#Constitution

51 entries

People (9)

Third Vice President of the United States — and Alexander Hamilton's killer

Alexander Hamilton

Founding Father, first Secretary of the Treasury, and architect of American capitalism

Benjamin Franklin

Printer, diplomat, and scientist who helped engineer American independence

Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the conscience of the Constitutional Convention

Father of the Constitution and fourth President of the United States

First Chief Justice of the United States and co-author of The Federalist Papers

Chief Justice who forged the Supreme Court into a coequal branch of government

The only person to sign all four of the great founding documents

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence and Third President of the United States

Places (2)

Independence Hall

The Philadelphia building where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed

The city where American independence and the Constitution were forged

Eras (1)

Revolutionary Era

The 25 years that broke from Britain and built a republic, 1775–1800

Events (4)

Constitutional Convention

The 1787 Philadelphia gathering that scrapped one government and invented another

Continental Congress

The revolutionary assembly that declared independence, fought a war, and built a nation

Great Compromise

The Connecticut Plan of 1787 that created the bicameral Congress and saved the Constitutional Convention

Nullification Crisis

The 1832 standoff between South Carolina and Andrew Jackson that previewed secession

Documents (25)

Alien and Sedition Acts

The 1798 laws that tested the limits of free speech and nearly tore the young republic apart

Articles of Confederation

America's first constitution and the document that proved insufficient

Declaration of Independence

The 1776 founding document asserting American independence and natural rights

Eighteenth Amendment

The Constitutional Ban on Alcohol That Created Prohibition, 1919–1933

Equal Rights Amendment

The Proposed Constitutional Amendment for Gender Equality, 1923–Present

Fifteenth Amendment

The 1870 amendment that prohibited denying the vote on the basis of race

First Amendment

The constitutional guarantee of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition

Fourteenth Amendment

The 1868 amendment that defined citizenship and guaranteed equal protection under the law

Gibbons v. Ogden

The 1824 ruling that gave Congress the power to regulate the national economy

Gideon v. Wainwright

The unanimous 1963 ruling that guaranteed the right to counsel for every criminal defendant

Marbury v. Madison

The 1803 ruling that established the Supreme Court's power to strike down laws

Mayflower Compact

The 1620 shipboard agreement that planted the seed of American self-governance

McCulloch v. Maryland

The 1819 ruling that established the doctrine of implied federal powers

Miranda v. Arizona

The 1966 ruling that gave every suspect the right to silence

Nineteenth Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment That Gave Women the Right to Vote, 1920

Northwest Ordinance

The 1787 law that established the framework for American territorial expansion

Seventeenth Amendment

The Amendment That Created Direct Election of U.S. Senators, 1913

Sixteenth Amendment

The Amendment That Created the Federal Income Tax, 1913

The Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified 1791

The Federalist Papers

The 85 essays that explained the Constitution to a skeptical public — and defined American political thought

The Second Amendment

Twenty-seven words at the center of America's gun debate

Thirteenth Amendment

The 1865 constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States

Twenty-First Amendment

The Repeal of Prohibition — The Only Amendment to Undo Another, 1933

U.S. Constitution

The 1787 framework of government that has governed the United States ever since

War Powers Resolution

Congress's 1973 attempt to reclaim the power to declare war from the executive branch

Concepts (10)

Checks and Balances

The constitutional design that prevents any branch of government from becoming supreme

The constitutional guarantee that government cannot deprive citizens of life, liberty, or property without fair procedures

Electoral College

The constitutional mechanism for electing presidents — and the perpetual argument about it

Equal Protection

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantee that government must treat similarly situated people equally under the law

Executive Order

The presidential tool the Constitution never named — and no president has stopped using

The division of power between national and state governments that defines American governance

Judicial Review

The power of courts to strike down laws that violate the Constitution

Separation of Church and State

The constitutional principle Jefferson named, the courts refined, and America has been arguing about ever since

Separation of Powers

The constitutional division of government authority among three independent branches

The constitutional doctrine that shaped — and shadowed — American history

All Tags

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