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Basics Project
PO Box 583
Downers Grove, IL 60515
info@basicsproject.org
(877) 660-2902
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Constitutional Literacy |
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United States Constitution |
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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; Provided
that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight
hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in
the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its
Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. |
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History |
The “law of the land” clause in Magna Charta, which later came to
be known as “due process of law,” will be found in the Fifth and Fourteenth
amendments of the United States Constitution.
Under the English Constitution, legal sovereignty resides in Parliament.
By contrast, sovereignty in the American constitutional system is in the
Constitution itself, which is declared to be the supreme law of the land. |
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Philosophy |
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Examination |
The Role of States in the Amendment Process
The American constitutional system is based on rule of law, the Constitution
itself being the supreme law. Thus in the United States, no man or
government or branch of the government is above the law. Only the people can
change the Constitution—and then, only by the amendment process. Strictly
speaking, an amendment to the Constitution is part of the Constitution
itself. States have the final say on whether the
Constitution shall be amended. In this respect, they exercise sovereignty
over the nation. This serves as an ultimate check on the powers of the
Federal government. Some amendments, in fact, have nullified decisions of
the Supreme Court. For these reasons Article V of the Constitution is
regarded as the arch of federalism—the provision that strengthens the States
and protects them from being swallowed up by the Federal government. |
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Self Evaluation |
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