The U.S. Constitution: Explained-Clause by Clause-For Every American Today is a book describing the U.S. Constitution published in 2016 that was written by Ray Raphael. Concise and informative, The U.S. Constitution is a great book to read for those interested in American law and history.
Raphael begins the book by making it clear that at the end of the day, the Constitution, not the president, reigns supreme over American society: “Article VI declares succinctly: ‘This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, … shall be the supreme Law of the Land.’” (3). Raphael acknowledges that those who wrote the U.S. Constitution did so in a very different world, thereby making it somewhat necessary to rethink some of the laws, especially considering that there’s a law that states that pirates must be punished when caught. “To grasp the context in which our Constitution was drafted, imagine that it is the spring of 1787. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress depends on the states for funds, but from October 1786 through March 1787, the states have paid a grand total of $663 into the federal treasury. To use a modern idiom, the federal government has shrunk to the size where it can drown in a bathtub. Penniless, Congress cannot even muster a quorum. The state of Massachusetts has asked Congress to suppress a rebellion (‘domestic violence’) of indebted farmers who are closing the courts, but there is no federal army to speak of, only a few hundred soldiers stationed in western forts. Debtors are closing courts in South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey as well. In Pennsylvania, farmers are preventing tax collectors from seizing their cattle. The Rhode Island legislature, under the sway of debtors, has just issued paper money. New York, North Carolina, and Georgia are now debating whether to follow Rhode Island’s lead. All of this is destroying public credit. With the value of money plummeting, neither Congress nor the states can find willing lenders.” (4-5). To deal with the issue, the Articles of Confederation - the first set of laws in the US that was created mainly to prevent tyranny that unfortunately rendered those in power without the means to do what needs to be done - was overturned entirely to create the Constitution (initially, it was planned to be revised, but it didn't take long for those tasked with changing it to believe that a complete overhaul was necessary). Overall, the Constitution was created to give those in power the jurisdiction needed to maintain order and to collect taxes; to prevent them from becoming despots, checks and balances were put into place, encapsulated very well in the existence of the three branches of government: the judicial, legislative, and executive. “‘Separation of powers’ and ‘checks and balances’ are often said to limit federal power, but in fact, they serve the opposite purpose. By distributing authority to different components within the federal government, the framers gave that government greater powers than it dared grant to a single body.” (7). When it comes to the U.S. Constitution, Article I deals with the legislative branch, Article II the executive branch, Article III the judicial branch, Article IV the relationship between states and the federal government, Article V the correct methods to revise the Constitution if necessary (Raphael states that one of the biggest problems with the Articles of Confederation was how inflexible it was), Article VI the divisions of power, and Article VII the method of ratification. When it comes to ratification, those who had created the Constitution knew that the public was very hesitant when it comes to giving a large amount of power to the government due to the fact that the American Revolution had recently ended, so they called a preamble first to explain themselves and their motives. The preamble included the information that the drafters of the Constitution want an effective and fair government that can ensure cooperation. Words in the preamble like “general welfare” have sometimes been misinterpreted due to cognitive biases: overall, “general welfare” was used to denote the “‘common good’ or ‘public good,’ terms … used frequently at the Constitutional Convention. Liberty, meanwhile, was public as well as private-to understand public liberty, think of the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence.” (11).
