KEY GOALS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE US

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This Article is written by- Garima Harsh, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Intern under Legal Vidhiya

ABSTRACT

In the context of this article, we will discuss in the details about the US Constitution and it’s preamble along with it’s key goals of the Constitution with related cases.

As, we will see, constitution’s preamble lays out its foundation. It expresses the document’s intent and goal in a straightforward manner. it is merely an introduction to the supreme law of the state. Individual rights or governmental authority are not defined. The first of the five goals listed in the 52-word phrase that the Framers penned in six weeks during the sweltering summer of 1787 in Philadelphia is “Establish Justice.” They managed to reach consensus on the following fundamental ideas: We the People of the United States “do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America 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.”

KEYWORDS: Preamble, Perfect Union, Establish Justice, Insure Domestic Transquility, Welfare, Liberty, Common Defence

INTRODUCTION

The oldest surviving written charter of government is the United States Constitution, which was drafted in the year 1787, ratified in 1788, and has been in force since 1789. The first three words of the phrase, “We the People,” make the claim that the purpose of the US government is to serve its citizens. Article [1]I recognize the people’s primacy through their chosen representatives and creates a Congress made up of a Senate[2] and a House of Representatives. Congress’ status as the “First Branch” of the Federal Government is confirmed by the Constitution’s placement of it at the beginning. According to the Constitution, Congress has the power to establish the administrative and judicial branches of government, generate revenue, declare war, and enact any laws required to carry out these duties. Although the President has the authority to veto specific legislative proposals, it should be remembered that vetoes can be overridden by two-thirds majorities between both Houses of Congress. The Constitution also mandates that the Senate consult with and concur on significant executive and judiciary picks as well as ratification of treaties. The information in this article aids readers in understanding the American Constitution and related topics.

Framer of the US Constitution

The founding states, with the exception of Rhode Island, jointly appointed 70 persons to the Convention. Those who declined or couldn’t attend were Richard Henry Lee[3] Patrick Henry[4] Thomas Jefferson[5] John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. The document was only signed by 39 of the 55 delegates who were present at the Constitutional Convention. Jonathan Dayton, 26, and Benjamin Franklin, 81, who was obliged to be transported to sessions in a sedan chair due to his illness, were two of the delegates who ranged in age.

The US Constitution: An Insight

The US Constitution[6] has been in force for almost 200 years because its authors were effective in separating and balancing governmental powers in order to safeguard the interests of majority rule as well as minority rights, liberty, equality, and federal and state governments. The Constitution has evolved to meet the shifting needs of a modern society that is vastly different from the one in which its authors lived in the eighteenth century. It is less of a comprehensive framework for political operation and more of a succinct proclamation of national ideas. Because it prohibits the government from infringing on citizens’ fundamental rights and civic freedoms as protected by federal law, it is referred to as “the Law of the Land”. Up to this point, the Constitution has undergone 27 revisions, the most recent of which was in 1992.[7]

The Articles of Confederation, which established a “solid league of affection” among the States and gave a Confederate Congress the bulk of the power, made the Constitution necessary. The Central Government, on the other hand, was the last arbiter in disputes between states and had very little power beyond waging war and conducting diplomacy. Importantly, it was totally dependent on the States for all of its financial requirements as it was unable to raise any money on its own. Each State sent a delegation to Congress, made up of two to seven representatives, and they cast one vote for each State. However, because every major decision required a unanimous vote, the government was unable to act and became impotent.

The effort to alter the Articles was launched in 1787 when state legislatures received invitations to a conference in Philadelphia to discuss amendments. In May of that year, delegates from 12 of the 13 states (Rhode Island did not send any delegates) gathered in Philadelphia to start the process of restructuring government. The delegates in the Constitutional Convention[8] immediately started drafting a new United States Constitution.

The Constitutional Convention

One of the main goals of the Constitution as drafted by the Convention was to establish a national government with the authority to take action without jeopardizing fundamental rights. In order to prevent any one department of government from becoming overly dominant, one strategy was to divide governmental authority into three sections and then implement mechanisms for oversight on those portions. The interactions the delegates had with the King of England and his powerful Parliament were the main cause of the delegates’ anxiety. The powers of each branch are listed in the Constitution, while any that are not included are reserved for the states. A significant portion of the discussion, which was done in private to give each delegate an opportunity to voice their opinions, was focused on the makeup of the new legislature. For the title of new government, the Virginia Plan,[9] which assigned representation based on each state’s population, and the New Jersey Plan[10] which gave each state an equal vote in Congress, competed. The Virginia Plan was preferred by the larger states, whilst the New Jersey Plan was supported by the smaller states.

