- "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is not in the constitution, it's in the Declaration of Independence. The 5th amendment guarantees, however, that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process.
- Amendment XII requires that the president and the vice president be from different states. That's why Dick Cheney became from Wyoming, and why Hillary couldn't pick Bloomberg, even if she wanted to.
- Amendment VII guarantees jury trial for any civil trial where the value in dispute is over $20.
- Amendment IX says that some rights not listed in the previous amendments are retained by the people. Robert Bork famously called the 9th amendment an inscrutible"ink blot on the constitution," implying it should just be ignored. I'd love to have Justice Scalia explain this amendment to me.
- The president shall take the following oath of affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." No god, folks.
- In fact, god doesn't make an appearance at all.
- The president "may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices." You know, like opinions as to what is torture.
- The State of the Union address is constitutionally mandated "from time to time."
- Treason is defined by the constitution as "levying War against [the United States], or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
- New states cannot be formed within states already members of the union, nor can two or more states combine to form a new state, except if Congress approves.
- Article V discusses how to call a constitutional convention.
- Amendment XIV says there will be no compensation for emancipated slaves.
- Amendment XXIV - no poll taxes.
- Treaties are the supreme law of the land. Kind of.
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Kerry Lauerman
Farhad Manjoo
Tracy Clark-Flory
Rebecca Traister
Sarah Hepola
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
Q: Can Texas divide itself into multiple states?
In 1820, the Missouri Compromise had helped save the United States from splitting along sectional lines by defining where slavery could exist in the territory gained in the Louisiana Purchase. Specifically, slavery could exist south of the 36°30'N line of latitude, and no further west than Missouri. The territory claimed by Texas extended further north and west than the Missouri Compromise lines (well into present-day New Mexico and Colorado).
In another compromise designed to overcome objections to annexation, the 1845 joint resolution that admitted Texas to the Union provided that Texas could be divided into as many as five states. Any states north or west of the Missouri Compromise lines would be free; in the others, a popular vote would determine whether slavery could exist.
The power to create new states could be exercised only by Congress, with the consent of the affected state legislatures. Congress had a long precedent to follow in the creation of new states from territorial acquisitions. For example, the Northwest Territory eventually became ten different states, and the Louisiana Purchase eventually led to the creation of thirteen new states.
In 1850, Southerners wanted to exercise the provision to create another slave state from Texas to balance the admission of California as a free state. In one of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850, Texas was instead given a payout of $10 million to give up its northern and western claims. A few years later, the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and made the issue of the boundaries a moot point. Although in theory Texas could still be divided into multiple states, any possibility of carving additional states from Texas ended when the Civil War settled the question of slavery once and for all.