1. The Constitution
of the United States

2. This is the Preamble
(or introduction) of
the Constitution.

3. This is the actual
Constitution of the
United States.

4. The Constitution was written in 1787 by
55 men we call the Framers of the Constitution.
These men included
George Washington and Ben Franklin.

5. What is the
Constitution?
The Constitution says how the government works. It
creates the President. It creates the Congress. It creates
the Supreme Court.

6. The Constitution sets up the government.
The government is split into three parts or branches.
1. One branch is the Congress. The Congress makes laws. The
people elect the members of Congress.
2. The next branch is the President. The President enforces the
laws.
3. The last branch is the Courts. The courts decide what the law
means when there are questions.
 All of the parts have to work together. Just like the Framers
agreed on the Constitution, the parts have to agree on the laws.
No part has too much power. The power is shared. This helps
protect the people.

7. How it all works

8. The Constitution
gives us rights and
freedoms as citizens
of the United States.
Watch the next four slides and
think about what freedoms
these pictures show.

13. The law is the set of rules that we live by.
The Constitution is the highest law.
It belongs to the United States.
It belongs to all Americans.

14. The Constitution, which
is over 200 years old,
can be seen in
Washington, D.C.