Simone Lawson
The United States Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, is one of the longest-serving constitutions in the world. It was an extraordinary achievement for the 39 delegates who endorsed it, tasked with revising the existing government but ultimately creating a new one. The Constitution has been amended 27 times since its inception, with amendments being ratified by three-fourths of the States. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added in 1791. The Constitution's success is evident in its endurance and emulation, but it has also faced challenges and criticisms over time, with some amendments being more successful than others.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date written | May 25 to September 17, 1787 |
| Date ratified | September 17, 1787 |
| Date it became law of the land | July 2, 1788 |
| Location written | Philadelphia Convention, now known as the Constitutional Convention |
| Number of delegates who signed | 39 |
| Number of states that had to approve | 9 |
| Number of states that ratified | 11 |
| Number of amendments | 27 |
| Average ratification time for the first 26 amendments | 1 year, 252 days |
| Average ratification time for all 27 amendments | 9 years, 48 days |
| Shortest ratification time | 100 days (26th Amendment) |
| Longest ratification time | 202 years, 225 days (27th Amendment) |
| Purpose | "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" |
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What You'll Learn
The Articles of Confederation
The limitations of the Articles of Confederation became apparent as the Confederation Congress attempted to govern the continually growing 13 colonial states. The delegates discovered that the restrictions on the central government, such as in assembling delegates, raising funds, and regulating commerce, hindered its ability to govern effectively.
A few years after the Revolutionary War, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington feared that their young country was on the brink of collapse due to disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade. In May 1787, a Constitutional Convention was assembled in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. However, the delegates ultimately decided to completely redesign the government, resulting in the creation of the present-day Constitution, which went into effect in 1789.
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The Constitutional Convention
The convention was led by prominent figures such as James Madison of Virginia, Alexander Hamilton of New York, and George Washington, who was unanimously elected as the president of the convention. While the original intent was to revise the Articles of Confederation, the delegates ultimately sought to create a new system of government with a powerful central government. They debated key issues such as congressional representation, the role of the executive, and the contentious issue of slavery.
The delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a model of government that relied on a series of checks and balances by dividing federal authority among the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. They compromised on congressional representation by agreeing to a combination of population-based representation and equal representation for the states. They also agreed to count enslaved Africans as three-fifths of a person and temporarily resolved the issue of the slave trade by agreeing to continue it until 1808.
The Constitution was presented to the convention on September 12, and the delegates considered each section before the final vote on September 15. On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, with George Reed signing on behalf of the absent John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total to 39 signatures. The Constitution was ratified in 1789, and it has served as the basis of the United States Government ever since, making the Constitutional Convention one of the most significant events in American history.
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The signing of the Constitution
The signing of the US Constitution took place on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, four months after the Constitutional Convention first assembled. The Constitutional Convention was convened to revise the Articles of Confederation, which, as America's first constitution, gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers and couldn't regulate commerce or print money. However, the delegates soon decided to completely redesign the government.
The Constitutional Convention featured many great minds of the day, including James Madison, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, and, for a while, Alexander Hamilton, as well as regional leaders and George Washington, who presided over the Convention. Benjamin Franklin, at the age of 81 and in poor health, wrote a speech introducing the motion for the delegates to sign the Constitution. Too weak to read it himself, he asked James Wilson to read it for him. In his speech, Franklin acknowledged that there were parts of the Constitution that he did not approve of, but he also argued that no other Convention would be able to create a better Constitution. He concluded with a plea for all the delegates to sign the document.
The delegates then engaged in a debate, after which a vote was held, with 10 of the state delegations approving the motion to sign the Constitution. Three delegates—Elbridge Gerry, George Mason, and Edmund Randolph—objected to the final version of the Constitution and refused to sign it. Of the 41 men in the room, 38 signed the document, with George Read signing for the absent John Dickinson, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. William Jackson, the group's secretary, also signed the document to attest to its authenticity.
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Compromises and disagreements
The US Constitution is sometimes called a "bundle of compromises" due to the many key points that delegates had to agree on to create a government charter acceptable to each of the 13 states. The delegates assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, tasked with revising the existing government under the Articles of Confederation. However, they ultimately decided to completely redesign the government, creating a powerful central government.
Congressional Representation
One of the fiercest arguments during the Constitutional Convention was over congressional representation. Two plans emerged to deal with state representation. The Virginia Plan proposed representation based on each state's population, while the New Jersey Plan suggested equal representation for every state. The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, combined both plans. It proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation based on a state's population for one chamber (the House of Representatives) and equal state representation for the other (the Senate). This compromise reflected a victory for small states, balancing state sovereignty and popular sovereignty tied to actual population.
Election of the President
Another key disagreement was over how the president should be elected. Some delegates felt that the president should be popularly elected, while others feared that the electorate would not be informed enough to make that decision. The delegates proposed alternatives, such as having the president elected through each state's Senate. Ultimately, they compromised and created the Electoral College, which consists of electors roughly proportional to the population of each state.
Slavery
The issue of slavery was a contentious topic that threatened to derail the Union. Some delegates considered slavery an evil institution and wanted to end the slave trade, while others from slave states, where slavery was expanding, vehemently opposed any limitations. The delegates agreed to treat slavery as a political rather than a moral question, and the issue was temporarily resolved by allowing the slave trade to continue until 1808. Additionally, the Three-Fifths Compromise was agreed upon, where every five enslaved people were counted as three individuals for representation purposes, giving the Southern states more representatives.
Tariffs and Interstate Commerce
Another compromise mandated that tariffs were only allowed on imports from foreign countries and not on exports from the US. This compromise also granted the federal government the power to regulate interstate commerce and required that all commerce legislation be passed by a two-thirds majority in the Senate, countering the power of the more populous Northern states.
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Amendments and ratification
The process of amending the US Constitution is detailed in Article Five of the US Constitution. Amendments must be proposed and ratified before becoming operative. This can be done in two ways. The first is by a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The second is by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures (34 since 1959). However, this second method has never been used.
Once an amendment is proposed, it is submitted to the states for ratification. The Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is responsible for administering the ratification process. The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the states by sending a letter of notification to each state governor, along with informational material. The governors then formally submit the amendment to their state legislatures or call for a convention, depending on what Congress has specified.
For an amendment to become part of the Constitution, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50 states). When a state ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the state action, which is conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register. The Director examines the ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature. If the documents are in order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them.
Once the required number of authenticated ratification documents is received, the Director drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large, serving as official notice to Congress and the nation that the amendment process is complete.
Since the Constitution was put into operation on March 4, 1789, 33 amendments have been proposed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Of these, 27 have been successfully ratified and are now part of the Constitution. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were adopted and ratified simultaneously. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are collectively referred to as the Reconstruction Amendments. Six amendments have not been ratified by the required number of states, with four still pending, one closed and failed by its terms, and one closed and failed by the terms of the proposing resolution.
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Frequently asked questions
The Constitution is a charter of government that was ratified by the states and is the supreme law of the land in the United States. It is the shortest and oldest national constitution in the world.
The Constitution was written in 1787, during the Philadelphia Convention, also known as the Constitutional Convention.
The Constitution was written by a committee of five members, appointed by the Constitutional Convention. The committee members were Edmund Randolph, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, John Dunlap, and David Claypoole. Gouverneur Morris is often referred to as the "penman of the Constitution" as he did most of the writing.
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by 39 delegates. However, it did not immediately come into effect. It needed to be ratified by the people and nine out of the 13 states had to approve it. The ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified the Constitution on July 2, 1788, making it the law of the land.