Article I of the U.S. Constitution begins with Section 1, which states that “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” (12). The structure of the U.S. government was based on those of other nations: for instance, the British Parliament had the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Moreover, there is also “the Assembly and Council in colonial governments; and the Assembly and Senate in state governments.” (12). The lower house/first branch is considered democratic due to it representing the people. However, the drafters of the Constitution believed that the common people can make foolish decisions, hence why they created the upper house/Senate to prevent excesses from taking place. James Madison himself said that the Senate was supposed to protect the common people from their own foolishness and fits of emotion, seeing how the people can be misled into doing extreme actions. Section 2 mandates that (1) “The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature,” (2) “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen,” (3) “the actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative,” (4) “When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies,” and (5) “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.” (13-5). Raphael acknowledges that the House of Representatives, despite claiming to represent the people, catered initially only to free white males with property, not-mentioning the fact that slavery was still thriving in America at the time. As stated before, members of the House of Representatives are chosen every second year, a notable increase of the previous law that stated that congressmen would serve only one-year terms. As stated in the third law, the number of representatives for each state is proportional to the number of people they have - the total number of individuals in each state is determined by a census (known also as the “enumeration”) which takes place once every ten years. It was mentioned by Raphael that the South counted slaves as being three-fifths of a person (to boost their voting power), as they wanted more representatives in Congress. When it comes to representatives today, the previous proportion is now gone, seeing how in 1929 Congress stated that there would be a maximum of 435 representatives. “As of May 2017, the resident population of the United States is approximately 326,000,000. Do the math: each representative now has some 749,885 constituents, hardly what Washington and the framers anticipated. On the other hand, if we stayed close to the ideal of one representative for every thirty thousand people, as Washington preferred, the House would have 10,873 members, not a workable body.” (18-9). The fact that the House of Representatives could issue an impeachment is supposed to help the people, seeing the implications of a president being charged with it. Section 3 of the Constitution states that (1) there will be two senators from each state who will each serve for six years (each senator will have one corresponding vote), (2) the senators should be divided into three classes to facilitate the ease of reelection (every two years one-third of the senators will be replaced with new ones), (3) senators must be at least thirty years old and had been a citizen for nine years, (4) that the Vice President of the United States will be the leader of the Senate (also including the fact that the Senate, in absence of a Vice President, can choose a representative), (5) the Senate will preside over impeachments (an impeachment requires at least two-thirds of the total votes in order to expel the president), and (6) the punishment for impeachment can only include removal from public office and the barring of running for government positions in the future (when the president is put on trial, the vice president will be barred from participating to prevent them from acting on their ambition, and the Chief Justice will preside over the case). Raphael details that two senators were chosen from each state to make up for the proportional representation in the House: the Senate will see equal representation from each state, appeasing the small ones (known as the Great Compromise). For much of American history, senators were chosen by other government officials: only in 1913 did citizens vote for them directly.
Section 4 of Article I states that senators and representatives shall be voted for in prescribed areas: Congress can change the areas where people vote for representatives. Section 4 also states that Congress should convene at least once annually. Section 5 mandates that each house will have control over its own members and will discipline them (ex. if they don’t show up enough) by their own jurisdiction, each house has the power to fire a member by a vote of at least two-thirds, each house will maintain a document that lists the proceedings, and neither house can adjourn a meeting for more than three days during a session of the Congress without the approval of the other for the sake of efficiency. Section 6 states that Senators and Representatives should be paid for their services: their pay will come from the Treasury. They are immune to arrest during sessions unless they are suspected of treason or felony. Senators and Representatives can’t hold another government position while they’re in their current position to prevent an oligarchy from taking over. In Section 7, it is included that the House of Representatives will be the ones responsible for creating bills and plans to make money while the Senate can offer suggestions. Furthermore, before a bill is to be passed as a law, it needs to be shown to the president, who then has to give it his approval by signing it: if he refuses by vetoing it, the law can still be passed if at least two-thirds of Congress approves the bill. Section 8 maintains that the Congress has financial power: it can “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States” (35). It is further described that Congress can (1) borrow