Diving into the Constitution: Amendment XXVII and beyond

We have arrived at the latest Amendment to the Constitution. The irony of this is that Twenty-Seventh Amendment (originally the Second passed by Congress) was sent to the States for ratification at the same time as the First Amendment was sent. When you see what it is, you will understand why it took so long…

Diving into the Constitution: Amendments XXIV through XXVI

I came of age in the 1960s and lived through the events described here with growing understanding and passionate involvement. I remember where I was and what I was doing when JFK was shot and when the lunar landing was televised. I voted for the first time in 1969. My children were born in 1973.…

Diving into the Constitution: Amendments XXII and XXIII

  Welcome to this week's blog post. We are moving into the modern era with World War II and the post-war period. By this era, the Constitution for the United States of America had endured more than 150 years - quite an accomplishment! Nevertheless, our leaders were still making changes to the "Law of the…

Diving into the Constitution: Amendments XX and XXI

Friends, this post is a long one. So much happened between 1920 and 1940 to change our country from a democratically-elected Republic to a socialist, controlled economy that I can only scratch the surface here. If you have been following this series, you will recognize that the changes made under the New Deal were like…

Diving into the Constitution: Amendments XVI through XIX

  More than 40 years elapsed (1870-1913) between the ratifications of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Amendments. Much changed in America. The Industrial Revolution took hold, the cities grew, and the Democrat and Republican parties were established as the main forces on the American political landscape. Behind the scenes, however, were two much more powerful developments,…

Diving into the Constitution: Amendments XIII through XV

More than 60 years passed between the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. The three Amendments discussed in this post were all passed within a 5-year period following the conclusion of the American Civil War. These three Amendments had to do with a variety of issues relating to the…

Diving into the Constitution: Amendments XI and XII

In the last post, I discussed how the Congress passed and submitted to the States in 1789 twelve Amendments to the Constitution for the United States. Ten of these Amendments were ratified effective December 15, 1791 and became known as the Bill of Rights. The next two Amendments came relatively shortly thereafter: the Eleventh Amendment…

Diving into the Constitution: Bill of Rights

The past three posts have covered the text of the Constitution for the United States of America as originally signed. The Constitution lays out a framework for how the various branches of the Federal government work and how the Federal and State governments interact. As with any new organization, various issues came up as the…

Diving into the Constitution: Article II

The Federal government of the United States has three branches as laid out in the Constitution. Last week, we reviewed what the Constitution says about the Legislative branch (Congress, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives). This week, we review the Executive branch (represented by the President and Vice President). AN OVERVIEW In…

Diving into the Constitution: Article I

This week, we’ll start looking at our country’s fundamental document, the Constitution for the United States of America. It starts with a preamble, naming its creators (We the People) and its goals. This first and longest article outlines the powers delegated to the two bodies of the Legislative Branch/Congress, the House of Representatives and the…