Search Internet

Ratification of the Constitution

The Constitution. (2012). The White House. Retrieved:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/the-constitution

This website provides a clear, concise introduction to the reasons that a new constitution was needed to replace the Articles of Confederation, which was described as "firm league of friendship" between the states and could not raise funds from taxation. It describes the drafting of the new Constitution, and how the founders attempted to create a system of checks and balances, so the new leadership would not have a tyrannical position of authority like King George. It details the debate between the federalists and anti-federalists. It concludes with the rationale for including the Bill of Rights, which was a critical element in the agreement of some states to ratify the final document.

Constitutional law: An overview. (2012). Cornell Law. Retrieved:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Constitutional_law

This website provides an introduction to the legal theory behind the Constitution and interpreting constitutional law in general. It examines the development of the three branches of U.S. government, as well as evolving powers of the government over time, like the power to tax. Constitutional law is interpreted through the process of judicial review, a power granted to the judiciary not spelled out in the Constitution. Critical components of existing law we now take for granted were not in the original document, but evolved, such as the power to invalidate any state actions not commensurate with federal law in the decision of McCulloch v. Maryland.

Marbury v. Madison. (2012). Landmark cases of the Supreme Court. Retrieved:

http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/home

Marbury v. Madison is a U.S. Supreme Court case remembered for establishing the precedent of judicial review. It was decided on a technicality, and is less important today for the particulars of the case than the concept of 'constitutionality' and the right of the U.S. Supreme Court to declare laws and actions valid or invalid according to the Constitution. The website explains the case and the rationale behind the first U.S. Supreme Court's decision. It provides excerpts from the original opinion and other documents pertinent to the case.