money under the name of the United States, (2) regulate commerce with other nations (as well as the states and Indian tribes), (3) establish a uniform rule of naturalization and laws of bankruptcies throughout the entire United States to ensure consensus and unity, (4) print money, (5) punish those who committed pecuniary crimes, (6) establish post offices and roads, (7) promote science and crafts that are considered useful (by giving those that participate in them credit), (8) appoint tribunals who are below the Supreme Court, (9) punish piracy and other naval crimes, (10) declare war, (11) issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal (basically documents that made certain acts of piracy legal, ex. in conflicts with foreign nations), (12) set out terms of conduct for enemy POWs, (13) maintain armies and navies and pay for their costs, (14) summon the army to put down domestic rebellions and foreign invasions (the latter basically never happened, fortunately), (15) maintain the discipline of the armed forces, (16) build infrastructure and essential buildings (ex. forts and arsenals), and (17) pass laws that are needed for the executive branch to ensure order. Raphael notes that Alexander Hamilton, an important American official, actually wanted for the US to have national debt: the lenders would therefore be interested in observing and keeping America aloft so that they can get their money back eventually. He states that only Congress has the ability to declare war: the last time they did this was in 1941. Consequently, the wars in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq were all undeclared ones - in the current conflict in Afghanistan, the whole process of declaring war can be problematic, seeing that terrorist groups don’t count as a country. Raphael states that one of the biggest (if not the largest) problems with the Articles of Confederation is that it gave the government little authority to borrow money and to collect taxes from citizens: this caused the government and the army to be severely under-funded, which put America in danger of becoming a colony again, hence why the U.S. Constitution replaced it. Raphael provides a definition for the Letters of Marque and Reprisal: “These permit armed private vessels (‘privateers’) to prey on enemy merchant ships with the government sharing the spoils. This was legalized piracy, recognized at the time by international law. The Revolutionary War was financed in large measure by the government’s take from privateering. If the militia was the people’s army, privateers functioned as the people’s navy. In 1856, when European powers banned privateering, the United States refused to sign on.” (45). The “elastic clause” was the one which stated that Congress can pass the necessary laws to maintain a stable government: this was put to the test in 1791 when Alexander Hamilton suggested for a national bank to be created for the sake of efficiency and national defense (collecting taxes in a war can take too long). While Washington was deeply conflicted on whether or not the law should be passed, seeing how James Madison said that the bank was unconstitutional since it surpassed state boundaries, he ultimately approved its creation, seeing that a strong central government was needed for the sake of the country and the people. Raphael describes: “Today, we still quarrel over ‘strict’ versus ‘broad’ constructions of the Constitution, much as Americans did in the 1790s. We do so because the Constitution signals mixed messages, and that is neither an accident nor a mistake. The framers refused to declare unfalteringly for ‘strict’ or ‘broad’ because either choice, unmodified, would have been untenable. Without enumerating powers, the Constitution would permit the indefinite expansion of federal authority, yet without the flexibility inherent in implied powers, Congress could allocate no funds to provide for even minimal airport security, monitor weather to warn people of hurricanes, finance research for curing cancer, or allocate funds once every four years for inauguration ceremonies.” (51).
Section 9 includes the following: (1) slaves that are sent into the US would have an importation fee placed on them (so much for “all men are created equal”), (2) the Writ of Habeas Corpus will continue to be enjoyed by the public unless there’s a national emergency (ex. rebellion or invasion), (3) laws that punish people without trial are to be banned (Bill of Attainders and ex post facto laws), (4) no capitation/direct tax shall be placed onto the populace, (5) no export taxes for states, (6) ports will not be discriminated against due to their geographical location (also includes the fact that vessels from one state will not be forced to enter that of another), (7) money can only be withdrawn from the Treasury for valid reasons, and (8) titles of nobility, symbolic of the aristocracy, will not be given to any member of the United States. When it comes to the last term, the Constitution itself states: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” (53). Raphael writes the following of the first term that sanctioned slavery: “The political alignment that resulted in this provision was complex. Delegates from the Deep South (Georgia and South Carolina) feared that Congress would ban the importation of enslaved people from Africa, while delegates from the Upper South (Virginia and Maryland) favored a ban on slave importation. Why? Tobacco planters in the Upper South had a surfeit of slaves, some of whom they sold to western settlers. The Lower South’s rice and indigo plantations required more slave labor than did tobacco plantations, so planters there replenished a workforce that perished from the sickly conditions in rice swamps. New England delegates, whose constituencies included a few slave-trading merchants, struck a deal with those of the Lower South: New England delegates would oppose a ban on slave importation, while Lower South delegates would not push for a supermajority