LIVING CONSTITUTION
BACKGROUND
VOCABULARY
ARTICLE 6.
ratification official approval
Analyzing a Chart
Amending the Constitution
All amendments have been proposed by
Congressional vote, and all but one have
been ratified by state legislatures rather than
state conventions.
• Why are there different ways to ratify
an amendment? (The Framers wanted
to allow people other than those in the
legislature to be involved in the process.)
unanimous consent
complete agreement
Federal Supremacy
In 1957, the “supreme law of
the land” was put to a test. The
governor of Arkansas defied a
Supreme Court order. The Court
ruled that African-American
students could go to all-white
public schools. President Dwight
D. Eisenhower then sent federal
troops to protect the first AfricanAmerican students to enroll in
Central High School in Little Rock,
Arkansas.
CRITICAL THINKING ANSWER
Framers wanted ideas for changes to be
considered but not too easily accepted
or approved.
SECTION 1.
Supremacy of the National Government
Valid Debts
All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation.
SECTION 2.
Supreme Law
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 or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
SECTION 3.
Loyalty to Constitution
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the
several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the
United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation
to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Teach
Article 6
Roleplay Your Answer
• Why was it important to honor all debts
accrued under the Articles of Confederation?
(so other countries would trust the United
States in business arrangements and see the
new government as honorable)
• Synthesize Why was making the Constitution
“the supreme law of the land” and binding all
state officials and judges important? (to avoid
the problems associated with the Confederation
where states and individuals could not be forced
to take certain actions)
CONNECT
to the Essential Question
How has our 220-year-old Constitution
remained a living document?
Ask students what they have learned so far
that can help them answer this question.
Students might mention:
• Congress can admit new states into the
Union.
• The Constitution protects every state
from invasion.
• The Constitution is the supreme law of
the land, but it can be changed through
amendments.
• Members of the executive, judicial, and
legislative branches are bound by oath to
support the Constitution.
284 • The Living Constitution
Members of the House of Representatives swear to support and defend
the U.S. Constitution at the opening of the 109th Congress in 2005.
284 The
Living
Chapter
0 Constitution
DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION: TIERED ACTIVITIES
OBJECTIVE Pass an amendment to the Constitution.
Basic
On Level
Challenge
Have students work in a
group to write the text
of an amendment to the
Constitution. For example,
a class discussion might
result in working toward
an amendment to change
the voting age to 16. Work
with students to write an
amendment that is clear and
concise.
Have students work in a
group to describe the options
for proposing an amendment
and deciding upon a strategy
for proposing it. For example,
they might choose to write
to members of Congress to
vote for an amendment or
contact state legislatures to
propose it.
Have students work
individually to write a letter
in support of the amendment
to a member of Congress
or to a local or national
newspaper. Ask volunteers
to read their letters to the
class.
Constitution Handbook
ARTICLE 7.
Ratification
The ratification
ratification of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the
establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the
seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-seven and of the independence of the United States
of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed
our names.
George Washington
President and deputy from Virginia
New Hampshire: John Langdon,
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham,
Rufus King
North Carolina: William Blount,
Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson
New York: Alexander Hamilton
South Carolina: John Rutledge, Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney,
Pierce Butler
New Jersey: William Livingston, David
Brearley, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton
Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer,
Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James
Wilson, Gouverneur Morris
Georgia: William Few, Abraham Baldwin
Article 7
• What names are familiar in the list of signers?
(Possible Answers: Washington, Hamilton,
Franklin, Madison)
Maryland: James McHenry, Dan of
St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll
Connecticut: William Samuel Johnson,
Roger Sherman
Teach
Talk About It
Delaware: George Read, Gunning
Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard
Bassett, Jacob Broom
Virginia: John Blair, James Madison, Jr.
LIVING CONSTITUTION
The Signers
The 39 men who signed the
Constitution were wealthy and
well educated. About half of them
were trained in law. Others were
doctors, merchants, bankers, and
slaveholding planters. Missing
from the list of signatures are
the names of African Americans,
Native Americans, and women.
These groups reflected the varied
population of the United States in
the 1780s.
17. How do you think the
absence of these groups
affected the decisions made
in creating the Constitution?
• About what fraction of the states ratified
the Constitution? (nine-thirteenths or about
two-thirds)
• Make Inferences Do you think the
unanimous consent of the states present was
important in helping the Constitution get
ratified? (Possible Answers: probably, because
people in one state would have known that the
other states had approved it)
SIDEBAR ANSWER
17. Possible Answers: Slavery was not
outlawed; slaves were considered threefifths of a person for the purposes of
taxation and representation in Congress;
women were denied the right to vote in
most places.
Articles 4–7 Assessment
MAIN IDEAS
1. What rights does Article 4 guarantee to citizens if they
go to other states in the nation?
2. What are two ways of proposing an amendment to
the Constitution?
3. What makes up “the supreme law of the land”?
CRITICAL THINKING
4. Form and Support Opinions Should the Framers
of the Constitution have allowed the people to vote
directly for ratification of the Constitution?
Why or why not?
Think about
• the idea that the government belongs to the people
• the general public’s ability to make sound political
decisions
Constitution Handbook 285
4
Assess & Reteach
Assess Have students complete the Section
Assessment.
Unit 3 Resource Book
• Section Quiz, p. 230
Interactive Review
@ ClassZone.com
Power Presentations
Test Generator
ONGOING ASSESSMENT ANSWERS
Main Ideas
1. the same rights as all other citizens of those
states
2. with a two-thirds vote of both houses of
Congress; call by two-thirds of state legislatures
for national conventions
3. the Constitution, national laws, and treaties
Critical Thinking
4. Yes—People should have had a direct say in
approving or not approving it, because the
preamble says “We the people . . . do ordain
and establish this Constitution”; No—Too
many people might not have understood all the
complex issues clearly.
Reteach Divide students into four groups.
Have each group prepare a summary of one of
the section’s main headings:
• identify the main points for each
• ask volunteers to present parts of their
summary to the class
• keep a cumulative record on the board and add
information as needed
Unit 3 Resource Book
• Reteaching Activity, p. 243
Teacher’s Edition • 285