THE US CONSTITUTION

The form of the US government is based on the Constitu­tion of September 17, 1787, adopted after the War of Independ­ence. A «constitution» in American political Language means the set of rules, laws, regulations and customs which together pro-

vide the practical norms or standards regulating the work of the government

In the course of the War against Britain 13 states united un­der federal government. The newly formed federal republic had a very weak central control. The economic situation in the country was very unstable. Inflation, taxes, bankruptcies aroused indig­nation among the farmers.

In the fall of 1786 an uprising took place in the state of Massachusetts. The rebellion was put down but that was a sign, which showed the ruling classes that they must set up a strong system of national government

In 1787 the Constitutional Convention formulated a Con­stitution for the United States. The Constitution is, with some amendments, in force to this day. It consists of the Preamble, 7 articles and 26 amendments. The first ten of them called the Bill of Rights were adopted by the Congress in December 1791.

The Bill enumerated what the government was not going to be allowed to do, which was an important democratic gain for the people.

Some of these 10 amendments are now unimportant, but others, especially the 5-th Amendment is still significant The 5-th (the due process amendment) provides that «no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law and no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself».

Americans say that of all freedoms (freedom of speech, press, conscience) proclaimed in the Constitution there is only one freedom-freedom to enterprise.

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