threshold on commerce legislation. The result: twenty more years of constitutionally sanctioned slave importation. Only then could the nation begin to wean itself of a practice that most framers believed was a national disgrace.” (54-5). The Bill of Attainder is defined as “A legislative act that punishes a specific individual or group without trial” while an ex post facto law refers to “After-the-fact legislation that criminalizes past actions” (55). When it comes to direct taxes, income taxes are currently viewed as constitutional, as the amount of money that needs to be paid is directly dependent on the amount of money a person makes - on the other hand, direct taxes are taxes that cannot be avoided. Of course, the mandate that officials and citizens do not have aristocratic titles can be read as a direct assertion of America’s republic: however, it also serves to ward off unwanted foreign influence, as foreign autocratic rulers can perhaps give titles to American officials fancy titles to bribe them if this clause wasn’t included. This clearly demonstrates that this statement implies that public officials should remain loyal to their country and will not be unduly influenced by other nations: Raphael points out that the elections of presidents like Donald Trump have repeatedly challenged this statement, seeing how they care much more about business and profit than integrity and fairness. Section 10 restricts the behavior of states, making it clear that they can’t enter into alliances, put duties and taxes on imports and exports (unless in extreme circumstances), and have their own military.
Article II begins with the declaration that the president and vice president of the United States will hold executive power and will serve for four years. Furthermore, “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.” (62). Congress will set up the plans for choosing an elector, and the president of the United States has to be a natural-born citizen, at least thirty-five years old, and a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years. The president, like senators and members of the House of Representatives, will be paid. Before the president is inaugurated, he must say the following: “‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’” (65). The reason the president serves four years is to make America avoid looking like a monarchy: it was seriously proposed for the president to remain in office so long as he does a good job, but that idea was scrapped. There was also no limit on the number of terms a president can serve, but George Washington set a precedent of 2: in 1951, the Twenty-second Amendment put a limit at that number. The number of electors for each state is equal to the number of people the state has in Congress (the House and the Senate). Electors can’t hold other government positions, and they must each vote for two people, but at least one of them must come from another state. “The person receiving the most votes is president and the runner-up vice president. If nobody receives a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the president from among the top five candidates. The runner-up in the House runoff is vice president. Voting in the House is by state delegations.” (67). As can be noted, this is not the process used to elect the president nowadays: when America was first founded, the people who wanted the common public to vote for the president composed a small but distinct minority, seeing that most of the Founding Fathers thought the people couldn’t be held responsible for making such a massive decision: “‘It would be as unnatural to refer the choice of a proper character for chief Magistrate to the people,’ George Mason declared, ‘as it would, to refer a trial of colours to a blind man.’” (68). The reasoning behind the choice of appointing Electors is the assumption that they are wise and impartial, and will choose the best leader for the United States: when political parties (against the advice of Washington) came into existence in the 1790s, electors were distinctly on one side or the other, making it quite clear that they’re no longer objective in their judgments and support for candidates. However, electors are still very important today, as some presidential candidates have lost their bid to become the president even though they carried the popular vote due to not winning the electoral college. Such individuals include “Andrew Jackson in 1824, Samuel Tilden in 1876, Grover Cleveland in 1888, Al Gore in 2000, and Hillary Clinton in 2016.” (69). The criteria for a “natural born citizen” can be interpreted in two ways: jus soli (“right of the soil”/born in the country) and jus sanguinis (“right of blood”/born to parents from the nation) (70). Ultimately, it was ruled in 1790 that a person born to American parents overseas is still a natural-born citizen, thereby allowing them to potentially run for the presidency. Another worthwhile note to study for the role of president is that their wage will remain the same over the course of their stay in office: this will prevent Congress and other political entities from bribing them. Section 2 maintains that the president of the United States will also be Commander in Chief of the army and Navy, as well as the militia of some states. The president also has power to grant pardons and reprieves to certain individuals, unless he is being impeached. Presidents can make treaties if two-thirds of the Senators agree with him, and can nominate and appoint ambassadors and other public officers: the president “shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.” (72-3). Directly tied to this is that the president can appoint people when a position is empty and in need of a replacement. Section 3 states that the president will occasionally be debriefed by the Congress and asked for what he is doing. Section 4 maintains that any public officer who commits treason, bribery, and “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” will be impeached (80).
