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Constitution Notes
1. Constitution Notes
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Constitution
Notes.
Copy the following notes in Cornell style.
You will be writing questions at home tonight.
There are 14 slides of information to take notes on.
2. The Constitution
The Constitution is thesupreme law of the land
3. Preamble
The introduction to the Constitution iscalled the Preamble.
The Preamble begins with the phrase
“We the people…”
This means that the government is based
on the consent of the people.
4. Amendment
A change in the ConstitutionThere have been 27 amendments to the
Constitution.
The first 10 amendments are called the Bill
of Rights.
5. The Branches of Government
There are three branches of government:1. The legislative - which makes the laws
2. The executive - which enforces the laws
or make sure the laws are carried out
3. The judicial - which interprets the laws or
explains the laws and makes sure they are
fair
6. Legislative Branch
The legislative branch is called Congressand is made up of two Houses (parts):
The House of Representatives and the
Senate.
7. The House of Representatives
States with the largest populations havethe most representatives in the House.
House members must be at least 25 years
old or older to serve.
House members are elected to a two year
term.
There are 435 members in the House of
Representatives.
8. The Senate
The Senate is the other part of theCongress
There are two senators for each state,
which means of course there are 100
Senators.
Senators must be at least 30 years old.
Senators are elected to a six year term.
9. The Executive Branch
The executive branch is headed by thepresident.
The president is the commander-in-chief
of the armed forces.
10. The President
The president is elected to a four yearterm.
The president can only serve two terms.
The president must be a citizen by birth
The president must be at least 35 years
old.
11. The Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch of the federalgovernment is headed by the Supreme
Court.
Supreme Court justices are nominated by
the president and approved by the Senate.
There are 9 Supreme Court justices, who
are appointed for life.
12.
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13. Checks and Balances
The framers of the Constitutionestablished a system of checks and
balances to prevent any branch
government from getting too powerful.
Example: Congress has the right to pass
bills into law, but the president can veto
them, which means the bill does not
become a law.
14. More examples
If the president vetoes a law, the Congresscan override his veto by a 2/3 majority.
The Supreme Court can say that any law
is unconstitutional. The law no longer
exists.
15. Federalism
The power of government is also splitbetween the states and the federal
government.
This is called Federalism.
If the Constitution does not have a law, the
states can do what they want.
State law cannot contradict federal law.
16. Dual Sovereignty
Dual Sovereignty means that whatever thefederal government does not make a law
about, the states can act however they
choose.
That is why there is different state laws
regarding the age of drinking alcohol,
driving, the death penalty, and many more.