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The Constitution originated as an entirely different document. The first attempt at a Constitution for the United States was the Articles of Confederation. This document failed miserably because of the lack of power that it enlisted in the National government. Major weaknesses were shown during Shays Rebellion, when farmers in western Mass formed a rebellion and there was no way for the government to shut them down or punish them. After this incident, men met in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention. They met in a small room, in the middle of the summer, to draft the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson is credited with being the main author on this document, and James Madison is credited with being "the father" of the Constitution. Concerns with this convention and document arose when it came down to planning out congress. Small states, or less populated states wanted Congress to allot the same amount of seats to each state. Big states, or more populated states wanted Congress to allot seats to each state based on population. This caused the Virginia and New Jersey plans to form. However, the Connecticut or Great Compromise is what was put into our Constitution which formed a bicameral legislature. The House has seats allotted based on population and every state has two seats in the Senate. Other problems that arose were when the Anti-Federalists didn't want the federal government to infringe on citizens'rights, but the Federalists knew that the United States needed more order and law throughout our government. In the end the constitution was written and implemented in 1787.

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The President is the "face" of the executive branch. They have the ability to check the Legislative power by vetoing bills, and they can check the Judicial power with their ability to appoint justices. The president is appointed through the people, but really by the electoral college. The electoral college works by a select group of people who formally vote for the president. Each state is given a certain amount of seats, based on their number of representatives. There are a total of 538 seats, which get rotated among each state. A candidate needs 270 of those 538 votes to win. A major check on the president is that they can be impeached if Congress feels they have committed treason, or other high crimes.

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The Legislative Branch is essentially Congress, which is essentially the House and the Senate. The house has 435 members and consists of representatives from all states and from Washinton D.C. Representatives are elected every two years, by citizens from their districts, and must be 25 years old to run. The Senate has 100 members and consists of senators from all 50 states. Senators are elected every 6 years, by citizens from their state, and must be 30 years old to run. The Houses seats are determined based on the state population, but each state has two states in the Senate. Both chambers work to pass legislation.

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The Judicial branch is run by Justices who are appointed to the supreme court. Justices are appointed by presidents, and once they are appointed they hold that position for life. The only way Justices may leave, is if they die, retire or are impeached. Most of the time, Justices have worked in the higher courts of the Federal system before a president nominates them.

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FEDERALISM: The Relationship Between STATES and FEDERAL Government [AP Gov Review, Unit 1 Topic 7]

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The US Constitution, 3/5, and the Slave Trade Clause: Crash Course Black American History #9

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One right from the original Bill of Rights that remains very important today is the right to free speech. It is very common today for people to protect their actions by saying that they have "free speech". While this may be annoying most of the time this is technically true. The protection of free speech protects the freedom of the press and the freedom to protest as well. These are fundamental properties of our democracy and it is very important that they remain protected. An additional Amendment that was added to our constitution is a term limit on the presidents. While George Washington set a two term precedent, it did not become a law until FDR served 3 terms (10 years) in office. This is an important addition because it further protects from the fear of tyranny that our country was built upon.

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Quinn Gavin - Promises and Unfulfilled Promises

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A major challenge face in the Constitution is a lack of enforcement of checks and balances. The idea and concept was genius, especially at the time that the founders were drafting the document. However, as our government and society has developed some of our nations original ideals have been lost in the mix. For example the president is able to gain a tremendous amount of power via executive orders, and manipulate their influence. While in theory congress should be able to put a stop to this. Time and time again Congress has let the executive do whatever they want. This is a flaw in our constitution that is unable to deal with these changes that have occurred over time.

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I think a strength our constitution shows today is its resilience. Over the past 230 years, as a country we have only had to make 27 amendments, 10 of which happened within the first year. I consider this to be a strength because of how different our society is today than what it was in 1787. The founders were genius in how they planned out our government, even if they didn't expect our country to change as much as it did.

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A weakness of the constitution is how it is interpreted. Many of the clauses included in the document are left up to the interpretation of the reader. This has led to many political conflicts due to varying interpretations.

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The Constitution instills hope for the future in many ways. It lays out our rights, creates the system of checks and balances, and is flexible enough to adapt over time. This has allowed this document to grow with us as we have grown as a society, and gives us faith that it will be able to continue growing with us.