The political system of the USA

(4) To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

(5) To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

From this section, along with the section that allows the Congress to regulate commerce and to borrow money, Congress gets its right to charter national banks and to establish the Federal Reserve System.

(6) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

Securities are government bonds.

(7) To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

(8) To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

Books, music, photographs, videotape, digital video discs (DVD), and films may be copyrighted under this rule.

(9) To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

Examples of federal courts «inferior to the Supreme Court» include the United States district courts and U.S. Courts of Appeals.

(10) To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

Congress, rather than the states, has jurisdiction over crimes committed at sea.

(11) To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

Only Congress can declare war. However, the President, as Commander-in-Chief, has engaged the United States in wars without a formal declaration of war by Congress. Undeclared wars include the Korean War (1950-1953), the Vietnam War (1957-1975), and the Gulf Wars (1991, 2003).
Letters of marque and reprisal are documents that authorize private vessels to attack enemy shipping. They are no longer issued.

(12) To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

(13) To provide and maintain a Navy;

(14) To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

(15) To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

Congress has given the President power to decide when a state of invasion or insurrection (uprising) exists. At such times, the President can call out the state militia, now known as the National Guard, as well as the regular armed forces.

(16) To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

The federal government helps the states maintain the militia, also known as the National Guard. Until 1916, the states controlled the militia entirely. That year, the National Defense Act provided for federal funding of the Guard and for drafting the Guard into national service under certain circumstances.

(17) To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; - And

This section makes Congress the legislative body not only for the District of Columbia, but for federal property on which forts, naval bases, arsenals, and other federal works or buildings are located.

(18) To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

This section, the famous «necessary and proper» clause, allows Congress to deal with many matters not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. This flexibility helps explain why the Constitution is one of the oldest written constitutions and why it has needed so few formal amendments.

ARTICLE I

Section 9

POWERS FORBIDDEN TO CONGRESS

(1) The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

This paragraph refers to the slave trade. Dealers in slaves, as well as some slaveholders, wanted to make sure that Congress could not stop anyone from bringing African slaves into the country before the year 1808. That year, Congress did ban the importation of slaves.

(2) The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

A writ of habeas corpus is a court order that commands officials who have a person in custody to bring the person into court. The officials must explain to the judge why the person is being restrained. If their explanation is unsatisfactory, the judge can order the prisoner released.

(3) No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

A bill of attainder is an act passed by a legislature to punish a person without trial. An ex post facto law is one that makes criminal an act that was not illegal when the act was committed. This also includes an act that retroactively increases the punishment for a criminal act.

(4) No Capitation, [or other direct,] Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

A capitation is a tax collected equally from everyone. It is also called a head tax or poll tax. The Supreme Court held that this section prohibits an income tax, but the 16th Amendment set aside the effect of the court's decision.

(5) No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

In this sentence, exported means sent to other states or to foreign countries. The Southern states feared that the new government would tax their exports and that their economies would suffer as a result. This sentence forbids such a tax. However, Congress can prohibit shipment of certain items, as well as regulate the conditions of their shipment.

(6) No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

Congress cannot make laws concerning trade that favor one state over another. Ships going from one state to another need not pay taxes to do so.

(7) No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

Government money cannot be spent without the consent of Congress. Congress must provide for the issuance of financial statements from time to time.

(8) No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Congress cannot give anyone a title of nobility, such as countess or duke. Federal officials may not accept a gift, office, payment, or title from a foreign country without the consent of Congress.

ARTICLE I

Section 10

POWERS FORBIDDEN TO THE STATES

(1) No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

(2) No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

Without the consent of Congress, a state cannot tax goods entering or leaving the state except for small fees to cover the cost of inspection.

(3) No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Only the federal government has the power to make treaties or negotiate with foreign countries.

ARTICLE II

Section 1

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

(1) The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows

(2) Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

This section establishes the Electoral College, a group of people chosen in each state in a manner that the state legislature decides. All states now provide that the voters choose these electors. These electors in turn elect the President and Vice President.

(3) [The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.]

The 12th Amendment changed this procedure for electing the President and Vice President.

(4) The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

(5) No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

(6) In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

On August 9, 1974, President Richard M. Nixon resigned as Chief Executive and was succeeded by Vice President Gerald R. Ford. Until then, only death had ever cut short the term of a President of the United States. The 25th Amendment provides that the Vice President succeeds to the presidency if the President becomes disabled, and specifies the conditions applying to succession.

(7) The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

The Constitution made it possible for a poor person to become President by providing a salary for that office. The President's salary cannot be raised or lowered during his or her term of office. The Chief Executive may not receive any other pay from the federal government or the states, but of course is provided with many services.

