The Constitution of the United States of America
The
Constitution of the United States is the system of fundamental laws of the
United States of America. The Constitution was drawn up by 55 delegates to
the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 and
ratified by the states in 1788. The Constitution defines distinct powers
for the Congress of the United States, the president, and the federal courts.
This division of authority is known as a system of checks and balances, and
it ensures that none of the branches of government can dominate the others.
The Constitution also establishes and limits the authority of the federal
government over the states and spells out freedoms and liberties for U.S.
citizens.
In 1774 the Parliament of Great Britain capped a series of abuses against the American colonies by imposing a tax on tea imports to the colonies. The colonies quickly agreed to convene a Continental Congress, which in 1776 appointed two committees—one to draft the Declaration of Independence and the other to prepare a “form of confederation” among the colonies. In 1778 this second committee produced the Articles of Confederation which took effect in 1781.
The Articles of Confederation established a league of friendship among the states, but not a political union. Each state remained separate and sovereign. The central government consisted of a one-chamber Congress, in which each state had a single vote. Congress had few powers, lacking even the authority to impose taxes. Any congressional action required the approval of 9 of the 13 states. The government had no president and no central court.
As a result, Congress in the 1780s could not deal with serious national problems, such as the repayment of about $40 million in domestic debt and $12 million in foreign debts incurred during the American Revolution (1775-1783). These and other problems required national solutions that neither the states nor the Confederation Congress had the political will to confront. The continuing crisis and the threat of further rebellions spurred the states to call a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation.
The Constitutional Convention began on May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia and the delegates settled most of issues quickly. Four questions proved far more difficult to resolve: conflicts over how the people were to be represented in Congress; what to do about slavery; the powers of the president and the procedures for election to the office; and the powers and functions of the federal courts.
On the key question of congressional representation, the convention eventually agreed on a compromise between two different plans. The first was that members of both houses of Congress be divided according to the population of each state. Because the population in three states alone—Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts—made up nearly half the country, this plan would have given these states control of the nation. The second plan favoured small states, giving all states equal representation in a one-chamber Congress regardless of population. Under this plan, the more numerous small states could unify against the larger ones. The final compromise was to give the states an equal voice in the upper house, the Senate, and representation proportional to population in the lower house, the House of Representatives.
Even though the words slave and slavery do not appear in the Constitution, the convention included ten provisions dealing with slavery. The most serious dispute arose over how to assign House seats to Southern states. If seats in the House of Representatives were apportioned according to state populations that included slaves, Southern states would gain an advantage because of their large slave populations. Northern states pushed to exclude slaves from the population calculations altogether. Southern states refused. Finally abolitionists from northern states compromised. They agreed to the infamous clause in Article I that counted slaves as only three-fifths of a person.
The delegates considered various proposals for a single three-year, six-year, and seven-year term for the Presidency. They debated whether the executive branch should be headed by a single leader or by many, and whether the chief executive should have the power to veto legislation, should be elected by Congress or the people, should be eligible to run for reelection, and should command the armed forces. Some delegates even hoped for a limited monarchy. Not until September 8, more than three months after the convention started, did the final shape of the presidency emerge: a single leader, elected to a four-year term and eligible for reelection, with authority to veto bills enacted by Congress. The president was also given command of the military and the power to appoint federal officials, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Early on at the convention, a Council of Revision, composed of federal judges and the president, to veto laws made by both Congress and state legislatures had been proposed. The delegates rejected variations of this plan four times because of the opinion that those who interpret the laws “ought to have no hand in making them”. Instead, it was agreed to create a single Supreme Court and to permit Congress to create lower federal courts.
The text of the Constitution was approved on September 15, and on September 17 all but three of the remaining delegates signed, what was now no longer just an agreement between states, but a constitution for a new nation.
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