The House of Representatives would represent the people according to population allocation, the Senate would represent the States equally distributed, and the President would be chosen by the Electoral College. Ultimately, they came to an agreement on the Great Compromise[11] also known as the Connecticut Compromise. Another component of the plan was an impartial judicial system. The founders put a lot of effort into forging ties amongst the states as well. While Congress has the authority to control how states communicate documents and determine the scope of this phrase, states are required to give “full faith and credit” to the laws, records, contracts, and judicial proceedings of other states. It is illegal for states to impose tariffs on one another or to discriminate against residents of other states in any way. Additionally, extraditing criminal suspects to another nation for trial is required.

The Constitution’s amendment process was also established by the founders, and it has been used 27 times since it was ratified. In order to prevent arbitrary changes, the adjustment process is fairly laborious. A convention may be convened for this purpose if two-thirds of the state’s request it or by a resolution of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress. The next step is for the amendment to be approved by three-fourths of state legislatures or ratification conventions convened in each state. Historically, amendments have specified a deadline for completion, which is typically a number of years. In addition, the Constitution clearly states that without the state’s consent, no amendment may deny it equal Senate representation. The Convention started the process of writing the Constitution after deciding on its content and wording. It was penned by Pennsylvania delegate Gouverneur Morris[12] whose position afforded him significant authority over the punctuation of a few words in the Constitution.

The Guiding Principles of the US Constitution

Examining the theories and factors that affected the American Constitution’s formation in the first place is crucial to understand the meaning and purpose of the document. Rights of individuals, federalism, which law and order, popular sovereignty, judiciary independence, the rule of law, and check and balances are frequently referred to as the “guiding principles” in popular literature or academic textbooks. These concepts are all part of the federal government’s separation of powers.

Preamble of the US Constitution

We the People of the United States “do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America 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.” according to the Preamble of the American Constitution.

In the Preamble, the US Constitution is described. The Preamble is the first section of the Constitution that readers encounter, and learning it by heart is a common practice among schoolchildren across the nation as they study the Constitution’s founding document. In the Preamble, three fundamental ideas are introduced to the reader:

1. The people of the United States are the source of the Constitution’s enacting authority.

2. The Constitution’s main objectives are decreed and established.

3. The creators intended the document known as the Constitution to be a permanent legal document.

James Monroe, a delegate to the Virginia ratifying convention, referred to the Preamble as the key to the Constitution, and Alexander Hamilton argued in The Federalist No. 84 that the Preamble does away with the need for a bill of rights. Despite this, the Preamble, which was inserted into the constitution as an afterthought during the final drafting process, got little attention at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention.

Interpretation of the Preamble by the Supreme Court of the United States

Although the Preamble’s legal significance was widely disputed, the Supreme Court of the US used it in a number of significant court cases throughout the years after the Constitution’s adoption. According to Justice Joseph Story in his Commentaries, the Preamble cannot ever be utilized to increase the authority granted to the federal government or any of its agencies. The Supreme Court supported Justice Story’s reading of the Preamble in Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)[13] holding that while the Preamble outlines the broad goals for which the Constitution was enacted and established, the Court has never regarded it as the source of any substantive powers granted to the Federal Government. In the case of Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)[14] the Supreme Court had argued that permitting states to create their own standards for Congress would disrupt the structure intended by the Constitution’s Framers and therefore not be permitted. The Court emphasized that if states are permitted to choose their own criteria for Congress, the Preamble’s goal of creating a “more perfect Union” would become unbalanced.

The state’s redistricting process was formed by a citizen initiative rather than a legislative act, and the Supreme Court determined in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission in 2015 that it was legally legal[15]. The Court concluded that the basic instrument of government is derived from “We the People.” The Preamble’s language, which states that the US Constitution ordained and formed that charter of government in part to “provide for the common defense,” was used by the Court to maintain a provision that makes some forms of material support to terrorist organizations illegal. Outside of court rulings, the Preamble appears to have had a greater effect in remarks from the leaders of the political arms of government, often factoring in numerous arguments over the nation’s early history. During debates in the First Congress over the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States, congressional leaders such as Massachusetts’ Elbridge Gerry[16] cited the Preamble to emphasise the Constitution’s broad purposes and to justify the creation of a national bank to promote the general welfare. The Preamble was also discussed in early legislative discussions about the new government’s involvement in international affairs.

REFERENCES

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei

https://www.senate.gov/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Henry-Lee

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrick-Henry

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/thomas-jefferson/

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-constitution/

https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/virginia-plan

https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Jersey-Plan

https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/equal-state-representation.htm