The Constitution of the United States of America is the oldest codified constitution in the world. It is based on an earlier document, The Articles of Confederation. Since it went into effect in 1789, it has been amended only 27 times. It is intentionally difficult to amend.
George Washington was the 9th president of the United States of America. Eight Presidents served one-year terms under the Articles of Confederation approved in 1781. The first President of the United States was John Hanson. George Washington was a member of the congress who voted for John Hanson.
The first of the thirteen Articles of Confederation made the name of the new country “The United States of America”. Article VI required each state to “maintain a well regulated and disciplined militia sufficiently armed and accoutered”. Article XI offered Canada the opportunity to become the 14th state of the United States of America.
The original “Bill of Rights” was proposed to the states in 1789. It contained 12 amendments (not 10) to the Constitution. Amendments 3-12 were approved and are our Bill of Rights. Amendment one (not approved) tried to link a specific number of voters to each representative. Amendment two was actually approved on May 7, 1992 as the 27th amendment to the constitution. It provides that any pay raise voted by Congress can not take effect until the next session of Congress.
Delaware claims to be the “The First State” as it was the first state to ratify the constitution. New Hampshire was the 9th and last required state to ratify in 1789. Rhode Island was the last of the 13 states to ratify. Only four independent nations have joined to become states; Texas, California, Hawaii, and Vermont. Vermont had already outlawed slavery before it became a state in 1791.
More than 10,000 proposals have been made to amend the constitution. Only 27 have succeeded.
Among noted failures:
– Rename our country “The United States of the Earth”. The belief being that the United States
would continue to grow by adding states until the entire world would be part of the United States
– Outlaw millionaires. Any personal wealth over one million dollars would be confiscated and
applied to the national debt
– Replace the President with a triumvirate of three people
– Abolish popular elections and select the president by a random drawing from the names of citizens
– Require a vote of the people before declaring war
Neither the word “Democracy” nor the word “God” appear even once in the entire constitution.
Author: Staff
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