Be a prepared citizen, read the Constitution
Published 6:00 pm Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Today is Constitution Day and an especially good time to either read the United States Constitution for the first time, or brush up on it if you’ve read it before.
It was on this day, Sept. 17, 1787, that the 39 framers of the U.S. Constitution met for the last time to solemnly sign the document by which our federal government, which now includes 50 sovereign states, are still governed. It went into effect in 1789 after the required nine states, of the then-13 making up the Union, ratified it.
There is no better way to observe this day than to learn about the Constitution, how and why it came into being, the original intent of the framers and, as voters, to judge laws and elected officials on how well they adhere to its seven great principles.
Those seven great principles are:
• Popular Sovereignty — the people rule, they have the power through voting.
• Separation of Powers — power split into the three branches of the federal government, Legislative, Executive and Judicial.
• Checks and Balances — each branch of government limits the power of the other branches. The sovereign states can and do also challenge the federal government through the judicial system.
• Limited Government — the concept of controlling how much power the federal government has through the people voting, checks and balances, three branches of government, and the Bill of Rights.
• Republicanism — a type of government in which people elect representatives to listen to what they want and go speak and vote for them in Congress.
• Federalism— the sharing of power between the National and State governments, including enumerate, reserved and concurrent powers.
• Individual Rights — unalienable (God given) rights are protected in the Bill of Rights, amendments 1-10.
The best source for finding out all about the Constitution is your public or school library, or if online, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Constitution Day page, www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day
Learn to be the best citizen you can be, read and study the U.S. Constitution and be a better judge of candidates for public office, and the laws under which you are governed.