(8) Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: - «I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.»

The Constitution does not say who shall administer the oath to the newly elected President. President George Washington was sworn in by Robert R. Livingston, then a state official in New York. After that it became customary for the Chief Justice of the United States to administer the oath. Calvin Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a justice of the peace, at his home in Vermont. Coolidge took the oath again before Justice Adolph A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

ARTICLE II

Section 2

(1) The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

The President's powers as Commander-in-Chief are far-reaching. But even in wartime, the President must obey the law of the land.

(2) He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The framers of the Constitution intended that in some matters the Senate should serve as an advisory body for the President, somewhat as the House of Lords advised the monarch in Great Britain.

The President can make treaties and appoint various government officials. But two-thirds of the Senators present must approve before a treaty is confirmed. Also, high appointments require approval of more than half the Senators present.

(3) The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

When the Senate is not in session, the President can make temporary appointments to offices that require Senate confirmation.

ARTICLE II

Section 3

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

The President gives a State of the Union message to Congress each year. Presidents George Washington and John Adams delivered their messages in person. For more than 100 years after that, most Presidents sent a written message, which was read in Congress. President Woodrow Wilson delivered his message in person, as did Franklin D. Roosevelt and all Presidents after Roosevelt. Famous messages to Congress include the Monroe Doctrine and President Wilson's «Fourteen Points.»

During the 1800s, Presidents often called Congress into session. Today, Congress is in session most of the time. No President has ever had to adjourn Congress.
The responsibility to «take care that the laws be faithfully executed» puts the President at the head of law enforcement for the national government. Every federal official, civilian or military, gets his or her authority from the President.

ARTICLE II

Section 4

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

ARTICLE III

Section 1

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour; and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

The Constitution gives federal courts considerable independence from both the Congress and the President. The guarantee that judges shall hold office during «good behavior» means that, unless they are impeached and convicted, they can hold office for life. This protects judges from any threat of dismissal by the President who appointed them, or by any other President during their lifetime. The rule that a judge's salary may not be reduced protects the judge against pressure from Congress, which could otherwise threaten to fix the salary so low that the judge could be forced to resign.

ARTICLE III

Section 2

(1) The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; - to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; - to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; - to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; - to Controversies between two or more States; - [between a State and Citizens of another State;] - between Citizens of different States, - between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, [Citizens or Subjects.]

The rights of the federal courts to handle «cases arising under this Constitution» is the basis of the Supreme Court's right to declare laws of Congress unconstitutional. This right of «judicial review» was established by Chief Justice John Marshall's historic decision in the case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803.

The 11th Amendment set aside the phrase «between a state and citizens of another state» and removes from federal courts suits by citizens against a state.

(2) In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The statement that the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases affecting foreign governments and their representatives and in cases to which a state government is one of the parties means that cases of this kind go directly to the Supreme Court. In other cases, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction. This means that the cases are tried first in a lower court and may come up to the Supreme Court for review if Congress has authorized an appeal for such kinds of cases. Congress cannot take away or modify the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, but it can take away the right to appeal to that Court or fix the conditions one must meet to present an appeal.

(3) The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

ARTICLE III

Section 3

(1) Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

No person can be convicted of treason against the United States unless he or she confesses in open court, or unless two witnesses testify that he or she has committed a treasonable act. Talking or thinking about committing a treasonable act is not treason.

(2) The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

The phrase «no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood» means that the family of a traitor does not share the guilt. Formerly, an offender's family could also be punished.

ARTICLE IV*

Section 1

RELATION OF THE STATES TO EACH OTHER

(*Much of this article was taken word for word from the old Articles of Confederation.)

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

This section requires the states to honor one another's laws, records, and court rulings.

ARTICLE IV

Section 2

(1) The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

This means that citizens traveling from state to state are entitled to all the privileges and immunities that automatically go to citizens of those states. Some privileges, such as the right to vote, do not automatically go with citizenship, but require a period of residence and perhaps other qualifications. The word «citizen» in this provision does not include corporations.

(2) A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

If a person commits a crime in one state and flees to another state, the governor of the state in which the crime was committed can demand that the fugitive be handed over. The process of returning an accused person is called extradition. In a few cases, a governor has refused to extradite. The governor might do so because the crime was committed many years ago, or because he or she believes the accused would not get a fair trial in the other state.

(3) [No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.]

A «person held to service or labor» was a slave or an indentured servant (a person bound by contract to serve someone for several years). No one is now bound to servitude in the United States, so this part of the Constitution, being superseded by the 13th Amendment, no longer has any force.

