Every law in America, from City Hall to the halls of Congress, must answer to one rulebook: the United States Constitution. Written in the summer of 1787 inside Independence Hall, a short walk from our neighborhoods, it became the law of the land in 1789 and remains the oldest written national constitution still in force in the world. Its first words are a promise:

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

That summer, fifty-five delegates gathered in Philadelphia. George Washington led the meetings; James Madison offered so many ideas that history calls him the Father of the Constitution. The country’s first plan, the Articles of Confederation, had proved to be too weak, so the writers of the Constitution built something stronger: three branches of government, each one watching the others, like neighbors who look out for the whole block. This is called “checks and balances”. The founders knew they could not see the future, so they left a door open for future changes: the Constitution can be amended as new needs arise. The first ten came quickly, in 1791: the Bill of Rights, promising freedom of speech, religion, and press, and fair treatment under the law.

Through that open door came the nation’s greatest actions to include everyone, as “We the People” was meant to be. The 13th Amendment, in 1865, freed enslaved people. The 19th Amendment, in 1920, gave women the right to vote. No amendment ever named Indigenous peoples; it took a law, the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, to recognize the first peoples of this land as citizens, and some states blocked their votes for decades. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a law, not an amendment. It stood on the 14th Amendment’s promise of equal protection to outlaw discrimination. The newest change, the 27th Amendment, limits when Congress may raise its own pay. Madison proposed it in 1789; it was ratified in 1992, like a letter that got lost in the mail.

When a law or an order, including an executive order, breaks the Constitution’s rules, courts declare it unconstitutional, and it cannot stand. Article VI calls the Constitution the supreme law of the land, so every state law and every presidential order must fit beneath it, as branches joined on a tree. On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court struck down a presidential order that tried to end birthright citizenship, ruling that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to babies born on American soil.

That is why every president, lawmaker, and judge swears an oath to support the Constitution. The promise is made to the rulebook, not to a party or a person.

History shows what happens when leaders break that promise. In 1992, Peru’s president, Alberto Fujimori, sent tanks into the streets of Lima, shut down Congress, and suspended his country’s Constitution.  In Cuba, Fulgencio Batista suspended parts of this constitution after seizing power in 1952, and it was completely suspended after the Cuban Revolution.

The Constitution stays strong only when the people protect it by learning about it, defending it, and voting.

Next week: the mechanics of our government and how the branches work together.