Malcolm Rivera
The Constitution of the United States of America was signed on September 17, 1787, by 38 delegates, with one delegate signing on behalf of another, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. The road to ratification, however, was long and challenging. The Constitution was ratified by the ninth state, New Hampshire, on June 21, 1788, and by all states on May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island approved the document. The Constitution of India, on the other hand, was passed by the Constituent Assembly over a period of 2 years and 11 months, with 11 sessions and 166 days of discussions.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of the first signing of the Constitution | September 17, 1787 |
| Date the Constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States of America | June 21, 1788 |
| Number of states that had to ratify the Constitution | 9 out of 13 |
| Date when all states ratified the Constitution | May 29, 1790 |
| Date when the Bill of Rights was ratified | 1791 |
| Date when the capital was set | July 16, 1790 |
| Date when land was designated for the capital's construction | January 24, 1791 |
| Number of sessions the Constituent Assembly sat for to form the Indian Constitution | 11 |
| Number of days the Constituent Assembly sat for to form the Indian Constitution | 166 |
| Time taken by the Constituent Assembly to pass the Indian Constitution | 2 years and 11 months |
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution was ratified in 1788
The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, with delegates from all 13 states gathering to discuss revisions to the Articles. However, they soon decided to completely redesign the government, addressing issues such as congressional representation and the contentious issue of slavery. The delegates, despite their differing interests and views, crafted compromises and created a powerful central government.
On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, marking a significant step forward. The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution, bypassing state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states was required to enact the new government.
The ratification campaign was hard-fought, with Federalists and Anti-Federalists battling over the creation of a powerful central government and the absence of a bill of rights. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, and by September 17, 1788, the Congress of the Confederation certified the ratification of eleven states.
The US Constitution was thus ratified in 1788, and the groundwork was laid for the first federal elections, which took place from December 15, 1788, to January 10, 1789. The new government officially began on March 4, 1789, with George Washington elected as the first President and John Adams as Vice President.
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The Bill of Rights was added in 1791
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by 38 delegates, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware. The Constitution was ratified to become the official framework of the government of the United States of America on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to approve it.
However, some states opposed the Constitution because it lacked a bill of rights. The Massachusetts Compromise of February 1788 addressed this issue, stipulating that amendments would be proposed to protect rights such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. These amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added to the Constitution in 1791.
The Bill of Rights consists of the first ten amendments to the Constitution. The Third Amendment, for example, prohibits the federal government from forcing individuals to house soldiers during peacetime without consent. This amendment addressed the resentment over the Quartering Acts passed by the British during the Revolutionary War, which allowed British soldiers to occupy private homes. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons or property by government officials.
The addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution in 1791 was a significant step in securing individual liberties and addressing the concerns of those who initially opposed the Constitution due to its lack of protections for certain fundamental rights.
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The capital was set in 1790
The United States 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 journey to ratification, however, was long and arduous. The Constitution was not ratified by all states until May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island finally approved the document.
The selection of a location for the capital was the result of a compromise between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, who had differing priorities. Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, sought passage of the Funding Act to assume state Revolutionary War debts and endow the federal government with more economic power. Meanwhile, Jefferson, the Secretary of State, wanted to pass the Residence Act to set the location of the nation's capital.
The compromise, known as the Compromise of 1790, was brokered among James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. As part of the deal, the northern delegates agreed to the southerly Potomac River site, and in return, the federal government assumed the debts accumulated by the states during the Revolutionary War. Jefferson persuaded Madison, who had significant influence in the House, to back Hamilton's Funding Act, and in return, Hamilton helped secure the votes needed to pass the Residence Act.
The Residence Act specified that the capital would be located along the Potomac River between the Eastern Branch (the Anacostia River) and the Connogochegue, encompassing an area of no more than "ten miles square." President Washington was given the authority to decide the exact location and hire a surveyor, and he was required to have suitable buildings ready for Congress and other government offices by the first Monday in December 1800.
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The ratification process was challenging
The ratification process for the United States Constitution was challenging and protracted. The Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to approve it, but the journey to ratification was long and arduous.
The United States' first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, had been adopted shortly after the Revolutionary War. However, it quickly became apparent that the Articles were inadequate for governing the fledgling nation. The Articles gave the Confederation Congress the authority to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers, the ability to regulate commerce, and the power to print money. Disputes between the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the country apart.
Recognizing the need for a stronger, more centralized government, New York's Alexander Hamilton led the call for a constitutional convention to reevaluate the nation's governing document. Representatives from all 13 states were invited to convene in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787, to participate in the Convention. The delegates met behind closed doors, swearing secrecy so they could speak freely. Although they had gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation, they soon decided to completely redesign the government.
The delegates had widely differing interests and views, and compromise was necessary to craft the new Constitution. One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation—whether it should be based on population or divided equally among the states. They ultimately agreed to give 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 issue of slavery was a thorny question that threatened to derail the Union, and it was temporarily resolved by allowing the slave trade to continue until 1808.
The Federalists, who believed in a strong central government, faced opposition from the Anti-Federalists, who fought against the Constitution because it created a powerful central government and lacked a bill of rights. The ratification campaign was challenging, and it was only through the "'vote now, amend later' compromise in Massachusetts that victory was secured in that state and, eventually, in the final holdouts.
Even after ratification, the Constitution did not take effect immediately. The first federal elections were held from December 15, 1788, to January 10, 1789, and the new government officially began on March 4, 1789, with George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President. Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until May 29, 1790, and the Bill of Rights was not ratified until the end of the following year.
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The Constituent Assembly took 2 years
The Constituent Assembly took around two years to pass the Indian Constitution, which came into dominance on January 26, 1950. The Constitution of India is the lengthiest national constitution ever implemented, with 395 Articles and 8 Schedules, totalling approximately 145,000 words. The members of the Constituent Assembly sat for 11 sessions and 166 days to form the Constitution, spread over a period of 2 years and 11 months.
The Indian Constitution was first implemented in 1950, and its transformation is discussed in this segment. The Articles are divided into 22 distinct sections, which correspond to the 2020 record of the Constitution of India. The Schedules to the Constitution, which outline government strategy or guidelines related to specific Articles, have increased to 12 in number. Each Article in the transformed Constitution of India corresponds to a like-minded Article in the Draft Constitution of India from 1948.
The Constituent Assembly's passage of the Constitution of India took longer than the process of ratifying the United States Constitution, which occurred in 1787. The US Constitution was signed by 38 delegates on September 17, 1787, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total signatures to 39. The US Constitution was ratified by nine of the 13 states, with New Hampshire becoming the ninth state to do so on June 21, 1788.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution was passed on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it. The process of drafting the Constitution began in May 1787.
The US Constitution came into effect on March 4, 1789, when the first Congress convened in New York City.
The US Constitution was first proposed in May 1787, when representatives from all 13 states convened in Philadelphia to participate in the Constitutional Convention.
It took almost three years for all 13 states to ratify the US Constitution. Rhode Island was the last state to approve the document on May 29, 1790.
The Indian Constitution was passed on January 26, 1950, after being discussed for 2 years and 11 months.