Article III’s Section 1 describes that the Supreme Court is the most senior one, giving it the most authority, as well as stating that judges as a whole are allowed to remain in their offices while they’re doing a good job. Like many other officials, judges are given a consistent salary that should stay constant while they’re in office. Section II states that the law applies to everyone. It also describes that the Supreme Court will decide cases that include ambassadors and public ministers, and that all crimes save that of impeachment will be conducted by jury. The trials should take place in the state where the crimes were committed: if the crime didn't occur in any specific state, Congress will decide on an appropriate area. Section III describes that treason not only involves directly betraying the United States, but also consists of helping its enemies while knowing their motivations. Furthermore, no person will be convicted of treason unless two other witnesses testify against them. Congress has the authority to decide the punishment of treason, but cannot seize the property of traitors, seeing that it’ll deprive the family of the condemned of their financial wealth - “no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.” (85). Something to be mentioned when it comes to treason is the mention of “overt acts” - it has been firmly ruled that speaking negatively of the government isn’t treason, seeing one has a right to one’s own opinions, not-mentioning the freedom of speech. When it comes to how to judge whether a law is constitutional or not, the answer is that the Supreme Court (initially concerning due to the fact that unelected judges could decide whether something is unconstitutional or not for the entire populace of America) will decide questions relating to that: “In Hylton v. United States (1796), it ruled that a law was constitutional, but by so doing, it implied that it might have ruled the other way. Then in Marbury v. Madison (1803), it declared a law to be unconstitutional. No other law was ruled unconstitutional until 1857, when the infamous Dred Scott decision dictated that escaped slaves must be returned to their masters. Since then, however, Americans have come to accept, often begrudgingly, that the high court has the last word. In Bush v. Gore (2000), it effectively determined the outcome of a contested presidential election-and the losers saw no choice but to abide.” (88). Article IV contains the declaration that when something is recognized (ex. marriage) in a single state, it should continue to be subjected to the same opinion in every other state, “And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records, and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.” (89). When it comes to the issue of same-sex marriage, Raphael tellingly describes, “Before Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which ruled that same-sex marriage is legal throughout the nation, advocates of same-sex marriage pointed to the first sentence: a same-sex marriage in one state should be given Full faith and Credit in every other State. But in 1996, Congress used the second sentence to support its Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The framers never imagined this legal tangle.” (89-90). Section 2 states that each state must provide their citizens with the same rights (“privileges and immunities”) and that a person charged of a crime in any state who escapes to another, when found, shall be sent back to the state where the crime supposedly occurred (unfortunately, this also refers to slaves, seeing that their fleeing was viewed as theft, as they were supposedly the property of their owners - this clause is known as the “fugitive slave clause”). Section 3 describes that states can be admitted into the Union by Congress. It also says that no new state will be formed in the geography of another state, seeing that that technically counts as encroachment of territory. Moreover, Congress also has the power to decide the fates of respective territories and properties (encapsulated excellently in the Northwest Ordinance). Section 4 makes it clear that the United States is a republic and will adhere to that form of rule, as well as cooperating with itself to defend against potential problems, including internal rebellion, hence why it was made clear that the federal government could interfere in affairs that are at a state level.
