Simone Lawson
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the country, delineating the framework of the federal government. The drafting of the Constitution began on May 25, 1787, when the Constitutional Convention first met at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The convention was convened to revise the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, which had left the young country on the brink of collapse due to its lack of enforcement powers and inability to regulate commerce or print money. After three months of heated debates, a Committee of Detail was appointed to put the decisions in writing, and a Committee of Style and Arrangement condensed the articles into their final form in less than four days. On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, marking the end of the drafting process. The ratification process then began, with the final state, Rhode Island, ratifying the Constitution on May 29, 1790. Thus, the entire process of framing the Constitution, from the initial drafting to its final ratification, took approximately three years.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Time taken to frame the constitution | 4 months and 23 days |
| Date of the first meeting | May 25, 1787 |
| Date the constitution was signed | September 17, 1787 |
| Date the constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation | March 4, 1789 |
| Number of articles in the constitution | 7 |
| Number of signers | 38 |
| Number of states needed to ratify the constitution | 9 |
| Number of states that reported a pro-constitution majority | 6 |
| Number of states that opposed the constitution | 2 |
| Number of amendments proposed by the House | 17 |
| Number of amendments proposed by the Senate | 12 |
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What You'll Learn
- The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787
- The drafting of the Constitution began on May 25, 1787
- The ratification process for the Constitution began on September 17, 1787
- The final state, Rhode Island, ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790
- The Constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789
The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787
The convention was held at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, and was presided over by General George Washington, who was unanimously elected as the president of the convention. The delegates, representing the states, engaged in heated debates over the course of three summer months. One of the fiercest arguments centred on congressional representation, specifically whether it should be based on population or divided equally among the states. A compromise was reached, with each state allocated one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate.
Another contentious issue was slavery, which threatened to derail the Union. The delegates agreed to a temporary resolution, allowing the slave trade to continue until 1808 and counting enslaved Africans as three-fifths of a person. As the convention progressed, committees were formed to address various aspects of the constitution, including the Committee of Detail tasked with putting the decisions into writing, and the Committee of Style and Arrangement, which condensed the articles into their final form.
The Constitutional Convention concluded on September 17, 1787, when the Frame of Government was adopted and signed by 38 delegates. This marked the beginning of the ratification process, which ended when the final state, Rhode Island, ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790. The United States Constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789, establishing the framework for the federal government and delineating the separation of powers into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
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The drafting of the Constitution began on May 25, 1787
The drafting of the Constitution of the United States began on May 25, 1787, when the Constitutional Convention first met at the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The convention was convened to revise the Articles of Confederation, which was the nation's first constitution.
The Articles of Confederation had given the Confederation Congress the authority to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers and the ability to regulate commerce or print money. This resulted in disputes between the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade, threatening to tear the young country apart.
The Constitutional Convention was presided over by General George Washington, who was unanimously elected as its president. The convention was also attended by other notable figures, including Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, who opened the proceedings.
The drafting process involved intense debates over congressional representation, slavery, and the structure of the federal government. The final document, known as the "Frame of Government," was signed by 38 delegates on September 17, 1787, marking the end of the drafting process. The ratification process then began, with the final state, Rhode Island, ratifying the Constitution on May 29, 1790.
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The ratification process for the Constitution began on September 17, 1787
The US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, marking the end of the Constitutional Convention. This date also marked the beginning of the ratification process, which lasted several months. The Constitution was then sent to the states for debate and ratification votes.
The Constitutional Convention was convened on May 25, 1787, in Philadelphia, with representatives from all 13 states in attendance. The initial purpose of the convention was to amend the Articles of Confederation, which had served as the nation's first constitution. However, the delegates ultimately proposed and created a completely new form of government. The new Constitution was signed by 38 or 39 of the 41 or 55 delegates present, including ideas from Thomas Jefferson, who was in Europe at the time.
The ratification process for the Constitution was a contentious and lengthy one. The first state to ratify was Delaware on December 7, 1787, followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut. However, there was opposition to the Constitution, with some states arguing that it did not provide adequate protection for certain rights, including freedom of speech, religion, and the press. Despite this, the required nine out of thirteen states ratified the Constitution by June 21, 1788, making it the official framework for the government of the United States.
The Constitution included seven articles that defined the basic framework of the federal government, embodying the doctrine of the separation of powers. It established three branches of government: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President and subordinate officers; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. The Constitution also addressed federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments in relation to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment.
Even after the Constitution was ratified, the process of refining and amending it continued. Madison introduced 17 amendments, and Congress adopted 12 of them on September 25, 1789, sending them to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. The Constitution was not ratified by all 13 states until May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island approved the document.
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The final state, Rhode Island, ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. The Constitution's seven articles define the basic framework of the federal government, with the first three embodying the doctrine of the separation of powers.
The Constitution was drafted by a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. However, the process of ratification by the states was long and arduous. The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution, bypassing the state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government, but only 6 of the 13 states initially reported a pro-Constitution majority. The Federalists, who supported the Constitution, faced staunch opposition from the Anti-Federalists, who fought hard against it due to their concerns about a powerful central government.
Rhode Island, the final state to ratify the Constitution, did so on May 29, 1790, more than a year after it went into effect. It was a significant moment, as Rhode Island had played a key role in advancing the Constitution, which it strongly opposed. The state had a tradition of independence and dissent, boycotting the 1787 convention and rejecting 11 attempts to ratify the Constitution between September 1787 and January 1790. Rhode Island's persistent efforts to defy the national government and its opposition to the expansion of federal power and national taxes made it a symbol of defiance for many Americans.
The state's ratification came after intense pressure, including threats of heavy trade tariffs from other former colonies. Rhode Island attached a list of 18 human rights and 21 amendments to its ratification, including requests to ban poll taxes, the draft, and the importation of slaves. The state's lone defender in Congress during this time was John Page of Virginia, who compared the situation to the Boston Port Act, an embargo enforced by the British before the American Revolution.
The ratification of the Constitution by Rhode Island marked the end of a lengthy process and the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the United States.
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The Constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789
The United States Constitution is a document that defines the basic framework of the federal government. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and served as a written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government, which gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers, the ability to regulate commerce, or print money.
The Continental Congress debated the Articles of Confederation between July 1776 and November 1777. The final draft was completed and signed by the Maryland delegates in Philadelphia on March 1, 1781, and the United States of America came into being as a sovereign federal state. However, the Articles of Confederation soon proved inadequate in addressing the disputes between the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade, threatening to tear the young country apart.
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington were among those who feared the country was on the brink of collapse. They advocated for a stronger central government that could effectively address the nation's challenges. To address these concerns, Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organize a Grand Convention of state delegates to work on revising the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, with General George Washington elected unanimously as its president.
The delegates engaged in heated debates over several months, ultimately deciding to go beyond their mandate and author a new constitution. The new Constitution provided for a much stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive (the president), courts, and taxing powers. It consists of seven articles, with the first three embodying the doctrine of the separation of powers, dividing the federal government into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, which superseded the Articles of Confederation when the new government took office on March 4, 1789.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution was framed over three hot summer months in 1787.
The US Constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789, after being ratified by 9 of the 13 states.
The ratification process for the US Constitution began on September 17, 1787, and ended when the final state, Rhode Island, ratified it on May 29, 1790.
The Constitutional Convention first met on May 25, 1787, and ended on September 17, 1787, when the Frame of Government was signed. The Constitution was then ratified by the states, with the final state ratifying it on May 29, 1790.
