The Constitution Ratification: A Nation Divided

The road to the ratification of the US Constitution was a long and arduous process, with the founding fathers deeply divided between Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists, led by James Wilson, believed in a strong central government, while the Anti-Federalists opposed the idea of centralized power, having just overthrown the British monarchy. The nationalists, led by Madison, wanted the Constitution ratified by the people, bypassing state legislatures. The convention method of ratification has only been used once, for the Twenty-first Amendment. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware on December 7, 1787, followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut.

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Federalists vs Anti-Federalists

The Federalists and Anti-Federalists had differing views on the US Constitution and its ratification. The Federalists believed that a strong central government was necessary to address the nation's challenges. They were instrumental in shaping the new US Constitution, which strengthened the national government. On the other hand, Anti-Federalists opposed the ratification of the Constitution because it created a powerful central government that reminded them of the one they had overthrown, and it lacked a bill of rights. They believed that the Constitution strengthened the national government at the expense of the states and the people.

The Federalists and Anti-Federalists also had differing views on congressional representation. Federalists, with their nationalist beliefs, wanted a strong legislature with representation based on population. Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, wanted to protect the interests of smaller states and favoured equal representation for each state.

The Federalists were led by Alexander Hamilton, who called for a constitutional convention to reevaluate the nation's governing document, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation, America's first constitution, gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers, could not regulate commerce, or print money. The Federalists believed that a stronger, more centralized government was needed for future stability.

The Anti-Federalists, loyal to their states, were wary of centralized power. They wanted to protect states' rights and individual liberties, which they believed were threatened by the new Constitution. They fought hard against ratification, but they were not well-organized across all thirteen states, so they had to oppose ratification at every state convention.

The ratification of the Constitution was a close contest. The compromise reached in Massachusetts, where it was agreed to "vote now, amend later", helped secure victory for the Federalists. Eventually, the necessary nine out of thirteen states ratified the Constitution, and it came into effect in 1789. The Anti-Federalists did succeed in ensuring that a Bill of Rights was added to protect individual liberties.

State legislatures bypassed

The founding fathers set the terms for ratifying the Constitution, bypassing the state legislatures. They reasoned that the members of the state legislatures would be reluctant to give up power to a national government. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a model of government that relied on a series of checks and balances by dividing federal authority between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

The framers of the Constitution had originally imagined a weak presidency and a strong legislature divided into a House of Representatives and a Senate. However, as deliberations continued, the executive branch acquired more power to address issues that had been a source of sectional tension under the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution that emerged from the convention established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments.

The delegates to the convention represented wildly different interests and views, and they crafted compromises. One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation. The framers compromised by giving each state one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate. They also agreed to count enslaved Africans as three-fifths of a person.

The Federalists, who believed that a strong central government was necessary, needed to convert at least three states. The Anti-Federalists fought against the Constitution because it created a powerful central government and lacked a bill of rights. The ratification campaign was a close contest. The tide turned in Massachusetts, where the "vote now, amend later" compromise helped secure victory in that state and eventually in the final holdouts.

The Constitution came into effect in 1789 after the necessary number of state ratifications. It was not ratified by all states until May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island finally approved the document.

A weak presidency, strong legislature

The framers of the US Constitution originally envisioned a weak presidency and a strong legislature. This legislature would be divided into a House of Representatives and a Senate. The Articles of Confederation, which governed the country before the Constitution, had resulted in important business being bogged down by paperwork. This led to the creation of an executive branch to handle routine matters.

The Constitution's framers expected the Senate to handle significant issues, especially the ratification of treaties, while the executive would deal with matters of lesser consequence. The Constitution established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to foreign relations. However, many responsibilities for foreign affairs fell under the authority of an executive branch, and some important powers, such as treaty ratification, remained with the legislative branch.

The Constitution's system of presidential electors was established to ensure that wise and experienced men would select the most suitable candidates for the presidency. The method of choosing these electors was left to the state legislatures. Initially, some states used popular elections, while others directly appointed electors. Over time, this morphed into a nationwide system of popular elections for presidential electors.

Despite the intention for a weak presidency, the office of the president has gained power over time. The modern executive is more republican and monarchical than the original design. The president's powers have expanded, and they can now bypass the Treaty Clause, which requires a two-thirds Senate vote for treaty ratification. The original Constitution granted Congress almost plenary authority over the military, but today, commanders-in-chief often refuse to honour congressional restrictions.

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The Articles of Confederation

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 addressed the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. They established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting foreign relations. The Executive branch acquired more power to deal with issues that had been a source of sectional tension under the Articles of Confederation, and the President acquired the authority to conduct foreign relations.

The Bill of Rights

The United States Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments. The journey to its ratification, however, was a long and arduous process. The Articles of Confederation, which preceded the Constitution, often resulted in deadlocks along sectional lines between the North and South.

Congress approved twelve articles of amendment on September 25, 1789, and submitted them to the states for ratification. Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten.

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