Did You Know?

Each week UWS:CCC will post one “Did You Know” related to Civility or Civic Literacy. A new Did You Know will be posted here each week or you can check out our Instagram: @united.we.standccc for a shareable short version!

WEEK 2

Did you know that the U.S Constitution is the oldest and shortest written constitution of any major government in the world? After 230 years, it is still not out of date.

The Constitution has only 4,400 words. It was created to unite 13 colonies who had won their independence from the English King and Parliament in 1783. Since then, many other nations have used it as a model for their own constitutions. A major reason why it has lasted so long is because it did not attempt to resolve all of the issues that might come up from time to time. Instead, it created a structure of government and processes by which the people and their representatives could solve problems. Its main features include separating the government into three branches – legislative, executive and judicial – and creating “checks and balances” to assure that none of the branches had too much power. In 1919 an attempt was made to use the Constitution to resolve a particular problem – the regulation of alcohol. The 18th amendment was added. Because times change and people change, 12 years later, the 21st amendment repealed the 18th! Today, some are calling for a new constitutional convention to revise our Constitution. Good idea…or bad?

WEEK 1

Did you know the Constitution does not list any requirements for voting? In fact, the word “vote” does not even appear in the Constitution until the 14th Amendment was ratified in July 1868.

The authors of the Constitution left voting qualifications up to the states. Each state decided for itself who could vote. For example, most states limited voting to men. However, in 1776 New Jersey women could vote under the same qualifications as men – they had to own a certain amount of property. In 1838, widows with school-aged children could vote in school board elections. But change was in the air. In 1880 Wyoming became the first state to extend the right to vote to women. This was accomplished by an all-male legislature! By the time the Constitution was amended in 1920 prohibiting states from denying the right to vote on account of sex, 15 states had already followed Wyoming’s example. Other amendments prohibited the States from denying people the right to vote based on their age (14th Amendment, 1868 and 26th Amendment, 1971) or race, color or condition of previous servitude (15th Amendment, 1870). Today, some people are advocating for lowering the voting age to 16. Does that require a constitutional amendment…or not?