Alisa Western

Midterm Essay
Topic 1: Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect

Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America. (Preamble of the Constitution) The Constitution of
the United States of America was written mostly by founding father, James
Madison, and was ratified on June 21, 1788. However, it was not put in to
place until March 4, 1789. Shortly after our country gained independence
from Great Britain, a new government system had to be created from
scratch. The first document made was the Articles of Confederation and it
failed, miserably. James Madison started making a rough draft for a better
more concreate document that would go to shape the countrys future. The
Constitution is broken up into seven articles. I will be discussing the
following; Article One- Legislative, Article Two- Executive, and Article Three-
Judicial. Those three headings should also sound very familiar; they are the
different branches that make up our Federal Government. These are very
important as they lay the foundation for who holds what position, when they
get elected, how, and their responsibilities.
Article One, lays out the basis of the Legislative branch. Section one,
talks about this branch shall be in congress, and it further divides into two
subcategories; the Senate and House of Representatives. Section two, the
House of Representative shall have members that are elected and switched
out every two years. They are elected by the people via other government
officials. Other qualifications include being at least 25 years of age, living in
the state you will be representing, and having had been a citizen of the
United States for at least 7 years prior to running. Stated is also that the
number of members in the House of Representatives that each state can
have is dependent on the states population. But once the population
reaches a certain point they can only reach a maximum number of
representatives. As well as the members have the sole power of
Impeachment. Section three, the senate shall only have two representatives
from each state, and each of their votes count as one. The members are in
office for six years, and are divided into three sections. One section will be
rotated out on the second year, the next on the fourth, and the last on the
sixth. That way a group in the senate will always have been experienced
rather than flipping every seat at once. Qualifications include being at least
30 years of age, a citizen for 9 years or more, and living in the state they are
being elected for. The Vice President of the united states is the head of the
senate, and his vote is only taken on a matter when it is equally divided.
They have the sole power to try the power of impeachment that may come
from the House of Representatives. A Bill must go through and be passed by
both the House of Representatives and the Senate, if it is than it will be
issued as a Law. This branch is also in charge in overseeing the affairs with
other nations, immigration, what is done with the money of the country, to
impose taxes, to oversee the navy, and declare war, as well as many more.
Article Two, discusses the Executive branch consisting of the President
and the Vice President. Both shall hold office for four years, and be elected at
the same time. In order to run for President, you must be at least 35 years of
age, and a citizen for 14 years. In the case that the President is impeached
or dies, the Vice President will take his role. In the case that both are not
available for office, then the then congress will meet and designate an officer
to assume position. The President is elected through the electoral college,
which is still used to this day. The purpose of the electoral college is to
properly represent all of the people of the country as a whole. The citizens go
to vote and the members of the electoral college stand to represent the
peoples votes that they oversee. The President is also named the
commander in chief for the army and navy of the US. Working close with
Congress and with their advice he will make treaties and dictate foreign
affairs. However, if the president violates any law, and performs a crime or
treason, he will be impeached and removed from office up to discretion of
congress.
Article Three, all of the judicial power in the US shall be summed up
into this branch. So in other words it is the highest level of court law that one
can go to. All Laws must go through the court to be evaluated and seen as
true to the constitution, and the virtues of which the United States is built on.
They have the power to overthrow any laws, whether it be executive or
legislative. The Judicial court has the power to declare treason, another
important step in impeachment. Calling Treason on someone, or a country,
includes declaring war on the US, or siding with one of the enemies of our
country. Although, nothing can be convicted until two witnesses are willing to
testify in court over the same reason. Any matter of public affairs if needs be
can go up to the federal government and be overseen by the Judicial branch.
Any person chosen to be in the Judicial Branch shall show the highest
amount of professionalism and behavioral tolerance, and as well as the other
two branches shall receive compensation for their services, and which wont
diminish during their time in office. The members making up the Judicial
branch are referred to as the supreme court, the highest court in our country.
Not listed in the Constitution, but just as important to know, is that there are
nine members of the Supreme Court, all of which are nominated by the
President, but congress must pass them before they are confirmed office.
The Constitution is the highest level of law our country has ever seen,
and hopefully ever will. It has been in effect for 228 years tomorrow (March
4th). Our federal government still functions word for word from the
Constitution. The founding fathers made three branches for one very
important reason, and that is checks and balances. One branch cannot go
ahead and make a single Law or declare war, etc. without it being approved
by another branch. It is also very important that our own current political
leaders understand this and make our government function accordingly. For
example, within the last month our current President, Donald Trump, made
an executive order for a travel ban blocking many countries he saw as a
threat to our national security. All of the countries were significantly Muslim
based, and raised a huge amount of concern from the people all over the US.
Many protests and rallies occurred, and it broke families apart that were here
already or who had been granted a VISA and were attempting to enter. The
Judicial branch soon saw this as a major problem; it was rash, unsettled
people nationwide, and had the potential of endangering our country more
by creating enemies. So the Supreme Court overturned the Order, a prime
example of checks and balances. This of course upset President Trump and
he said some unprofessional comments about the Judicial Branch, which is
why I also brought up the important of our elected officials understand the
laws and orders of our own country. That is why we need our Constitution
and the bases for which it was made.