about essential human rights and their protection under the Constitution of the United States is that they have the quality of “legal rights” and that for their vindication the power of the courts may be invoked against all branches of government.”[3] This statement summarizes one of the main reasons why the Constitution was created. The Constitution was created so that people could have basic human rights and the government would not be able to interfere with those rights.
The protection of human rights under the Constitutions sets forth certain rights and limitations that we as people are provided by being citizens of the United States. The Amendments were written in the year of 1791 for the purpose of Americans citizens gaining their own rights without government interference. Some of the Amendments that are listed in the Constitution include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, rights to receive a fair trial, rights to vote, and the right to bear arms. There are many other rights that come with the creation of the Constitution, but these rights play a large role in our society. Freedom of speech gives a person the ability to speak how they feel about something without the risk of punishment. Freedom of religion gives one the ability to follow any religion they choose regardless of public opinions. The right to receive a fair trial means to be treated with a fair and just trial regardless of the crime or who the person is. The right to bear arms gives American citizens the right to own firearms for the sole purpose of their protection. The abolishment of slavery came later on in history but has made the most impact on the United States throughout history. Slavery began roughly during the 1600s but has always really existed. During the creation of the Constitution, slavery played a large role in the United States. Many people from the North and South were slave owners. People owned slaves for the purposes of taking care of their property, doing the work that they did not want to do, and for the sole purpose of power. Slaves were tortured, killed, and treated unfairly by their owners. There were mixed feelings about whether slavery should be legal in the United States which led to a great divide in the nation. It was time for America to stop treating slaves as property and to treat them as people. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified and states [4]“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This amendment abolished slavery by making it illegal in all states and gave slaves the chance to be free and live their lives how they choose. Many slaves were freed in the sense that they were not anyone’s property anymore, but the abolishment of slavery did not make a clear impact on America until the ratification of the Constitution. When the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, it gave equal protect to all citizens of the United States. This also gave people the rights of American citizens including the Fifteenth Amendment which prevents the denial of one’s right to vote based on race, color, or previous conditions of servitude. Formerly enslaved people were not given the basic things they needed to survive. They were not given food, jobs, property, and still had to deal with racism and hatred people had towards them. It was not until later in history that the formerly enslaved people would see any change in their lives. These amendments from the Constitution were created for the sole purpose of protecting American citizens, but it would take time for this document to be followed and taken seriously.
The Constitution has made a great impact on the way the United States functions to this day. The Constitution was so powerful that it is one of the only historic documents that are still used and followed today. This historic document has given the people of the United States the rights and freedoms that were needed to create a strong and powerful country. The Constitution remains in effect and is one of the most important documents ever to be written in American history.
[1] Margaret Center Klinglesmith. “Amending the Constitution of the United States.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register 73, no. 4 (1925): 355–79. https://doi.org/10.2307/3314185.
[2] Jackson, William. “The Constitution of the United States of America.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 185 (1936): 201–11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1019284.
[3] Dowling, Noel T. “Protection of Human Rights under the United States Constitution.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 243 (1946): 96–100. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1025061.
[4] Jackson, William. “The Constitution of the United States of America.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 185 (1936): 201–11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1019284.