The United States Constitution is an influential document, and that's actually kind of an

understatement, because in addition to this document,

which was written on just four pages of parchment in 1787

and then ratified in 1788,

in addition to it influencing the shape of the United States in fundamental ways,

it has also gone on to shape the governments of other nations, which in many

cases have attributed their own constitutional language and contents to that of the United States.

That influence has waned since the end of the Cold War, when an explosion of new constitutional

democracies around the world led to an increase in variation

as to what those constitutions contained. But the concept of a nation created intentionally,

on purpose, and under the auspices of fundamental rights and protections for its citizenry was an idea that caught on like wildfire.

It's weird to think that this was not a common thing until very recently in history.

And many countries that formed after the creation of the U.S. Constitution were formed as a

consequence of that idea.

Revolutions and reformations were sparked by the concept of representative democracy,

guaranteed human rights, and a set of core principles that are used to develop law moving forward.

The document itself is made up of seven articles, or sections, the first three of which discuss the separation of powers within the government.

The next three are all about federalism, which designates the difference and relationship between the federal, countrywide government, and the state governments.

And the seventh article is about how the 13 states

that existed at the time when it was written could ratify the document and make it the official

structural law of the land. Later, 10 amendments were added, collectively referred to as the Bill of Rights, because they outline

protections for the individual and introduce restrictions as to how the government can impugn upon

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