Our National Government (1941)

[Music] government is the delegated authority of the people it exists wherever men live together and reflects their character their courage and their aspirations our forefathers hope to perpetuate the ideals and Liberties on which this country was established through an instrument of government which we call the Constitution of the United States Independence Hall in Philadelphia was the birthplace of constitution it was here in 1776 that the dec of dependence was signed and it was from this building that the Continental Congress conducted the Revolutionary War to present a united front for this war the states organized under the Articles of Confederation carefully preserving however the independent sovereignty of each state so as each state was free of its own interests at the expense of the other the states began to depart and toward Anarchy 1787 here in Independence Hall delegates representing 12 of the original 13 states assembled to revise the old or to form a new framework of government during 4 months of continuous session committees worked without rest to bring into harmony the conflicting interests of the large and small states the members of the convention Drew their inspiration from four principal sources first were the traditions of the mother country even before the days of the Magna Carta whose basic rights have become the property of every Englishman there had been laid those foundations of local self and national government which have caused England to be called the mother of Parliament second they had for their pattern the Royal charters of the early settlers and the basic laws which they drew up under them to govern themselves in the new [Music] world third many members of the convention had had actual experience in drafting the various State con stitutions which became necessary after the states separated from England and attained their independence and fourth the founders of our government were influenced by the spirit of their times for our Revolution was part of a World [Music] Revolution whose watch wordss were Liberty equality and fraternity out of the turmoil of these times a French philosopher monu published a book on the spirit of the laws from this book The Builders of our constitution derived the theory of a government of separate branches and of checks and balances whereby each branch of government might prevent the abuse of power by the other too much government from England had resulted in tyranny and had been one of the causes of the Revolution too little governmental power in the confederation had led us to the verge of Anarchy as a solution to these two evils therefore the Constitutional Convention adopted this theory of checks and balances now consider the document as it was actually written in 1787 like a stately and spreading tree the Constitution following monu's plan separates the functions of government into three branches the legislative the executive and the judicial legis islative or lawmaking functions are vested in a Congress of two Chambers the Senate and the House of Representatives to the Senate come two members from each state so that here all states both large and small are equally represented on the other hand to the House of Representatives each state sends members in proportion to its population one from the smallest to as many as 40 from the largest so that here each state is represented on the basis of its population Congress was given power to Levy taxes to coin and manage money to control citizenship to regulate commerce to declare war and maintain armed for rights however as a counterbalance the president May veto any act of Congress and such an act to become law must then be repass by a two-thirds majority of each house it has also been ruled that the Supreme Court can declare void any law which is in conflict with the constitution in these ways the powers of Congress are balanced the executive or law enforcing functions are vested in the president and in the various Department ments which function under him in 1789 Washington had only five executive departments with five cabinet members today there are 10 cabinet officers heading the great Departments of State War Justice post office Navy interior agriculture Commerce and labor to meet our growing needs Congress has also created many EX executive bureaus with broad powers to deal with labor tariff Securities banking interstate commerce and such problems great Prestige and responsibility is attached to the Office of the President among other powers he appoints all public officers whose appointment is not otherwise provided for he appoints ministers and ambassadors and conducts foreign affairs enters into treaties and he is the commanderin-chief of the Army and Navy [Music] to check these Powers the Constitution makes it necessary for the president to rely on Congress for funds on which to operate and he must depend on the Senate to confirm his appointments and to approve his treaties finally the judicial or the law interpreting power is vested in the Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress May create the Supreme Court is composed of justices who hold office for Life the federal courts try all cases in which the Constitution is involved all cases arising under federal laws and provide an impartial Court for cases in which the states or citizens of different states are parties the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional gives the Supreme Court the last word in government to counterbalance these great Powers the court must look to Congress for funds to supported while the president fills all vacancies as they occur the Constitutional Convention completed its labors on September 7th 17 1987 for nearly 3 years the merits of the Constitution were debated in town Village and Crossroad store Madison and others wrote The Federalist to explain its Provisions to secure the support of those who feared a strong central government 10 Amendments promised guaranteeing among other things free worship Free Speech free assembly due process of law and trial by jury other amendments have been added since but none changed the fundamental plan of the Constitution the Constitution itself is short it can be read aloud in 20 minutes rather than enumerating a code of laws it outlines a framework and a philosophy of government finally in 1789 dates approved and the Constitution was adopted we were then a nation of of only 3 and A2 million people clustered close to the Atlantic Seaboard today we are a vast nation of over 130 million people stretching from Ocean to Ocean with a civilization complex beyond anything our forefathers could have imagined yet this framework of government has expanded to cover all our needs it is still sufficient to provide a perfect union to establish justice to ensure domestic tranquility to promote the general welfare and under God to secure the blessings of liberty and to our posterity it still stands to demonstrate to all the world that a government of the People by the people and for the people shall not perish from the Earth