Home > Work > Creating the Constitution: 1787

Creating the Constitution: 1787 QUOTES

Creating the Constitution: 1787 QUOTES

1 " Unfortunately, we do not always understand the Bill of Rights as well as we might. Many people seem to think that it guarantees us the right to do almost anything we want. That is not the case; there are limits. For example, the right to free speech does not give us the right to say slanderous things about others, to cry fire in a crowded theater as a joke, or to discuss military secrets with our friends. The right to peaceable assembly does not permit us to gather a crowd of demonstrators in the middle of a busy street. As interpreted by the Supreme Court, the rights of the individuals must be balanced against the needs of the society as a whole. "

― , Creating the Constitution: 1787

2 " However, it was best known to the delegates as stated by the French thinker Montesquieu. He pointed out that "When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or the same body of magistry, there can be no liberty; because apprehension may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner. "

― , Creating the Constitution: 1787

3 " Understanding the Constitution is of critical importance for all Americans, for it is this brief document that protects our liberties and, by keeping our nation from falling into chaos, allows us to get on with our lives. Nothing matters so much as this. "

― , Creating the Constitution: 1787

4 " For example, under the Articles of Confederation, the national government could not tax people directly, as we do today, but must ask for money from the states, which could raise it however they wanted. "

― , Creating the Constitution: 1787

5 " The principle of nationalism was not merely implied in the Constitution; it was set forth explicitly in what is known as the Supremacy clause, Article VI of the Constitution, which says:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution and Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The supremacy Clause is quite clear: States cannot pass laws against the laws of the national government. Even state constitutions are limited not just by the U.S. Constitution, but also by laws passed by congress. The delegates saw that it had to be this way, for the national government would be of no use at all if the states could pass laws contrary to national ones. "

― , Creating the Constitution: 1787