Omar Bennett
The Constitution of the United States was signed on September 17, 1787, and ratified on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to ratify it. The Constitution was not ratified by all states until May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island approved the document. The American Civil War took place between 1861 and 1865. Therefore, the Constitution was written and ratified long before the Civil War. In the five years immediately following the Civil War, the Reconstruction Amendments were adopted, which abolished slavery and granted citizenship and voting rights to former slaves.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of signing | September 17, 1787 |
| Date of ratification | June 21, 1788 |
| Date of ratification by all states | May 29, 1790 |
| Date the Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution | End of 1791 |
| Date the location of the capital was set | July 16, 1790 |
| Date land was designated for the capital's construction | January 24, 1791 |
| Date of the first federal elections | Monday, December 15, 1788 |
| Date the new government was set to begin | March 4, 1789 |
| Number of delegates who signed the Constitution | 38 |
| Total number of signatures | 39 |
| Number of states that ratified the Constitution before New Hampshire | 8 |
| Number of states that ratified the Constitution | 13 |
| Number of articles condensed into seven | 23 |
| Number of years the Constitution has been in force | Over 240 |
| Number of rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution compared to other countries | Relatively few |
| Number of provisions in the average bill | 60 |
| Number of provisions in the U.S. Constitution | 26 |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
The US Constitution was signed in 1787
The US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by 38 delegates, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. The signing of the US Constitution took place in Philadelphia, after three months of intense debate. The delegates had been tasked with revising the existing government, but they ended up creating a new one.
The Constitution was formed after the Revolutionary War, as America's leaders sought a stronger, more centralized government. The previous governing document, the Articles of Confederation, had been in force since 1781, but it was inadequate. It gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers and could not regulate commerce or print money. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington were convinced that the young country was on the brink of collapse due to these weaknesses.
The Constitutional Convention, which began on May 25, 1787, was convened to address these issues. The delegates, representing diverse interests and views, crafted compromises and created a powerful central government. The final document was condensed from 23 articles to seven by the Committee of Style and Arrangement. The Constitution was an extraordinary achievement and stands as one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions in the world.
However, it is important to note that the Constitution did not initially include certain protections for rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. The Bill of Rights, which addressed these concerns, was not ratified until 1791, several years after the Constitution. Additionally, the Constitution did not originally abolish slavery or grant citizenship and voting rights to former slaves. These issues were addressed in the Reconstruction Amendments, adopted between 1865 and 1870, following the Civil War.
The Evolution of Preamble: A Historical Perspective
You may want to see also
The Articles of Confederation were America's first constitution
The Articles of Confederation, formulated in 1777, were the first constitution of the United States of America. It was a written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. The Articles established a league of friendship for the 13 sovereign and independent states, with each state retaining its sovereignty, freedom, and independence. Each state had one vote in Congress, and ratification by all 13 states was required to set the Confederation into motion.
The Articles of Confederation gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers, could not regulate commerce, and could not print money. It also left the issue of state claims to western lands unresolved. Most delegates recognised the Articles as a flawed compromise, but believed that it was better than a complete absence of formal national government.
The Articles of Confederation were in force from 1781 until 1787, when they were replaced by the current United States Constitution. The Continental Congress, recognising the inadequacies of the Articles, assembled a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in May 1787 to revise them. After three months of intense debate, a new Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, which remains in effect today.
Thus, the Articles of Confederation were America's first constitution, and they played a crucial role in establishing the initial governing structure of the United States after its independence. However, their limitations led to their replacement by the current Constitution, which has endured and become a cornerstone of American democracy.
A Long Time Ago: The Constitution's Age
You may want to see also
The US Constitution was ratified in 1788
The US Constitution was the second attempt at a constitution for the country, the first being the Articles of Confederation, which came into force in 1781. The Articles of Confederation created a confederacy of 13 sovereign and independent states, with the Confederation Congress having the power to make rules and request funds from the states. However, the central government had no power to enforce these rules, regulate commerce, print money, or effectively support a war effort. It also lacked the power to settle disputes between states.
Fearing that the young nation was on the brink of collapse, leaders like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington called for a constitutional convention to reevaluate the nation's governing document. Representatives from all 13 states convened in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787, to begin the process of drafting a new constitution. The delegates created a powerful central government, addressing the weaknesses of the previous government.
The new Constitution faced opposition from some states, which argued that it did not adequately protect rights such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. The Massachusetts Compromise of February 1788 addressed these concerns by stipulating that amendments—what became the Bill of Rights—would be immediately proposed. This compromise led to the subsequent ratification of the Constitution by Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina, and most crucially, New Hampshire, on June 21, 1788, making it the official framework of the US government.
Why Franz Josef Refused a Written Constitution
You may want to see also
Explore related products
The US Civil War ended in 1865
The US Constitution was ratified long before the Civil War, in 1787, and was the official framework of the government of the United States of America from 1788. The US Civil War ended in 1865, and in the five years that followed, the Reconstruction Amendments were adopted, abolishing slavery and granting citizenship and voting rights to former slaves.
The Constitution was ratified on September 17, 1787, when 38 delegates signed the document, with one delegate signing on behalf of an absent colleague, bringing the total to 39 signatures. The Constitution was the result of a Grand Convention of state delegates, organised by Alexander Hamilton, to revise the Articles of Confederation, which were seen as inadequate by some of America's leaders. The Articles of Confederation, in force since 1781, gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it had no enforcement powers, couldn't regulate commerce, print money, or raise taxes.
The delegates to the convention, representing a wide range of interests and views, crafted a powerful central government and a completely new form of government. The Constitution was not ratified by all states until May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island approved the document, and the Bill of Rights was ratified by the end of the following year. The capital was designated on January 24, 1791, almost three years after ratification.
Checks and Balances: Constitution's Core Principles Explained
You may want to see also
The Reconstruction Amendments gave voting rights to former slaves
The US Constitution was first signed on September 17, 1787, and underwent several amendments in the years that followed. The Reconstruction Amendments, adopted between 1865 and 1870, granted voting rights to former slaves. The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery, and the 14th Amendment, approved by Congress in 1866 and ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including former slaves.
The 15th Amendment, passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870, was the last of the three Reconstruction Amendments. It explicitly prohibited the denial or abridgement of voting rights based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This amendment granted African American men the right to vote, marking a significant step toward racial equality in the United States.
While the Reconstruction Amendments extended voting rights to former slaves, it is important to note that this right was not always fully respected or protected. Despite the legal framework established by these amendments, African Americans continued to face significant obstacles to exercising their right to vote. State constitutions, laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation tactics were often employed to disenfranchise African American voters.
The struggle for voting rights for African Americans extended well beyond the Reconstruction Era. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, prohibiting the unequal application of voting laws. The following year, in 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, abolishing remaining deterrents to African American voting rights, such as literacy tests. Despite these legislative advancements, violent opposition to voting rights activists persisted, highlighting the ongoing challenges faced by African Americans in their pursuit of equal voting rights.
The Constitution's Writing: A Historical Timeline
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, after the Revolutionary War and before the Civil War.
The Constitution was ratified in 1788, with New Hampshire becoming the ninth of 13 states to ratify it. However, it was not ratified by all states until 1790 when Rhode Island approved the document.
The Articles of Confederation, which gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, was the United States' first constitution.
No, the Constitution did not originally abolish slavery. It took the Reconstruction Amendments, adopted between 1865 and 1870 after the Civil War, to abolish slavery and grant citizenship and voting rights to former slaves.
