State constitutions resemble the federal Constitution in that they outline the state government’s structure of legislative, executive and judicial branches as well as contain a bill of rights.

50 state constitutions

We have reproduced three State Constitutions: Virginia, the first to be written and adopted one week prior to the Declaration of Independence; New Jersey, adopted on July 2, 1776, and the first to exclude a prefatory bill of rights; and Pennsylvania, the third constitution adopted and considered the most radical.

One main difference between the United States Constitution and state constitutions is that state constitutions are much longer. The length of the state constitutions compared to that of the Constitution of the United States of America is the main reason for their difference.

Terms in this set (6)

• Principles. Popular sovereignty, seperation of powers, checks and balance.
• civil rights. Bill of rights, gender equality.
• structure. outline of state.
• Powers. lists powers, empowers state to tax, spend, borrow.
• Change. process for amendment.
• Other. preamble.

Terms in this set (25) (true or false) State constitutions do not need to comply with the united states constitution. how many amendments to the constitution have been made? 1992 and how congress can’t give themselves pay raises.

What did most State Constitutions have that the original United States Constitution did not have? A bill of rights.

Pennsylvania

The first state constitutions aimed to keep power in the hands of the people. For example, voters chose legislators and states held elections often. In most states, only white males who were at least 21 years old could vote. They also had to own a certain amount of property or pay a certain amount of taxes.

State constitutions and their more frequently adopted amendments tend to be longer than the national one because their bills of rights cover, in addition to the traditional rights, more recently emerging protections, such as the rights of victims of crimes.

How are state and Federal constitutions similar? Like the federal Constitution, every state constitution provides for separation of powers among three branches of government-legislative, executive, and judicial. State legislature has the power to propose an amendment to the state constitution.

U.S. HISTORY THESE FIRST STATE CONSTITUTIONS PROVIDED THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE U. S. CONSTITUTION, INCLUDING THE BILL OF RIGHTS. After the Revolutionary War, delegates from the thirteen Ameri- can states met at Philadelphia to draft a new constitution for the United States.

False. By the end of 1780 all of the states had written their constitutions. Americans were ready to concentrate power in the hands of a single ruler.

The New State Constitutions Eleven of the original 13 colonies drafted at least one State Constitution as part of the process of changing into states. Connecticut and Rhode Island initially opted to continue to use their colonial Charters as “State Constitutions”. By 1780, every state had a written constitution.

The most important features of the new constitutions were : establishing the republican form of government, the separation of powers and establishment of a government, equality among citizens, the need for religious freedom, the separation of church and state and the economic liberty.

Cards

The present United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789.

The Constitution specifically grants Congress its most important power — the authority to make laws. A bill, or proposed law, only becomes a law after both the House of Representatives and the Senate have approved it in the same form. The two houses share other powers, many of which are listed in Article I, Section 8.

They all began with a statement of rights. These rights were guided by three founding ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence: equality, freedom, and democracy. Each state constitution separated the powers of government into executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

James Madison

the National Archives museum

Among them was the idea that all people are created equal, whether European, Native American, or African American, and that these people have fundamental rights, such as liberty, free speech, freedom of religion, due process of law, and freedom of assembly. America’s revolutionaries openly discussed these concepts.