What does the Constitution do?

The Constitution plays a crucial role in American governance, primarily through its establishment and protection of individual rights and liberties. While it indeed outlines the structure of government and ensures a system of checks and balances among the branches, one of its foundational purposes is to safeguard the basic rights of the people. This is primarily accomplished through the Bill of Rights, which comprises the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

These amendments explicitly outline various rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and assembly, and protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, among others. This protection is fundamental to the democratic principles upon which the United States was founded, ensuring that individuals can exercise their freedoms without government interference.

Although aspects of the Constitution do touch upon the relationship between federal and state laws and define certain legal frameworks, the principal function of the Constitution is to establish a system of rights for its citizens. Hence, the assertion that the Constitution protects the basic rights of Americans is a central tenet of its significance in the American legal and political system.