Constitution of the United States

Name: Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States
Author: Joseph Story

Definition and stakes

The Constitution of the United States, as the supreme law of the land, outlines the structure and authority of the federal government while maintaining a balance with state power. Joseph Story highlighted its fundamental role in dividing legislative, executive, and judicial functions to protect individual freedoms, asserting that its legitimacy comes directly from the people, not from the states. William F.

Russell observed how the federal Constitution influenced state constitutions, even though these were developed independently. Scholars such as George Ticknor Curtis emphasized the document's adaptability, noting that it largely left state affairs untouched except to ensure republican ideals. The ongoing discussion regarding its interpretation—whether as a compact or a living document—demonstrates its evolving influence on governance and civil rights.

Quotes about “Constitution of the United States”

Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)

“ The general reasoning, by which the maxim is supported, independently of the just weight of the authority in its support, seems entirely satisfactory. What is of far more value than any mere reasoning, experience has demonstrated it to be founded in a just view of the nature of government, and the safety and liberty of the people. And it is no small commendation of the constitution of the United States, that instead of adopting anew theory, it has placed this practical truth, as the basis of its organization. It has placed the legislative, executive, and judicial powers in different hands. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)

“ The obligation, which the constitution imposes upon the judiciary department, to support the constitution of the United States, would be nugatory, if it were dependent upon either of the other branches of the government, or in any manner subject to their control, since such control might operate to the destruction, instead of the support, of the constitution. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)

“ There are now twenty-four states in the Union, and each has, in its sovereign capacity, a right to decide for itself in the last resort, what is the true construction of the constitution; what are its powers; and what are the obligations founded on it. We may, then, have, in the free exercise of that right, twenty-four honest, but different expositions of every power in that constitution, and of every obligation involved in it. What one state may deny, another may assert; what one may assert at one time, it may deny at another time. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)

“ The ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of resisting acts, which are plainly unconstitutional and too oppressive to be endured; but on the strange position, that any one state may not only declare an act of congress void, but prohibit its execution,—that they may do this consistently with the constitution,—that the true construction of that instrument permits a state to retain its place in the Union, and yet be bound by no other of its laws, than those it may choose to consider as constitutional. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)

“ The streams of national power ought to flow and should flow immediately from the highest original fountain of all legitimate authority. [7] And, accordingly, the advocates of the constitution so treated it in their reasoning in favour of its adoption. "The constitution," said the Federalist, "is to be founded on the assent and ratification of the people of America, given by deputies elected for that purpose; but this assent and ratification is to be given by the people, not as individuals composing a whole nation, but as composing the distinct and independent states, to which they belong." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)

“ Whenever such questions arise, they will probably be settled, each upon its own peculiar grounds; and whenever it is a question of power, it should be approached with infinite caution, and affirmed only upon the most persuasive reasons. In examining the constitution, the antecedent situation of the country, and its institutions, the existence and operations of the state governments, the powers and operations of the confederation, in short all the circumstances, which had a tendency to produce, or to obstruct its formation and ratification, deserve a careful attention. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)

“ The objections raised against the adoption of the constitution were of very different natures, and, in some instances, of entirely opposite characters. They will be found embodied in various public documents, in the printed opinions of distinguished men, in the debates of the respective state conventions, and in a still more authentic shape in the numerous amendments proposed by these conventions, and accompanying their acts of ratification. It is not easy to reduce them all into general heads ”