Article V of the Constitution consists of the following: “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress” (96). State conventions, as noted by Raphael, are very rare considering that a clear majority is needed to call one. He also mentions, albeit briefly, the role of money in politics: corporations, due to their ferocious lobbying, had their companies valued as people: “Citizens United v. FEC (2010) … threw out limits on campaign finance, and even further … [gave] corporations the rights of people, which, by a hotly contested interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment … corporations currently enjoy. This movement, because it proposes to limit the influence of money in politics, will face a greater obstacle yet: stiff resistance from moneyed interests that currently do influence politics.” (98-9). Article VI states that debts contracted by the United States are valid, that laws need to be universally respected and adhered to in the US (especially the Constitution, which is declared as the “supreme law of the land”), and that public officials are needed to swear an oath to preserve the Constitution. A major part of Article VI is that it is explicitly stated that religion doesn’t influence whether or not someone will get a position they desire, clearly demonstrating that the US was meant to be secular (it is to a large degree, but many don’t want it to be so - a large misconception people have regarding the Founding Fathers is that they viewed them as Christians; on the contrary, they were deists, people who believed in a divine entity but spurned those created by deeply flawed and ignorant human beings). Article VII states that the ratification of the Constitution will be done by state conventions (nine out of the then thirteen states needed to give their approval) due to the fact that state legislatures would lose some power because of the Constitution. At the end of the Constitution is the acknowledgment of the date: it was September 17, 1787 AD. The list of signatures is then produced: it includes such names as George Washington, James Madison, Charles Pinckney, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin. Most of those who had worked on the Constitution (even those who initially merely wanted to revise the Articles of Confederation) gave their signatures: “Only three who were present at the conclusion of the Convention refused to sign: George Mason and Edmund Randolph of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. (Four delegates who wanted to improve the Articles of Confederation rather than create a strong central government-Maryland’s Luther Martin and John Francis Mercer and New York’s Robert Yates and John Lansing, Jr.-had left earlier.) Those who did not sign thought that popular discontent with the proposed plan would produce ‘anarchy’ and ‘civil convulsions.’ Those who signed the Constitution believed that it would prevent anarchy and civil convulsions.” (106).
The Bill of Rights was passed after some degree of struggle: Federalists were those who supported the Constitution, and wanted to give the necessary power to the government while maintaining liberty. The first ten amendments were given to the public simultaneously - that is, they were ratified in 1791. The First Amendment universally grants the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petitioning: Raphael mentions that like many other aspects of American society, the extent of these freedoms is frequently debated. For instance, when it came to representation, after much discussion it was decided that the common public should not instruct their representatives directly: “The United States would be a republic, not a democracy.” (116). However, Raphael mentions that a democratic trend may arise, seeing how some of the later amendments increased the number of people who can vote. The Second Amendment states that people have the right to “keep and bear Arms” and that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,” should be maintained (117). Of course, the right to bear arms is a major topic of contention between those who want guns to be restricted and gun advocates: gun advocates frequently mention that it was stated in the document that the only time weapons can be taken away from people is if they have participated in a rebellion or are likely to do so. Raphael notes that this debate exists due to changing times, as the first Americans thought that both gun rights and gun safety could coexist, as guns didn't have the killing potential they possess today - “The danger to public safety at that time came from gunpowder, which could explode and cause fires if not stored properly. Cities and towns placed limits on how much could be kept in private houses, and those limits were taken seriously. When the First Federal Congress composed the Second Amendment, and when states ratified it, nobody imagined that a single individual could possess an automatic weapon capable of killing dozens of people in a matter of seconds … this is a legitimate issue for our time but one that the Constitution does not resolve.” (120). The Third Amendment states that quartering (soldiers staying in people’s houses) is illegal in peacetime unless the owner of the house gives them explicit permission. The Fourth Amendment mandates that search warrants are needed for people to search the property of others, as people have a fundamental right to privacy (this was largely a response to “writs of assistance” - in the past officials could check a ship whenever they want to to see if goods were being smuggled across the ocean). The Fifth Amendment describes that people have a right to a fair trial, and that their property can’t be seized when they’re incarcerated: no person will be “subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” (123). This sentence, as noted, states that the concept of double jeopardy should never occur: if it was legal to have multiple trials for the same offense, the plaintiff can potentially build an unnaturally long and detailed case that can maximize the suspiciousness of some evidence. It can also be mentioned that this amendment outlaws torture, seeing that it states that people cannot be forced to give evidence: indeed, Europe in the Dark and Medieval Ages invented and practiced many heinous techniques to get people to confess to crimes they didn't commit (ex. sorcery, which probably doesn’t even work). The Sixth Amendment states that those who are accused of crimes have the right to a quick and public trial by an objective and fair jury. The accused should also be notified of what they are being put on trial for so that they can prepare their case. Raphael acknowledges that if the crime a person is suspected of doing is sufficiently outrageous, they may need to be sent somewhere else to be tried, seeing that the judges in the current area are likely to be biased. The Seventh Amendment says once more that doing the same trial repeatedly is unjust. The Eighth Amendment states that punishments must match the crime; also, “cruel and unusual punishment”/torture is not allowed (130). The Ninth Amendment states that the privileges granted to the people are not to be used to oppress others by restricting their freedoms. The Tenth Amendment mandates that the abilities and powers not given to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by the states are for either the states or the people to have.
