United States Constitution Worksheets

What is the U.S. Constitution?

The U.S. Constitution is the country's fundamental law drafted in Philadelphia in 1787, approved in 1788, and later put into effect in 1789. The constitution contains seven articles that outline the document. Article One defines the legislative branch of the federal government. Article Two explains the office of the President of the States. Article Three defines the judicial branch, inclusive of the supreme court. Article Four outlines the relationships between the states and the relationship between each state and the federal government. Article Five talks about the process of amending the constitution. Article Six creates an understanding of the constitution and all the USA's federal laws and treaties made according to it to be the land's supreme law. Article Seven describes the process for establishing the proposed new frame of government.

The First Amendment

Even though these laws are clearly given to us they come under certain limitations. For example, you have freedom of speech but you can not say something that would endanger people like yelling "FIRE" in a crowded room. Not only is this a bad thing to do but it is illegal. It is also illegal for us to say things about people that are not true.


The Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures from governmental actors such as police, sheriffs, and judges and so on. This does not protect against searches and seizures from private citizens or organizations.


The Eighteenth Amendment

The 18th Amendment made the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcohol illegal in the United States. The government felt that alcohol use was the cause for many of the violent acts that took place at that time and by banning the alcohol and making it unavailable to the people the violence would slowly start to decrease.



The Thirteenth Amendment

This amendment made slavery illegal in the United States following the Civil War which was fought between the Northern and Southern states in1861 through 1865. When this ratification occurred slavery was only legal in Delaware and Kentucky not any other Southern state.


The Fifteenth Amendment

The 15th Amendment was passed in 1870 after the Civil War. It made it possible for men of different races to vote and have a say in their government.


The Nineteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. It was proposed on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920.The amendment was the culmination of the work of many activists in favor of women's suffrage. One such group called the Silent Sentinels protested in front of the White House for 18 months starting in 1917 to raise awareness of the issue.



The Twenty-First Amendment

The eighteenth amendment to the United States Constitution made the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal. This is called prohibition. Many citizens felt that this amendment was a mistake and that it should be changed.


The Twenty-Second Amendment

The twenty-second Amendment sets a limit on how many terms the president of the United States can serve.



Citizenship in America

This tells us that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen. Although every citizen was not born in the United States they may have obtained citizenship through naturalization. Citizenship is important in a country because it gives the citizens a sense of nationalism and the opportunity to make their word heard in the society.