is to become the supreme law: "The United States of America." Some important inferences are to be drawn from the peculiar phraseology of this preamble. It was ordained by the people of the United States as a nation. The people having cast off their allegiance to Great Britain, and having become a separate nation, had the right to establish, and so did establish, this constitution by which they were to be governed. They assumed a national name: "The United States of America." The principles for which the constitution was established are stated with fulness and great clearness: (1) To form a more perfect union. (2) To establish justice. (3) To insure domestic tranquillity. (4) To provide for the common defence. (5) To promote the general welfare. (6) To secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity. CHAPTER II. THE THREE DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. BEFORE considering the separate articles of the constitution it is necessary to observe that the powers of government, whether national or state, are under three heads: (1) The legislative power. (2) The executive power. (3) The judicial power. The legislative power is the power of the law-making branch of the government, under whatever form it may be, whether the whole people assembled in town meeting, the city council, the state legislature, in one body or in two bodies, as it may be; or the national legislature, in one body, as was the continental congress, or in two bodies, as is the case now under the constitution. After the laws are enacted it is necessary that they should be executed, and the proper execution of them must become a duty of some specified officer or officers. It is better that there should be one executive head, rather than that the power should be divided among several persons. Hence we have as the executive of a city, the mayor; of the state, the governor; of the nation, the president. Then the judicial power supplements these two by interpreting and defining the meaning of the laws, and rendering decisions in individual cases. It is sometimes supposed that these three departments of government are absolutely distinct and separate from each other; this, however, is not the case, and cannot be. The peculiar form of our government grew up out of the circumstances in which the people found themselves at the time the government was organized. Our government took on many forms from Great Britain. In that country the legislative power included the house of lords and the house of commons. From this arose in the colonies, and also in the nation, the lower house, as it was called, that is, the house of representatives, and the council, which composed the upper house. Moreover, when the constitution was framed, there was jeal ousy between the larger and the smaller states. From these facts came the division of the legislative department into two branches: the senate, to represent the equality of the states; and the house of representatives, to represent the people. In this respect the states have all agreed, and in their constitutions, have followed the same course. The constitution contains seven articles : Article I. relates to the legislative power. Article IV., to various subjects. Article V., to the mode of amending the constitution. Article VI., to the validity of contracts made prior to the constitution and to its supremacy. Article VII., to the mode of its ratification. Since the adoption of the constitution, fifteen amendments have been added, which are just as binding as the original articles. |