Constitution day is September 16, and there is a lot to celebrate. A celebration of the United States constitution and its history is about as American as hamburgers and guns, but there is a lot to celebrate with the constitution. The flexibility and federal system that the government has allowed for our country has brought it through the last three centuries with a strength that has become unmatched throughout history. This does not make it perfect though, with many amendments being proposed and never coming to light or amendments being repealed after the fact. Differences in opinion seem to only make the constitution better though, with compromise being a major leader for ideas and the reason why America has the constitution in the first place. Compromise in this manner has led to the Bill of Rights and the later twenty seven amendments after the fact, which now shape our constitution today.

While there are twenty seven amendments, there are some amendments that have been overlooked within the constitution that the country should be thinking about more often.

The Bill of Rights is most known for its protection of the rights that are used in daily life. These protections help Americans everyday, but one that sticks out to people is the third amendment and how it affects everyday life. The third amendment states that soldiers shall not be allowed to force quartering in a time of peace, which is a famous grievance in the Declaration of Independence. While this military presence does not pertain to modern US history as it did during the revolution and later homeland invasions in the eighteen hundreds, the modern use of this amendment is that the police cannot quarter in your home. This idea comes from the early version of police, being the military, would quarter to keep the peace, which the founders of the US saw as a problem that the military trying to keep the police could go too far. What the founders did not understand is the invention of a police force, or a system of local people that would enforce the peace through less violent means. While they did not have the foresight of that, this amendment does not allow for the police to quarter their business in homes, which is major in keeping privacy and protections as citizens. This protection of the people from a theoretical tyrannical police force or military is something that Americans can thank the constitution for.

The Constitution has many major amendments to the Constitution that protect rights and are vital to the country, such as the thirteenth and twentieth amendments, but another amendment that is major to how the government functions is the seventeenth amendment. The seventeenth amendment to the Constitution states how citizens vote in senators through popular votes, which allows for the people to vote for senators directly. Election for senators by the people, instead of any other way, allows for the people to choose our law making representatives in Congress. The importance of electing senators directly is the ability to choose a part of the lawmaking process straight from the population, which means voters can have the ability to choose senators who are aligned to our political beliefs. This is major to how citizens contribute to the country’s democracy. A contribution that every citizen can make and use at their discretion to help create a better world around them, which voters can thank the seventeenth amendment for.

The Constitution is a major document that not only influenced the country that Americans live in today, but the entire world. The celebration of it and its democratic ideals that brought everyone into a world where citizens can influence the government is not only a blessing but truly a miracle.