What Is the Original U.S. Constitution, Anyway?

Written by Frank Li

Below are two recent publications of mine:

1. What Is the American Revolution, Anyway?
2. What Is the Declaration of Independence, Anyway?

Next, let’s critically review the original United States Constitution.

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1. Background

The U.S. Constitution cannot be understood without understanding these three things as the background:

1. The American Revolution.
2. The Declaration of Independence.
3. The Articles of Confederation.

Let me elaborate on each …

1. What is the American Revolution, anyway?

Below is an excerpt from What Is the American Revolution, Anyway?

The American Revolution was chiefly instigated by a bunch of rich people, most notably Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who simply did not want to pay more taxes to the mother country, even if it meant a war with her ultimately, namely, the American Revolutionary War.

For more, read: What Is the American Revolution, Anyway?

1.2 What is the Declaration of Independence, anyway?

The image below is worth more than 1,000 words.

For more, read: What Is The Declaration of Independence, Anyway?

1.3 What are the Articles of Confederation?

Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia – Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution.[1] It was approved, after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777), by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states. A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The weak central government established by the Articles received only those powers which the former colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament.[2]

1.4 Summary

The American Revolution was by/of/for the rich. After winning the revolution in 1783, America, governed under the Articles of Confederation, did not work out well. As a result, the first Constitutional Convention was held in 1787, leading to the publication of the U.S. Constitution at the First United States Congress in 1789, together with the inauguration of the first American President: George Washington.

2. The original U.S. Constitution – the document

It consists of two parts as follows:

1. The United States Constitution: It contains a preamble, seven articles, and signatories, totaling 4,543 words.
2. The Bill of Rights, which refers to Amendments 1 to 10.

Let me elaborate on each …

2.1 The U.S. Constitution

Below is the preamble.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Three highlights for the rest of the U.S. Constitution:

1. Article 1 – The Legislative Branch. It is the most important branch of the government, ahead of the other two (i.e. Executive and Judicial).
2. Article 4 – The States. The Federal government is limited, with the states maintaining many rights, including that of the elections.
3. Article 5 – Amendments. The Constitution is a living document, subject to change over time via amendments.

2.2 The Bill of Rights

Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia – United States Bill of Rights.

The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the often bitter 1787 – 88 debate over ratification of Constitution, and written to address the objections raised by Anti-Federalists, the Bill of Rights amendments add to the Constitution specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically granted to the U.S. Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. The concepts codified in these amendments are built upon those found in earlier documents, especially the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), as well as the English Bill of Rights (1689) and the Magna Carta (1215).[1]

3. The U.S. Constitution – the essence

The essence of the U.S. Constitution is multi-faceted with the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Let me elaborate on each …

3.1 The good

Two examples:

1. Our Founding Fathers did their best to form the republic, with all kinds of compromises (e.g. slavery).
2. One thing they did not compromise: democracy (i.e. one person, one vote)! Specifically, not only did they preclude it in the Constitution, they also instituted several mechanisms to prevent “rule by the popular vote” from happening in the future, such as three different forms of majorities for the House, Senate, and Presidency, respectively!

Bottom line: The word “democracy” is not in the U.S. Constitution!

3.2 The bad

Two examples:

1. The biggest falsehood in the Declaration of Independence (i.e. “all men are created equal”) found its way to the U.S. Constitution as “We the People”, which referred to everybody, except for the minorities, women, and even white men without [enough] property. For more, read: “We the People,” Really?
2. The continuation of slavery, which is totally contradictory to “We the People” and “All men are created equal”. For example, Article 4 Section 2 (shown below) looks innocent enough like an extradition law among states, but it was most effectively used to support slavery at that time.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

For more, read: Racism in America.

3.3 The ugly

The Constitution was written by/of/for the rich, continuing along the same path as the American Revolution. Two examples:

1. It emphasized property rights, which was a good thing, especially for the rich. Unfortunately, it also meant that only 6% of the American population at that time was eligible to vote (U.S. voting rights timeline).
2. The rich wanted a limited government, which would not only leave them alone to become richer, but also be actually controlled by them (via money)!

The ugliness has profound implications to date.

Three informative readings:

1. America: A Great Country Without A Working Government?
2. America: An Empire Without an Emperor?
3. The U.S. vs. China: A Great Experiment vs. A Great Civilization!

4. Discussion

Simply put, the U.S. Constitution, together with the Bill of Rights, is a well-written document, especially for its time. For example, freedom of speech (in Amendment 1) should forever be cherished as a universal human right.

On the other hand, the Second Amendment is becoming increasingly questionable. For more, read: America: Guns vs. Slavery.

Overall, however, the Constitution is just a bunch of words written on paper. It’s up to “We the People” to execute and maintain it over time.

How have “We the People” been executing and maintaining it over the past 200 years?

Not very well!

Two main reasons:

1. “We the People” just can’t do it. For more, read: America: It’s Democracy, Stupid!
2. The country might have been on the wrong footing since its inception, with neither justice for all (America: Justice in Unjust Land?), nor peace for all (America: Peace in Violent Land?)!

5. Closing

America is deeply in trouble, from systemic racism (Racism in America) to our government’s inability to effectively deal with Covid-19 (Top economist: US coronavirus response is like ‘third world’ country). To seriously address these deeply troubling issues, we must face the truth by going all the way back to the founding days, including a critical examination of the U.S. Constitution.

I am doing my part. What about you?

Now, please sit back and enjoy the video below – an audio readout of the United States Constitution.

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