Simone Lawson
The United States Constitution is one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions in the world. Three key events that led to its creation were the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, and the Bill of Rights. The Articles of Confederation, America's first constitution, gave each state a degree of independence but lacked enforcement powers, leading to disputes over territory and trade. The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, with delegates debating and ultimately deciding to redesign the government. The final form of the Constitution was crafted by a Committee of Style and Arrangement and signed by 39 delegates. The lack of a Bill of Rights led to several delegates refusing to sign, and Madison shepherded through 17 amendments, later trimmed to 12, creating the Bill of Rights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of assembly | May 1787 |
| Location | Philadelphia |
| Number of delegates | 55 |
| Number of signatures | 39 |
| Number of states needed to approve | 9 of 13 |
| Type of legislature | Bicameral |
| Basis of representation | Population |
| Basis of representation in the lower house | White inhabitants and three-fifths of "other people" |
| Basis of representation in the upper house | Equal representation for each state |
| Number of amendments | 12 |
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What You'll Learn
The Articles of Confederation
The Constitution of 1787 established a stronger federal government, with three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. It also gave the federal government more power over money and taxes, allowing Congress to control interstate commerce and levy taxes on individuals. The new government was now able to raise and support the military, pay Congress, and fund other functions. The Articles of Confederation, though flawed, served as the first national frame of government for the United States and enabled the country to successfully wage war against the British, establish a constitutional union, and expose the challenges of a weak national government.
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The Constitutional Convention
The delegates, including George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, met in the State House with shuttered windows to ensure secrecy so they could speak freely. They had gathered with the initial goal of revising the Articles of Confederation, but by mid-June, it became clear that they would need to completely redesign the government. The existing Articles of Confederation had created a weak central government, with most of the power resting in the hands of state governments. This had led to disputes among the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade, threatening to tear the young nation apart.
One of the fiercest arguments during the Convention was over congressional representation. The delegates debated whether representation should be based on population or divided equally among the states. A compromise was reached, with each state getting one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate. Another contentious issue was slavery. The delegates temporarily resolved this by agreeing that enslaved Africans would be counted as three-fifths of a person, and that the slave trade could continue until 1808.
After three months of heated debates, the delegates appointed a Committee of Detail to draft a constitution based on their decisions. This was then kneaded into its final form by a Committee of Style and Arrangement, condensing 23 articles into seven. 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.
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The Federalists and Anti-Federalists
The Constitution of the United States was signed on September 17, 1787, by 38 delegates, with an additional signature added later, bringing the total to 39. This document was the culmination of a convention that began on May 25, 1787, when delegates from 12 states gathered in Philadelphia's Independence Hall. The convention was convened to revise the Articles of Confederation, which had served as the country's first constitution. However, the delegates soon decided to completely redesign the government, addressing flaws in the Articles of Confederation and creating a powerful central government.
The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, vehemently opposed the Constitution. They viewed the strong central government it created as reminiscent of the monarchy they had recently overthrown. Additionally, they were concerned about the lack of a bill of rights in the original Constitution. The Anti-Federalists' objections were significant enough that several delegates refused to sign the document until amendments were introduced.
The Federalists worked to address these concerns and ensure the ratification of the Constitution. Madison played a pivotal role in this process, successfully introducing a bill of rights into the House of Representatives. This bill was approved, and the resulting 12 amendments were sent to the states for ratification. By December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified 10 of these amendments, now known as the Bill of Rights.
The ratification campaign was a closely contested affair, with the tide turning in Massachusetts, where a "vote now, amend later" compromise helped secure victory. This eventually led to the Constitution's final ratification. The Federalists' efforts, combined with the recognition of the need for compromise among the delegates, resulted in the creation of one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions in the world.
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The Bill of Rights
The United States Constitution is one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions globally, but it was a long and challenging road to its creation. 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 had no enforcement powers, couldn't regulate commerce, and couldn't print money. This led to disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade, which threatened to tear the young nation apart.
In May 1787, delegates from 12 states gathered in Philadelphia's State House for the Constitutional Convention, tasked with revising the Articles of Confederation. However, they soon decided to completely redesign the government. The convention witnessed heated debates, with one of the fiercest arguments being over congressional representation. The delegates eventually compromised, agreeing that each state would have 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 and allowed the slave trade to continue until 1808.
The delegates appointed committees to put their decisions in writing and shape them into a final document. On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, with one additional signature added later, bringing the total to 39. The document then had to be approved by at least nine of the 13 states' governments to become effective.
The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were not originally included in the document. Several delegates refused to sign the Constitution due to the lack of a Bill of Rights. They feared that without an explicit enumeration of rights, people would assume that their rights were limited to those listed. James Madison introduced 17 articles, later reduced to 12, into the House of Representatives for approval. These 12 amendments were then sent to the states for ratification.
By December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified 10 of the 12 amendments, now known as the Bill of Rights. The first two amendments did not gain enough state support at the time but were eventually ratified much later. The first 10 amendments guaranteed various rights and freedoms for Americans, including freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and the right to bear arms. The Bill of Rights also placed constraints on the government, preventing it from violating the people's rights and establishing due process and equal protection under the law.
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Shays' Rebellion
The rebellion was one of several protests that highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which was the nation's first constitution. The Articles had created a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. The lack of national power to regulate taxation, commerce, or print money, along with disputes over territory, war pensions, and trade, threatened to tear the young country apart.
Nationalists, led by James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Wilson, began working towards strengthening the federal government. They turned a series of regional commercial conferences into a national constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787. This convention, also known as the Constitutional Convention, assembled in May 1787, with delegates gathering to revise the Articles of Confederation.
However, by mid-June, the delegates had decided to completely redesign the government. They debated and compromised on issues such as congressional representation, slavery, and state equality. The delegates ultimately created a powerful central government, drafting a new constitution that superseded the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789. This new constitution established a federal government divided into three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial, with the rights and responsibilities of state governments also outlined.
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