The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former slaves—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.”

The creation of the U.S. Constitution

The National Emergencies Act (NEA) provides a framework for the President to declare a national emergency, but does not define what may constitute a national emergency.

What it is: The debt ceiling is a legal cap on the amount of money the Treasury can borrow to fund existing government functions. It essentially authorizes the Treasury to borrow the money necessary to pay the bills incurred by the federal government.

Ex parte Merryman was a habeas corpus case challenging the military detention of John Merryman, a civilian accused of treason during the U.S. Civil War.

The government is not just a bill collector and spender. At its best, each of the dollars our government spends can advance the common good and Americans’ quality of life through public investments in infrastructure, systems and structures that only government is positioned to make – investments in things like court systems, clean water, transportation, income security, energy and education.

Good governance and human rights are mutually reinforcing.

The Declaration of Independence was the first formal statement by a nation’s people asserting their right to choose their own government.

This three-part documentary discusses why and how the Constitution was created at the Constitutional Convention and explores the protection of individuals’ rights in the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright and limits on presidential power through checks and balances in the Supreme Court case Youngstown v. Sawyer.

Until recently, asking what would happen if the U.S. defaulted on its debt was like asking what unicorns like to eat for breakfast. It was simply an exercise in absurdity – a question whose answers lay outside the realm of possibility.

John Perry bought a $10,000 gold bond which was payable in “gold coin of the present standard value”. When Perry purchased the bond, the standard gold dollars contained 25.8 grains of gold. By the time Perry redeemed the bond Congress changed the standard gold dollar to 15 5/21 grains. Perry claimed he was entitled to the weight of gold the original gold dollars would have given him instead of the dollar amount of the bond. The Court of Claims certified the question before the court.

The debt ceiling is a cap on the total amount the US government can borrow, set by US lawmakers.

The Framers of the Constitution had a rich intellectual foundation and long practical experience with representative legislatures from which to draw as they framed the new Constitution and founded a new nation. The Framers at the Constitutional Convention debated the principles of republican government, federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances throughout the summer of 1787. They unanimously agreed that the government would be republican, or representative of the sovereign people, who gave their consent to form a government to protect their natural rights.

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. Empowered with the sovereign authority of the people by the framers and the consent of the legislatures of the states, it is the source of all government powers, and also provides important limitations on the government that protect the fundamental rights of United States citizens.

John Green teaches you about the United States Constitution. During and after the American Revolutionary War, the government of the new country operated under the Articles of Confederation.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.

Nations come into being in many ways. Military rebellion, civil strife, acts of heroism, acts of treachery, a thousand greater and lesser clashes between defenders of the old order and supporters of the new–all these occurrences and more have marked the emergences of new nations, large and small. The birth of our own nation included them all.

This Article presents a case study of how constitutional actors respond when the rule of law and necessity are sharply at odds and provides some background on Section Four of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The recent debate over the debt ceiling has led various commentators, journalists and politicians to consider the relevance of section Four of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Thomas Jefferson letter written to John B. Colvin on September 20, 1810.

USA Spending tracks federal spending to ensure taxpayers can see how their money is being used in communities across America. Learn more on how this money was spent with tools to help you navigate spending from top to bottom.

“Good governance” is a term that has become a part of the vernacular of a large range of development institutions and other actors within the international arena. What it means exactly, however, has not been so well established. Rachel Gisselquist highlights the problem of conceptual clarity when it comes to “good governance” and why this is problematic for the practical outcomes that development institutions and the like are trying to achieve.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, also commonly referred to as the Steel Seizure Case or the Youngstown Steel case, was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property.