Second Chapter 2 Post

     For today's post regarding Chapter 2, I want to discuss the significance of the U.S. Constitution and how it has evolved over the course of 200+ years to the document it is today. The U.S. Constitution was originally formed to create a strong national government that had separation of powers in order to replace the ineffective and weak Articles of Confederation. The Constitution had seven major articles that together helped greatly improve what the Articles tried to originally accomplish. For example, the first three articles established the three branches of government that are still fully functioning today, while the other four articles were created in an attempt to avoid any problems that may arise over the years. For example, Article IV talks about the full faith and credit clause, which mandates that states honor the laws and judicial proceedings of the other states. The Constitution from the beginning was such an improvement over the Articles of Confederation, even with the amount of opposition it received from the onset.

     Over the course of U.S. History, the Constitution has been amended multiple times in order to deal with various problems that came up that needed to be dealt with. For example, in order to get the Anti-Federalists to approve the Constitution wholeheartedly, the Bill of Rights was created that protected a variety of personal liberties such as freedom of speech and religion. This major addition to the Constitution is still in place today as one of the most notable features of the overall document. As of today, there have been twenty-seven amendments that have been added to the Constitution. These amendments have helped shaped and change our government as the nation evolved and grew.

     The main point I wanted to talk about regarding the Constitution is how the document evolved due to changes in culture and society. For example, the textbook talks about how in the past, people were uncomfortable towards the Three-Fifths Compromise but they would never have thought that an African American would ever become President of the United States. In addition, not many of the Framers considered women to play diverse roles in American society, but here we are today with women proudly representing all aspects of the workforce. These changing views showcase how as our society changes over time, the Constitution evolves to accomodate these changes. Basically, the Constitution will never stay completely the same. While the fundamental principles will always be there, the Constitution will continue to evolve in order to accurately represent our growing society.