HOW THE U.S. CONSTITUTION HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS

The U.S. Constitution is the framework of how the Federal Government is established and maintained.  It is the oldest surviving written constitution in the world today.  The overarching concern of the Framers was the need for a unifying governing body to represent all of the constituent states either with problems or issues arising among the states, or between any state and any foreign country.  The debate over which rights belong to the Federal Government and which ones belong at the state level was contentious during the constitutional convention in 1787, and still carries on in different shapes and forms today.  But the Framers knew that the Constitution would need to be modified as time marched on, so they created the process of proposing and ratifying amendments, and owing to the level of importance made it deliberately more difficult for their passage than ordinary legislation.  The first ten amendments form what’s known as the “Bill of Rights” pertaining to those individual rights of all persons.  There have been seventeen other proposed amendments that have been ratified out of approximately 12,000 proposals for amendments overall submitted to Congress (as of 2020).

The Amendment Process:  When a bill becomes a law in the Federal Government, it requires a passing vote in the congressional or senatorial committee into which it is introduced, followed by another passing vote in the full House or Senate where it is introduced.  It then needs a passing vote in the opposite chamber, followed by the president’s signature.  At that point it becomes law, but is subject to judicial review as it is applied in society.  If the president decides to veto the measure, it still becomes law if the Senate (only) votes to override the veto.  However, a constitutional amendment must follow a much different route to become part of the Constitution.  Article Five of the Constitution tells us that amendments must be properly proposed and ratified before they are added in.  A proposed amendment cannot go forward without a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate.  It may also advance if Congress calls for a national convention for the purpose of proposing an amendment directly to the states.  It would then pass if two-thirds of all states at the convention vote favorably.  Without a convention, ratification occurs when the legislatures of three-fourths of all states vote favorably.  A state level ratification can also occur at a state ratifying convention with a favorable vote of three-fourths of all states.  (This state convention approach has only been used once).  Congress can attach a time limit for ratification, and since 1940 has applied a seven-year time limit from submission to the states until the three-fourths ratification threshold has been met.  Two proposed amendments so far have failed because they were not ratified inside of the seven-year time limit.

Bill of Rights:  The original constitution included much that was needed to form a central government, but it omitted any reference to basic human rights that many of the Framers thought should be included.  Future president James Madison of Virginia had been elected to the new House of Representatives, and he was the lead in the effort to assemble a draft of amendments to the new constitution that would account for all basic rights and put them through the amendment process.  The draft was finalized and proposed on September 25, 1789, and all ten amendments composing the Bill of Rights were ratified in their entirety on December 15, 1791.  Those rights are briefly described as follows:

1. Freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petitioning government.
2. Right for the public to keep and bear arms.
3. Restricts quartering of military personnel in private homes.
4. Prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, requires probable cause.
5. Rules of indictment, due process, self-incrimination, and double jeopardy.
6. Right to a speedy jury trial, confront accusers, retain legal counsel.
7. Right for a jury trial for civil lawsuits.
8. Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment including excessive fines or bail.
9. Any rights not enumerated in the constitution are retained by the people.
10. Powers not enumerated for the Federal Government belong to the states.

Elections of President, Vice-President, and Senators:  At first, there was one vote cast for president, and the runner-up became the vice-president when all the votes were counted.  In the 1800 election, a problem then arose as the two leading candidates, Thomas Jefferson, and Aaron Burr, had the same number of electoral votes.  Jefferson wound up as president and Burr as vice-president, but recognizing that the system had this shortcoming, the 12^th Amendment rectified it by having both offices on the ballot.  Nowadays the presidential candidates and the vice-presidential candidates are from the same party and run together as a team.  Senators were elected by vote of the respective state legislatures and not directly by the voting population until the 17^th Amendment was ratified in April, 1913.  The beginning of the term of office for the president and vice-president was changed to January 20^th, and the term for Congress changed to January 3^rd by the 20^th Amendment, ratified on January 23^rd 1933.  The 22^nd Amendment limits the number of times any person can be elected as president (2), and was ratified on February 27, 1951.  The succession to the presidency was more clearly defined by the 25^th Amendment in the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and was ratified on February 10, 1967. 

Who Can Vote:  Although voting for federal offices and members of Congress is typically managed at the state level, there are a few amendments that regulate or modify laws applying to who can vote.  The state’s authority to deny the right to vote based on race, color, or involuntary servitude, was prohibited by the 15^th Amendment ratified on February 3, 1870.  The 19^th Amendment ratified on August 18, 1920, prohibits the denial of the right to vote based upon sex.  The 24^th Amendment ratified January 23, 1964, prohibits the denial of the right to vote owing to non-payment of a poll tax or any other tax or fee.  Then the nationwide voting age was lowered to 18 by the 26^th Amendment ratified July 1, 1971, that prohibits the denial of the right to vote to U.S. citizens aged 18 or older because of age.

The Role of the Supreme Court, and Rise of Federal Authority:  The Constitution including all amendments was designed to provide certain checks and balances to the various branches of the Federal Government.  It further defined more clearly what rights and responsibilities were taken away from the states and delegated to the Federal Government.  Even still, the need for an independent judiciary was apparent to referee disputes.  The Constitution does not specify how the judiciary would be structured, only that there must be one and it would be established by Congress.  The Supreme Court soon found itself in position to further define laws beyond their legislation as they are applied to practical living.  Further, the Supreme Court, owing to the stewardship of Chief Justice John Marshal (1801-1835), found itself in position to annul any legislation state or federal by declaring it to be unconstitutional.  This provided another check and balance against Congress itself.  In the early days of the republic the states retained a greater amount of authority than the new Federal Government.  As time went on and the need arose, power gradually accrued away from the states and to the Federal Government, but the debate continues even to this day.

Conclusions:  The concept of an over-arching Federal Government that retains certain powers that it uses to govern a society made up of smaller state governments was not brand new in 1787.  It dates back many hundred years on the North American continent to a federation of indigenous native tribes known as the Iroquois.  The individual member tribes would retain authority for those issues pertaining solely within the tribe, but would rely upon the Iroquois Federation to settle disputes between tribes or with other tribes and communities outside of the Federation.  This fact was known by the Founding Fathers when the Constitutional Convention took place. 

Sources: 

History.com, How the U.S. Constitution Has Changed and Expanded Since 1787, By Sarah Pruitt, September 17, 2020.

Wikipedia, List of Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.