Parte D de La Constitution

Amending the Constitution would be a huge responsibility that is definitely not at the top of my Christmas list. This question could be answered in many different forms and I'm sure it already has been. I don't think that amending the whole Constitutiion would be the answer to all of our problems but here are some suggestions that might help the average citizen and the big legislators maybe find a compromise. One thing that I would amend if I had that power would be how the Constitution refers to African Americans. They use terms such as "indentured servants, 3/5 of slaves". Terms that are extremely offensive and for no reason need to be put in the Constitution as are all equals to each other. I would also change some other terms that may cause people confusion. Like the first three words, "We, the people". We the people who? Who exactly are the people that our founding fathers were talking about? It then goes on to say "of the United States of America" but what exact people are they describing if people like the African Americans and Indians were part of the U.S. and they weren't given those rights that the Constitution insures to it's people. Things like that are what find us confusion and fighting because they are not exactly clear.

I would also use my power to revise Article 4 which is about how states have their own rights and the federal government leaves certain rights up to them. One of these rights I would think is gay marriage. Now it first begins with saying that all the states may make their own rights and that all other states have to abide the other states laws. So say if you are gay and get married in Conneticut, your marriage is legal in California but not honored. What that means I have no idea because if it isn't honored doesn't that make it illegal? The Article then goes on to say that citzens have the same rights everywhere in the U.S. Wouldn't that be contradicting the first Section of Article 4? I would change the wording to not make it so confusing. Say exactly what kind of rights are up to the state and what are the same everywhere.





The tendency of the Constitution is to be fair (but not too fair) and stern. I say this because our beloved founding fathers use the pronciple of the division of powers in order to start the Constitution (after the lovely preamble of course). They make it so that not one branch or people in that branch get too much power and decide to rule the government. I think this was a good idea and our founding fathers did this so that the same thing that happened in England would not happen here. If they had done it for this reason then it would have been completely fair. Now if one looks at it from a negative point of view (like Andy's) they may say they did it so that they could keep the power within the rich and so that nothing would ultimately get done because it has to go through so many stages. If it was done so that this could be accomplished, well then let's be serious, it would not be fair at all to the average citizen. Which is why I say that there are some fair points of views and some that aren't so fair. Another example of this would be how the House of Representatives and Senate are set up. Now the Constitution says that the House of Representatives is more the people's voices because they change so frequently and they are due to population. Why though? Why could it not have just been the Senate where there are two Senators from each state? Wouldn't that have made it easier? That to me is unfair because ultimately the state's with more population usually get more say because they have their number in the H.O.R. and the Senate. Yet it can also be seen as fair because if there are more people living in the bigger states then shouldn't they have more say in what goes on?!

The Constitution is also stern. It does this by making everything in order to change it so difficult which disables you from doing so which then makes it that much more of a powerful document. For example, say you want to amend something. You must propose a bill to the H.O.R. who must then vote on it. When one side has the majority they then vote on it. It goes on to the Senate, who can ignore it or vote on it. From the Senate it goes to the president himself, who then can veto it, pass it to become a law, or ignore it completely. This prolonged task could take months or maybe years to finally make it's way into the "book of laws" (informally speaking). With it taking so long, most people may give up or just forget about it. Which makes it a problem for the average citizen to really get their voice in. Thus, making the Constitution much more vigorous then it actually needs to be. By making it more vigorous it becomes strict and forceful.





How the Constitution relates to the American Way of Life is really quite simple. The Constitution can be seen as the foundation to the American Way of Life. They are both formed around the same beliefs. Beliefs known as freedom, happiness, social classes, and oppurtunity. The Constitution plays into all those but adds the rules that our society must play by. If you don't believe me, just think about the Constitution and how it affects your life. As Andy has said the Constitution does not make the rules that affect your lives it affect the rules that affect your lives. I see this as true because most of us are not directly affected by what requirements there are in order to become a Senator but, we are however limited to the people we can vote for by these requirements.

If you think about common things that people would say when you ask them what the American Way of Life guarantees them it includes oppurtunity. Oppurtunity to work, go to school, and better your future all together. The Constitution gives us these oppurtunities. It makes sure there is no discriminating in race, gender, ethnicity, etc. The 10th amendment gives us the right to an education and because of amendments that abolish slavery and make sure all are treated as equal, we have the oppurtunities to work and get an education. Happiness is also a big answer that people say the American Way of Life guarantees them. You can be happy with your job, the money you are making, the fact that you cannot be denied things (according to the law not certain people) because of race, gender, etc. The Constitution gives us the basis of things to be happy with by making sure that everyone has somewhat of a fair share.

Freedom to certain things are given to us in the 1st amendment. We as Americans believe we have the right to do anything. The Constitution gives us this idea that because "we, the people of the United States..." are the people that run the government we have the right to do as we please. This of course is wrong as murder is illegal but, it's being broad. Social classes are most definitely an important part of the American Way of Life because they determine where you are placed on the human food chain. They are what people look at when they see you, how you are judged, and how you are treated (and I don't care what anyone says this is true). Social classes where developed even further when the Constitution was made because it put these old, white men on top and they decided how the chain formed from there. So take a look at the facts and compare the Constitution with the American Way of Life and eat your results.