The U.S. Constitution
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Based on my knowledge of the constitution amendments and my general understanding of this course, I have formed an awareness of civil rights, civil liberties, citizenship, personal responsibilities and the operations of American government. I will show my knowledge by explaining my understanding of the U.S Constitution and amendments, civil rights and liberties, citizenship and immigration, and the three branches of government and political parties.
The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The constitution is basic principles in which government in the United States was built. The constitution consists of seven articles and 27 amendments. There are six basic principles to the constitution. Popular sovereignty asserts the source of all government power, the government can only exist with the consent of the people. Limited government is that the government is restricted and each person has their own rights which cant be taken away. The constitution also establishes the powers of the three branches and defines the checks and balances system used for the three branches. There is no constitution like the United States constitution and that makes America such a unique country. From the original constitution there have been 27 changes which are called amendments. The first ten amendments are known as the bill of rights which is granted to every citizen in the U.S. Article V in the constitution has two methods for proposal and ratification of constitutional amendments. The formal process is when an amendment is proposed by congress by a 2/3 vote in both houses then proposed at a national convention called by congress when requested by 2/3 of the state legislatures. The informal process is when the passage of basic legislation by congress, then actions taken by the president, key decisions made by the supreme court, then activities by the political party. Its very hard to get an amendment passed because the constitution doesnt need many changes.