The later amendments are those that came after the first ten. The Eleventh Amendment (ratified in 1795) states that the United States will not be taken advantage of by other countries: “The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.” (137). The Twelfth Amendment (ratified in 1804) provides more details for electing the president and the vice-president: electors have to specify what ballots they’re using (beforehand the two votes of the elector were vague in nature: they wouldn’t distinguish whether they were voting for the president or the vice president). Overall, “The framers had assumed that electors would be chosen for their greater wisdom and exercise discretion, but once two parties emerged, each naturally put forth a set of electors pledged to vote a certain way. That is how it’s done to this day. In a pamphlet penned during the ratification debates, the ardent Federalist Noah Webster had boasted, ‘The president of the United States is elective, and what is a capital improvement on the best governments, the mode of choosing him excludes the danger of faction and corruption.’ But in 1800, next to these words in a personal copy of his own pamphlet, he jotted down, ‘This proves how little dependence can be placed on theory. Twelve years experience, or four elections, demonstrates the contrary.’” (143). The Thirteenth Amendment (ratified in 1865) states that slavery and involuntary servitude can be used to punish certain offenses and Congress has the power to make sure this guideline is adhered to (this amendment was the one which basically abolished slavery, seeing that almost all slaves were held in bondage against their will due to their master’s greed, not for crimes they committed). “It took the Civil War to get there, but the United States at last prohibited what Gouverneur Morris, at the Constitutional Convention, called America’s ‘nefarious institution’ and ‘the curse of heaven.’ Two years earlier, President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had freed only those slaves held in areas that were ‘in rebellion against the United States’-by definition, places where Lincoln’s executive order would not be recognized. The proclamation was transformative because of what it signaled, but it purposely did not end slavery in states within the Union-Lincoln had not seceded but still permitted slavery. At the close of the war, however, the Thirteen Amendment dealt the death knell to legalized slavery throughout the United States.” (144). The Fourteen Amendment (ratified in 1868) states that those who are born and naturalized in the United States are entitled to full rights, and that no authority can unfairly treat them by depriving them of their life, liberty, and property without a fair trial. The Fourteenth Amendment also set into stone the fact that representatives for the House are proportional to the population of the state, as well as making it clear that those who commit treason are not allowed to hold public office. It includes the statement that the United States will pay its debts to other nations, though it wouldn’t do so if said nations organized rebellions against the United States (the United States also wouldn’t compensate slaveowners for the emancipation of their slaves, as it became relatively self-evident that owning people was wrong, seeing the abuse and emotional turmoil involved). Congress is tasked with upholding these concepts. The Fifteenth Amendment (ratified in 1870) said that the citizens of America are not to be discriminated against due to their race, skin color, or previous history of being enslaved. It also maintained that Congress would enforce the previous sentiment if necessary. It can be mentioned that the Fifteen Amendment failed in some regards: it took decades more (the mid-twentieth century) for black people to be able to attend the same schools as whites and other races, not-mentioning that restrictions were placed on them to prevent them from voting (ex. poll taxes, “grandfather clauses” - if your grandfather was free, you could vote, if he wasn’t, you can’t, and literacy tests). Even today, blacks are much likelier to struggle financially, clearly illustrating the terrible effect the past (in this case slavery and segregation) can have on those living in the present. The Sixteen Amendment (ratified in 1913) states that Congress can put income taxes on the people and collect the resulting monetary flow. The Seventeenth Amendment (ratified in 1913) simply states that senators are to serve a six-year term and that each state will have two regardless of their population size. The Eighteenth Amendment (ratified in 1919) introduced Prohibition and outlawed alcohol, but was repealed due to how many people enjoyed their booze (which could’ve been entirely expected, seeing the sheer prevalence of alcoholic beverages). The Nineteenth Amendment (ratified in 1920) was what gave blacks and women the conclusive right to vote: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” (158). The Twentieth Amendment (ratified in 1933) gives the times for the president and vice president’s terms: “The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.” (160). It also states that Congress needs to meet at least once a year, and that said meeting shall begin at noon on January 3rd unless the plan changes. The Twentieth Amendment adds to the discussion that if a president is to die while in office, the vice president will become the new president. Furthermore, if there is an issue regarding succession, Congress can make the ultimate decision.
