Summary Of The Constitution: A Living Document

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The Constitution: A Living Document “A Kind of Revolution” Highlights (Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States) “What did the Revolution mean to the Native Americans, the Indians? They had been ignored by the fine words of the Declaration, had not been considered equal, certainly not in choosing those who would govern the American territories in which they lived, nor in being able to pursue happiness as they had pursued it for centuries before the white Europeans arrived. Now, with the British out of the way, the Americans could begin the inexorable process of pushing the Indians off their lands, killing them if they resisted, in short, as Francis Jennings puts it, the white Americans were fighting against British imperial…show more content…
| |controls enforcement of laws | | |nominates judges | | |can pardon people convicted of federal crimes | |Legislative Branch |can impeach President and other high officials | | |Senate approves Presidential appointments | | |Senate approves treaties | | |can override presidential vetoes | | |exercises power of the purse | |Judicial Branch |can declare laws or presidential actions unconstitutional | | |lifetime appointments…show more content…
When the Constitution was ratified, the states were dominant. Since then, the national government has gradually become dominant. When George Washington became president, he had just five cabinet officers: Secretaries of state, war, and treasury, an attorney general, and a post-master general. Since then, the presidency has accumulated more and more authority. Today, there are 14 executive departments and 2.7 million civilian federal employees. The framers of the Constitution expected Congress to be the dominant branch of government. In the early years of the republic, presidential candidates were usually nominated by a caucus system centered in the House of Representatives. Today, Congress is less inclined to initiate policy than to let the president set the legislative agenda. Today, Congress has about 290 committees and subcommittees. More than 10,000 people work for the 535 members of Congress. Especially in the 20th century, the Supreme Court has become a powerful vehicle for making public policy as it interprets the law. Political parties, which are not mentioned in the Constitution, would become an integral part of the American political system. They remain the means through which political officeholders are nominated and
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