Amending the Constitution Part 1

Amending the Constitution Part 1

The U.S. Constitution is a document for all time.

A Document for all time

• The Framers of the Constitution created a document that would stand the test of time.

• Was it a perfect document to create the perfect government - NO.

• Was it much better than anything at that time - YES

• The Constitution's ability to change and adapt has allowed it to have longevity.

A Document for all time

• In letters to his friends, Thomas Jefferson expressed his belief that the Constitution should not be changed on a whim, but it should be able to be changed as society and circumstances changed.

• "The Earth belongs to the living, not the dead" Jeffeson declared.

• "Each generation is as independent as the one preceding . . .It has then , like them, a right to choose for itself the form of government it believes most promotive of its own happiness" -Thomas Jefferson, letter to Samual Kerchevsl, 1816

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A Document for all time

• The original Constitution was a product of its time. It reflects both the wisdom and the biases of the Framers.

• The relatively few changes the document has undergone over more than 230 years demonstrates its enduring wisdom.

A Document for all time

• The Constitution has survived the Civil War, presidential assassinations and economic crises to become the worlds oldest written national constitution

• This is due to the amendment process

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: The Framers of the Constitution, including Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Constitution as a everlasting unchanging document that was not to be altered or changed in order to create a strong central government.

• TRUE

• FALSE

A Document for all time

• Thomas Jefferson recognized that the document that was written in 1787 was not perfect.

• By our standards today, it allowed injustices

A Document for all time

• For example, the Framers created compromises that permitted slavery and the slave trade.

• Without these compromises on slavery in that time, the Constitution would never have been agreed upon.

Multiple Choice

Why would the Framers of the Constitution create a less than perfect document in order to create a "more perfect union" in 1787?

• They were following the rules that they learned from the British and French

• They were using the earlier examples of the Greek city-states

• In order to create a government that was better than the Articles of Confederation, they made compromises

• They created compromises on slavery and voting but corrected them in the Bill of Rights

A Document for all time

• Individual states were given the power to set the qualifications for voting, which meant that women, non-whites, and poor people were denied the right to vote.

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A Document for all time

• These decisions reflected the beliefs and attitudes of many in society at that time.

• Most people today, however, would find both the attitudes and the decisions unacceptable.

A Document for all time

• It would be up to future generations to amend the Constitution to address these problems.

• Many of the amendments, in fact, deal with voting rights and personal liberties directly.

• It is the Constitution's ability to incorporate changing ideas of freedom and liberty that has helped make the document relevant to each new generation since 1789.

Multiple Choice

What has allowed the U.S. Constitution to remain relevant for over 230 years?

• the Bill of Rights

• the ability to amend or change as ideas about government change

• studying the Constitution

• Congress and the Supreme Court

You have completed Amending the Constitution Part 1,

It is time to review the Constitutional Concepts Vocabulary