ARTICLE IV

Section 3

FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS

(1) New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

New states cannot be formed by dividing or joining existing states without the consent of the state legislatures and Congress. During the Civil War (1861-1865), Virginia fought for the Confederacy, but people in the western part of the state supported the Union. After West Virginia split from Virginia, Congress accepted the new state on the ground that Virginia had rebelled.

(2) The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

ARTICLE IV

Section 4

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

This section requires the federal government to make sure that every state has a «republican form of government.» A republican government is one in which the people elect representatives to govern. The Supreme Court ruled that Congress, not the courts, must decide whether a state government is republican. If Congress admits a state's Senators and Representatives, that action indicates that Congress considers the state's government republican. The legislature or governor of a state can request federal aid in dealing with riots or other internal violence. But the President does not need a state's consent to send federal forces, including military ones, to enforce federal laws. During the Pullman strike of 1894, the federal government sent troops to Illinois even though the state governor did not want them. In 1957 President Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard in order to remove it from the command of Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus and sent in the United States Army to help implement the orders of a federal district judge that the Little Rock schools be racially desegregated.

ARTICLE V

AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided [that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and] that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Amendments may be proposed by two-thirds vote of each house of Congress or by a national convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the states. To become part of the Constitution, amendments must be ratified (approved) by the legislature of three-fourths of the states or by conventions in three-fourths of the states.

The framers of the Constitution purposely made it hard to put through an amendment. Congress has considered more than 7,000 amendments, but it has proposed only 33 and submitted them to the states. Of these, only 27 have been ratified. Only one amendment, the 21st, was ratified by state conventions. All the others were ratified by state legislatures.

The Constitution sets no time limit during which the states must ratify a proposed amendment. But the courts have held that amendments must be ratified within a «reasonable time» and that Congress decides what is reasonable, as it did when it allowed the promulgation of the 27th Amendment on May 7,1992 - more than 202 years after it was proposed. Since the early 1900s, most proposed amendments have included a requirement that the necessary ratification be obtained within seven years.

ARTICLE VI

NATIONAL DEBTS

(1) All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This section promises that all debts and obligations made by the United States before the adoption of the Constitution would be honored.

SUPREMACY OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

(2) This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

This section, known as the supremacy clause, has been called the linchpin of the Constitution - that is, the part that keeps the entire structure from falling apart. It means simply that when state laws conflict with national laws, the national laws are superior. It also means that, to be valid, a national law must be in conformity with the Constitution.

(3) The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

This section requires that both federal and state officials give supreme allegiance to the Constitution of the United States rather than to the constitution of any state. This section also forbids any kind of religious test for holding federal office. This provision applies only to the national government, but the 14th Amendment applies the same rule to state and local governments.

ARTICLE VII

RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

The Word, «the,» being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, The Word «Thirty» being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words «is tried» being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word «the» being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.

Attest William Jackson Secretary

(This statement reflects copyist's corrections to the original document.)

done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth

In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

Go. WASHINGTON - Presid.t and deputy from Virginia

At the time the Constitution was written, the nation consisted of 13 states, symbolized by the 13 stars in the nation's first flag (top). During subsequent decades, a new star was added to the flag for each new state admitted to the Union, so that today the flag contains 50 stars for the 48 continental states plus Alaska and Hawaii. The 13 alternating red and white stripes, symbolizing the original states, have remained unchanged.

The Right	Persons (%)	Voters (%)	Income of $75k+	College degree	Married with Children	Voted for Bush (%)	Voted for Kerry (%)
Enterprisers	9 %	11 %	41 %	46 %	40 %	92 %	1 %
Social Conservatives	11 %	13 %	30 %	28 %	28 %	86 %	4 %
Pro-Government Conservatives	9 %	10 %	10 %	15 %	34 %	61 %	12 %
The Middle	Persons (%)	Voters (%)	Income of $75k+	College degree	Married with Children	Voted for Bush (%)	Voted for Kerry (%)
Upbeats	11 %	13 %	39 %	37 %	28 %	63 %	14 %
Disaffecteds	9 %	10 %	13 %	11 %	22 %	42 %	21 %
Bystanders	10 %	0 %	8 %	13 %	28 %	*	*
The Left	Persons (%)	Voters (%)	Income of $75k+	College degree	Married with Children	Voted for Bush (%)	Voted for Kerry (%)
Conservative Democrats	14 %	15 %	15 %	16 %	28 %	14 %	65 %
Disadvantaged Democrats	10 %	10 %	8 %	13 %	23 %	2 %	82 %
Liberals	17 %	19 %	41 %	49 %	20 %	2 %	81 %