Institutions that receive federal funds must comply with the requirement to commemorate Constitution Day of the United States. The Ana G. Méndez University, its Campus and University Centers, complying with this commitment, provides the following information.
The Constitution of the United States has 7 articles and 27 amendments. In May 1787 a group of leaders from the 13 colonies met in Philadelphia for the purpose of reviewing the Articles of Confederation and forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, providing common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the benefits of liberty.
The delegates, who included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison, drafted a new constitution which established a more powerful federal government with powers to collect taxes, establish mail, admit new states to the union, conduct diplomacy, maintain armed forces, and regulate foreign trade. Among the states, it established a Supreme Court and lower federal courts and gave executive power to an elected president. It also established the balance of power between the three branches of government: the executive, legislative and judicial branches. This principle gave each branch its own means to counteract and balance the activities of the others, thus guaranteeing that none of them could exercise dictatorial authority over government operations.
The Constitution was on September 17, 1787 and accepted in 1788. It came into force in 1789. It is the oldest written constitution, being durable because it is a general document that can be interpreted in accordance with the changes of the time and can be amended.
