Questions tagged [us-constitution]
The basic law of the United States of America, which establishes the three branches of the United States government and sets out their powers in relation to the states, the people and each other.
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Did Hamilton misrepresent Williams's view on democracy in the NY Ratifying Convention?
Founders Online New York Ratifying Convention. First Speech of June 21 (Francis Childs’s Version), [21 June 1788] quotes Hamilton:
It has been observed by an honorable gentleman, that a pure ...
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How did natural-born citizenship work under the Constitution before the Fourteenth Amendment?
I am aware of some prior discussions on this topic, namely a discussion on the process of naturalization for foreign born people, and a discussion which indicates "natural born" may not ...
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What proposals have been made to amend the U.S. Constitution to make it mention God?
Many State constitutions in the United States mention God:
But the U.S. Constitution does not.*
What proposals have been made (say in the 19th century) to amend the U.S. Constitution to make it ...
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U.S. motto change from "E Pluribus Unum" to "In God We Trust"
Latin for Dummies p. 310 says:
As a result of the Communist scare of the 1950s, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U.S. Congress changed the U.S. motto to In God We Trust. But before the ...
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Why did the U.S. Bill of Rights end up without a protection against monopolies?
In a letter to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, discussing the recently-enacted Constitution, wrote of many things he liked about it, then added,
I will now add what I do not like. First the omission ...
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Is there a connection between The Establishment Clause and the fact that The United States has never fought a war in the name of Religion? [closed]
Since the drafting and enactment of The Establishment Clause-(The First Amendment and The Freedom of Religion) in 1791, the United States has never fought a war in the name of religion. The U.S. has ...
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Was the 14th Amendment ever enforced against a Confederate veteran?
Headlines have recently told us that the Supreme Court of Colorado has excluded Donald Trump from the ballot in that state because of Article 3 of the 14th Amendment, which provides:
No person shall ...
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How was "three fifths" decided on?
I understand the reasons behind the Three-fifths Compromise, but I don't know how that particular fraction was chosen. Why did the US Constitution have a Three-fifths compromise, rather than a One-...
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Did Edith Wilson influence the passage of the 19th Amendment?
Edith Wilson handled her husband Woodrow Wilson's presidential business, heavily so, after his stroke until the end of his term. As
"In My Memoir, published in 1939, Edith Wilson justified her ...
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What impact did Georgists have on the Sixteenth Amendment, and vice versa?
The Sixteenth Amendment, which allows the federal government to directly tax citizens' incomes, was ratified in 1913. That seems to be the same period of time (late 19th and early 20th centuries) that ...
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Why did three states delay ratification of US fifth amendment?
Massachusetts, Georgia, and Connecticut were states in 1791 when the constitution and bill of rights became law. But they did not officially consent until 1939.
It seems from USConstitution.net that ...
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Why, in the Bill of Rights, is the right to a speedy trial a separate amendment from the right to a trial by jury?
Recently, I was reading the first ten amendments of the American bill of rights and was struck by the variance in the number of rights granted by each particular amendment.
For example, the first ...
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Why was the "first Monday in December" originally chosen as the default meeting date for Congress?
The original Constitution of the United States did not explicitly specify many dates, but one was the default date for which Congress was required to meet:
The Congress shall assemble at least once ...
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How was the initial allocation of the US House of Representatives decided?
Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution:
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and ...
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How close did the US come to removing the Electoral College in 1970?
A NY Times opinion article mentioned a failed 1970 bill that would have introduced a potential constitutional amendment removing the electoral college.
It had passed the House of Representatives, but ...
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