The Constitution Is As Important Today as It Was Two Centuries Ago
Name
Institution
The Constitution Is As Important Today as It Was Two Centuries Ago
In modern American society, our cultural values are defined by the constitution, which binds the 51 states of the United States together. More than 200 years have passed since the current US constitution was founded by the forefathers (Bodenhamer, 2018). The current constitution came into effect in 1789, with Washington as the first President of the United States. Throughout the world, no documented constitution is older than the United States Constitution. Many generations have passed, and many more generations will likely continue to pass, yet the constitution will remain. Through the constitution, the United States and the government system have remained strong, not just for the US but also in the international context (Edling, 2020). It is what has set the United States apart from the rest of the world. However, the United States, which was there two years ago, is different from today. Questions have been raised over the Constitution’s relevance in modern times, considering cultural changes and economic and technological transformations that have taken place since its foundation. This essay argues that even though the current constitution is far much older than the people it serves, it still serves its purpose in protecting citizens, defining the governance system, and the relationship between the government and the citizens.
The US constitution grants power to the government to protect and promote liberty (Bodenhamer, 2018). At the same time, it limits the government’s powers to protect liberty. The US government is created, protected, and guided by the constitution. During the formation of the first government, there was a need to establish a government with certain principles that aimed to recognize humans’ liberal nature. Section 4 of the constitution describes the foundation of the US government based on the law of nature, on which the constitution is based. “To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man” (Klotz, Allen, & Sackel, 2020, p. 10 ). John Locke described the importance of the social contract, who maintains that human beings are naturally free, and governments can only be legitimate if it is established through the governed’s consent. The constitution established the election process used in the American system today. The United States has a history of being the most democratic state globally, characterized by liberal governance. The US comprises of the Federal and State government which performs distinct roles. Section 4 of the US constitution recognizes the liberal nature and allows them to exercise their democratic rights through the election. The election is conducted every four years at each level of government. Through this, citizens make an autonomous choice to transfer their powers to the government to be government and let the government make decisions on their behalf (Erman, 2019). Thus, the government is supposed to act in the best interest of the people who elected it into power by ensuring equity, social, and economic justice for the people’s security. Through the constitution, the power of people in government is curtailed so that they do not act to oppress the common man.
Constitutional founders wanted a stronger federal government, but with the retention of the idea of freedom and autonomy. As a result, the federal constitution established the federal government and state government. The central government is comprised of the executives, the justice system, and the legislative system. Each of the branches worked to keep each other in check to ensure that no branch becomes too powerful to destroy the individuals’ freedom and liberty. The legislature comprises the Senate and the House of Representatives responsible for developing laws and overseeing the government’s conduct. Legislative members are elected by the citizen through a democratic process, alongside the president. The president is the head of the executive, which executes and enforces the laws of the country. There are several rights and freedoms in the constitution that the government must uphold, such as freedom of speech, the right to liberty, and association. The judicial system ensures social justice within the governance system as stipulated by the constitution. Each of the three arms of the government functions independently but to limit the powers of one arm of the government. The government has a moral obligation to make people aware of their rights and protect those rights and freedoms (Bodenhamer, 2018).
The constitution protects diversity and does it better than it did more than a century ago. The United States comprises people of a different culture. As the US constitution is founded based on natural laws, there was continued recognition of the diverse pollution of the United States, diverse groups of people also bound by the constitution. The talk around societal injustices, including slavery, began to rise. The constitution’s weakness began to manifest as the need for civic engagement continued to rise because it failed to address matters of concern. When the slave trade was abolished following the Revolutionary War, there was a long period characterized by white supremacy. The current constitution was written in 1787 during the time, particularly white men dominated American society, and made major decisions on behalf of the entire population. During this period, there was massive oppression of the African Americans by the white as slavery continued. Both white women and black Americans were not allowed to vote. These social injustices, discrimination, and inequality led to civic movements. As a result, certain Amendments were made to the original constitutional documents to make them more inclusive and address certain rights not incorporated before.
According to DJC 100, “The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments—known collectively as the Reconstruction Amendments—abolished slavery except as a punishment for crime, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., and extended voting rights to formerly enslaved Black men” (Klotz, Allen, & Sackel, 2020, p. 66). The 19th Amendment guarantees women’s liberty rights. The amendments are parts of the reforms during the 1863-1877 reconstruction periods. The fourteenth Amendment protects fundamental rights to participate in an election and violates any form of discrimination against race, gender, and religion during an election. The constitution’s importance is reflected in the 2008 elections when the United States elected the first black president. There have been many people elected to congress since these amendments.
The US constitutions exclusively address the bill of rights. There are several rights and freedom protected under the constitution, which has been established through amendments. Even though the constitution recognized the fundamental rights held by citizens at the foundation, certain rights were not protected under the US constitution, making it non-inclusive (Edling, 2020). For instance, a privacy right, which has created a fierce debate, was not addressed until the fourth amendment was introduced. The 4th Amendment protects the citizen from unreasonable searches and seizures, thereby protecting privacy.
Even though there have been some forms of discrimination in America’s history and modern American society, the constitution has played a great role in establishing and maintaining equality and justice in the American system. Despite the criticism on the relevance of the constitution to modern society (Sigh, 2017), the United States’ constitution is still recognized as the most effective across the world. Without the constitution, the United States would not have been having a stable democratic government like today. Injustices, inequality, and freedom are among the reasons why the constitution has evolved. In summary, the US constitution still matters as it was built on nature’s law to bring liberty and freedom to the people.
References
Bodenhamer, D. J. (2018). The US Constitution: A Very Short Introduction (Vol. 566). Oxford University Press.
Edling, M. (2020). Perfecting the Union: National and State Authority in the US Constitution. Oxford University Press, USA.
Erman, S. (2019). Almost Citizens: Puerto Rico, the US Constitution, and empire. Cambridge University Press.
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/the-constitution
Klotz, D., Allen, D., & Sackel, J. (2020). Justice and Civic Life, 100 level. Lynn University Digital Press.
Singh, R. (2017). ‘I, the people’: a deflationary interpretation of populism, Trump, and the United States constitution. Economy and Society, 46(1), 20-42.