The Twenty-first Amendment (ratified in 1933) is the one which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, though it stated that interstate commerce of alcohol is currently prohibited. When alcohol became legal once more, many states introduced minimum drinking ages while others remained “dry” for a while in light of the possibility that the Twenty-first Amendment may be repealed by another. The Twenty-second Amendment (ratified in 1951) issues that two terms is the limit for a president: the only time in American history a president had more than two terms was Franklin D. Roosevelt, considering that he had to grapple with both the Great Depression and WWII, both of which threatened the stability of many nations. The Twenty-third Amendment (ratified in 1961) states that the number of electors for the president and vice president should be equal to the total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress. The Twenty-fourth Amendment (ratified in 1964) prohibits the poll tax for those desiring to vote: it’s another amendment made solely to help colored people vote. “In the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Congress clamped down on literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and other techniques that skirted the Fifteenth Amendment. It also established a means for determining which districts were practicing discriminatory actions, and it required those offenders to seek preapproval from the Attorney General before instituting any new franchise regulations. For half a century, this enabled the federal government to prevent backsliding by recalcitrant states, but in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the Supreme Court struck down the formula for determining discrimination, effectively ending the need for preapproval.” (170). The Twenty-fifth Amendment (ratified in 1967) repeats that that vice president is next in line for the presidency if the president dies. Also, if the president is temporarily incapacitated (ex. surgery or illness), the vice president can take charge pro tempore, and is expected to step down when the president is fit to serve in their position once more. The Twenty-sixth Amendment (ratified in 1971) states that citizens that are eighteen years or older have the right to vote. This amendment was passed during the Vietnam War, seeing how hundreds of thousands of young men were fighting for America, many of them conscripted against their will: it was hard to justify withholding people’s rights to vote while forcing them to put their lives on the line. The Twenty-seventh Amendment (ratified in 1992) attempts to prevent bribery by clarifying that “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.” (177). Raphael ends his book with the following sentences: “nobody ever said drafting a constitution would be easy, and interpreting the United States Constitution can be yet more difficult. Debates are inevitable, and user discretion is always advised. But as we ponder this section or that, we should never lose sight of the Constitution’s overarching purpose: to establish a workable government that meets the people’s needs. Attempts to subvert the very idea of government in the name of the Constitution are, in spirit, unconstitutional.” (179).
Personal thoughts:
The U.S. Constitution: Explained-Clause by Clause-For Every American Today is a book that is both informative and descriptive due to the detail provided, which is evident in the anecdotes issued. Raphael clearly demonstrates his expertise by using contextualization to show the background of each amendment and section of the Constitution, which is much appreciated. While this book is not terribly exciting, its lack of excitement doesn’t make it any less important, seeing how the Constitution directly ties to the concept of having rights and freedoms. I highly recommend The U.S. Constitution: Explained-Clause by Clause-For Every American Today to anyone interested in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, laws in general, changes and continuities over time, politics, and the implications of context.
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