Constitution of the United States

Constitution of the United States

Through

the

course

A

GUIDE

TO

ENGLISH-SPEAKING

COUNTRIES,

we

have learnt a lot about the United States, here, I want to talk about the

Constitution of the country.

The

Constitution

of

the

United

States,

which

was

drawn

up

in

1787

and came into effect in 1789, is the basic law of the land. For over two

centuries, it has guided the development of government institutions and

has supplied the basis for the nation

’

s political stability, economic growth

and social progress.

From September 5, 1774 to March 1, 1781, the Continental Congress

functioned

as

the

provisional

government

of

the

United

States.

Delegates to the First and then the Second

Continental Congress were

chosen

by

different

methods,

but

largely

through

the

action

of

committees of correspondence in various colonies rather than through

the

colonial

or

later

state

legislatures.

In

no

formal

sense

was

it

a

gathering

representative

of

existing

colonial

governments;

it

represented

the

people,

the

dissatisfied

elements

of

the

people,

such

persons

as

were

sufficiently

interested

to

act,

despite

the

strenuous

opposition

of

the

loyalists

and

the

obstruction

or

disfavor

of

colonial

governors.

The

process

of

selecting

the

delegates

for

the

First

and

Second

Continental

Congresses

underscores

the

revolutionary

role

of

the

people

of

the

colonies

in

establishing

a

central

governing

body.

Endowed

by

the

people

collectively,

the

Continental

Congress

alone

possessed those attributes of external sovereignty which entitled it to be

called

a

state

in

the

international

sense,

while

the

separate

states,

exercising a limited or internal sovereignty, may rightly be considered a

creation of the Continental Congress, which preceded them and brought

them into being.

The Constitution begins with the

“

Preamble

”

stating its purpose:

”

We

the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,

establish

Justice,

insure

domestic

Tranquility,

provide

for

the

common

defense,

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.

”

There

are

two

obvious

characteristics

in

the

Constitution.

One

is

“

checks and balances

”

. This goes back to the tradition that everybody in

the

United

States

was

afraid

that

one

person

or

group,

including

the

majority, might become too powerful or seize control of the country and

create

a

tyranny.

To

guard

against

this

possibility,

the

delegates

who

drafted

the

Constitution

set

up

a

government

consisting

of

three

branches:

the

legislature,

the

executive

and

the

judiciary.

Each

branch

has powers that the others do not have and each branch has a way of

counteracting

and

limiting

any

wrongful

action

by

other

branches.

Another

characteristic

is

that

the

Constitution

specifies

the

respective

powers

of

the

federal

government

and

of

the

state

government.

The

states are all allowed to run their own government as they wish.

The

United

States

Constitution

takes

precedence

over

all

state

constitutions

and

laws,

and

over

laws

made

by

the

US

Congress.

The

founders of the country left behind a Constitution, which is the first of its

kind

in

the

world

and

has

inspired

dozens

of

other

countries

seeking

political reform. It

has had influence worldwide on later constitutions,

as

newly

independent

nations,

like

the

United

States,

emerged

from

colonial rule. This influence is reflected in the ideals of limiting the rulers

of

a

state

apart

and

above

sitting

law-givers

in

a

parliament.

The

concepts

of

governance

influencing

others

internationally

are

not

only

found among similarities in phrasing and entire passages from the U.S.

Constitution. They are in the principles of the rule of law and recognition

of

individual

rights.

The

American

experience

of

fundamental

law

with

amendments and judicial review has motivated foreign constitutionalists

to

reconsider

possibilities

for

their

own

future.

This

view

informed

Abraham

Lincoln

during

the

American

Civil

War,

his

contemporary

and

ally Benito Juarez of Mexico, and the second generation of 19th century

constitutional nationalists, José Rizal of the Philippines, and Sun Yat-sen

of China.

Speaking of China, the differences between Chinese constitution and

US constitution need to be mentioned.