U.S. Constitution
America's supreme law
The U.S.
Constitution is the supreme law of the United States, establishing the framework of the federal government and guaranteeing fundamental rights to citizens.
Ratified in 1788, it created three branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial—with a system of checks and balances.
The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, protect individual liberties such as freedom of speech and religion.
The Supreme Court ruled the law violated the U.S. Constitution.
- We the PeopleOpening of the Constitution
- Bill of RightsInitial constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedoms
- Fourteenth AmendmentPost-Civil War constitutional addition
- equal protectionUniform legal treatment
- Federalist PapersFounding-era persuasive essays
Marbury v. Madison · rule of law · separation of powers · popular sovereignty · James Madison · judicial review · First Amendment · checks and balances · Alexander Hamilton · civic education · Brown v. Board of Education · framers · originalism · Constitutional Convention · amendment process · judicial independence · due process · constitutional rights
- Early RepublicGeorge Washington, Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Constitutional Convention
- Founding DocumentsDeclaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Articles of Confederation, First Amendment, Second Amendment
- ConstitutionBill of Rights, preamble, articles, Article I, First Amendment
- constitutionsbill of rights, constitutional amendment, constitutional reform, clause, clauses
U.S. Constitutionlocal ordinance
Rule enacted by municipality
statute · federal statute · executive order · municipal code · presidential proclamation
U.S. Constitutiontotalitarianism
State controls everything absolutely
tyranny · authoritarianism · dictatorship · absolute monarchy · fascism
U.S. ConstitutionBritish constitution
UK's governing legal framework
unwritten constitution · Articles of Confederation · constitutional convention