THE U.S. CONSTITUTION : A Very Short Introduction

New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018. Soft cover. New/None as Issued. Archival Photographs & Illustrations. Text/BRAND NEW. Stiff softcover/NEW. Concise, scholarly, pocket-sized guide to understanding The Constitution of the United States from Oxford Univ. Press. Reading of the supreme law of USA, superceding the Articles of Confederation (the nation's first constitution) in 1789. 7 articles --- the first 3 articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers (dividing the federal gov't into 3 branches (the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the president & subordinate officers; & the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court & other federal courts. Article IV, Article V & VI embody concepts of federalism (the rights & responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal gov't & shared process of constitutional amendment. Article VII establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 states to ratify it. The document is the oldest, longest-standing written & codified national constitution in force in the world today. It's drafting, popularly referred to as "framing", was completed at the Constitutional Convention, Independence Hal, Philadelphia between May 25 & September 17, 1787. Delegates were chosen by state legislatures of 12 of the 13 original states --- Rhode Island absent. 143 pgs w/illustrations, in 8 chapters: 1, The Revolutionary Constitution; 2, Federalism; 3, Balance of powers; 4, Property; 5, Representation; 6, Equality; 7, Rights; and 9, Security, followed by Epilogue & Further Reading.