A Third Grade Student’s Constitution Report


The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are about 5,000 words long.  On July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson, a representative of the 13 colonies, declared independence from England.  Jefferson believed in the rights of people to have a government that gives life, liberty, and the freedom to be productive.  The colonists declared independence from England for many unjust actions from King George III and Parliament.  The preamble of the Constitution promises justice, peace, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty.  This was written so that government would stay small so that the people would continue to enjoy their liberty.  The jobs of each government branch are defined in the Constitution.  Congress makes the laws.  The powers given to Congress are written in Article I, Section 8.  The Constitution gives them 18 defined powers.  Congress gets to use America’s credit to borrow money.  They are to keep business running between the states and other countries.  Congress may make money and declare its value.  They set up the courts.  Congress punishes pirates and has the power to declare war.  They may establish and support an army and a navy.  They make the laws for the 10 square miles of Washington, D.C.  All the laws made must be “necessary and proper” and fit into the first 17 powers given to them.  The President gets to make sure that Congress is making laws that are Constitutional.  The Supreme Court does this too.  This is called the balance of powers.  Thomas Jefferson added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution so that people would be guaranteed personal liberty.  America is blessed to have people who cared about liberty by giving us this Constitution.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply


WordPress.com Logo


Google+ photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s