A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments

John R. Vile

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781440833274
• eBook ISBN: 9798216063858
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Now in its sixth edition with coverage of major Supreme Court decisions through the end of the 2013–2014 term, this book remains a key source for students, professors, and citizens seeking balanced, up-to-date information on the Constitution, its amendments, and how they have been interpreted. A document that is well past two centuries old, the U.S. Constitution remains as relevant and important today as during the time of our country's founding. Now in its sixth edition, this single-volume work offers a fair, non-partisan treatment of one of the most important documents in American history. The book begins with introductory background information on the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and then presents a clause-by-clause explanation of the Constitution from the preamble through all of its amendments, addressing how each has been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court and other institutions throughout U.S. history. This fully updated edition of A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments incorporates numerous new developments in the four years since the previous edition, including the appointments of new Supreme Court justices, impactful cases involving First Amendment rights for students, the Affordable Care Act, National Security Agency (NSA) data gathering, voting rights, campaign finance law, DNA sampling, and the ongoing battle over gay rights. As with the previous editions, John R. Vile provides a balanced and thorough treatment that identifies key Supreme Court decisions and other interpretations of the document while abstaining from unnecessarily complex and confusing explanations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface to the Sixth Edition
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 The Background and Purposes of the Constitution
• Chapter 2 Article I: The Legislative Branch
• Chapter 3 Article II: The Executive Branch
• Chapter 4 Article III: The Judicial Branch
• Chapter 5 Article IV: The Federal System
• Chapter 6 Articles V–VII: The Amending Provision and Miscellaneous Matters
• Chapter 7 The Bill of Rights—The First Amendment
• Chapter 8 The Bill of Rights: Of Arms and Men—Amendments 2–3
• Chapter 9 The Bill of Rights and the Rights of the Accused and the Convicted—Amendments 4–8
• Chapter 10 The Bill of Rights, the Rights of the States (Amendments 9–10), and Amendments 11 and 12
• Chapter 11 The Post–civil War Amendments—Amendments 13–15
• Chapter 12 The Progressive Era Amendments—Amendments 16–19
• Chapter 13 The Recent Amendments—Amendments 20–27
• Reading Supreme Court Decisions
• Glossary
• Highlights of Constitutional History
• U.S. Supreme Court Justices
• Appendix 1: The Constitution of the United States
• Appendix 2: The Declaration of Independence
• Appendix 3: The Articles of Confederation
• Index
• About the Author