Chapter 6 of 25
A Rulebook for a Republic
Winning the war was only half the job. The first national government, under the Articles of Confederation, was so weak it could not collect taxes or pay its soldiers. In the summer of 1787, delegates returned to the same Philadelphia building to start over.
They did not start from nothing. Many documents influenced the U.S. ConstitutionQ14, and one of the most important was the Declaration of Independence, whose ideals the new framework was built to protect.
The founding document written in 1787Q82 is the Constitution. Ever since, the Constitution has been the supreme law of the landQ2, and no law passed by Congress, a state or a city can override it. It is one of the oldest written national constitutions still in use anywhere in the world.
When the convention ended, a woman reportedly asked Franklin what kind of government they had made. His answer: "A republic, if you can keep it." The form of government of the United StatesQ1 is still a republic. There is no king; the people elect representatives who make decisions for them.
The U.S. Constitution starts with the words "We the People."Q4 Those three words mean self-government: power does not flow down from a king; it flows up from the people.
Of all the things the U.S. Constitution doesQ3, such as setting up the government and defining its powers, the most important for every person here is that it protects the rights of the people.
The idea that no one is above the law goes back to England's Magna Carta of 1215, which forced even a king to accept limits. The Constitution makes that idea American. The rule of lawQ13 means that everyone must follow the law: citizens, police officers, judges and the President alike.
The delegates had just fought a king, and they feared any single person or group holding too much power. The French writer Montesquieu had argued that liberty is safest when power is divided. There are three branches of governmentQ15 because of the separation of powers. Each branch has its own job, and each can check the others. The three branches of governmentQ16 are legislative, executive, and judicial: the lawmakers, the law enforcers and the law explainers.
The founders also knew they could not foresee everything. They built in a way to update the document. Changes are made to the ConstitutionQ5 through amendments. It is deliberately hard: an amendment needs two-thirds of both houses of Congress and approval by three-quarters of the states.