Omar Bennett
Before the Constitution was accepted, people wanted a bill of rights to be included. The Anti-Federalists fought against the Constitution because it created a powerful central government, and it lacked a bill of rights. Leaders in key states such as Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts also expressed concerns over the lack of protections for people's rights. The Federalists promised that if the Constitution was adopted, amendments would be added to secure individual liberties, and on that condition, the ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified the Constitution. The first ten amendments introduced were referred to as the Bill of Rights and were added to the Constitution in 1791.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Form of government | A completely new form of government was introduced, replacing the Articles of Confederation |
| Congressional representation | Based on population or divided equally among states; a compromise was reached with one representative for every 30,000 people in the House and two in the Senate |
| Slavery | The slave trade could continue until 1808 |
| Ratification | Required 9 of 13 states; achieved through special ratifying conventions instead of state legislatures |
| Bill of Rights | Added in 1791, including freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and right to petition |
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What You'll Learn
A bill of rights
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and submitted to the Confederation Congress in New York City, the nation's temporary capital, within three days of its signing. The document was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, but instead, it introduced a new form of government. 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. The disputes among the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart.
The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, with delegates from 12 states in attendance. The convention was originally intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, but by mid-June, the delegates had decided to completely redesign the government. One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation—whether it should be based on population or divided equally among the states. The issue of slavery also threatened to derail the Union, but a temporary resolution was reached, allowing the slave trade to continue until 1808.
The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution, bypassing the state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. They needed nine of the 13 states to enact the new government, but at the time, only six of 13 states reported a pro-Constitution majority. The Federalists, who supported the Constitution, faced opposition from the Anti-Federalists, who fought against it because it created a powerful central government and lacked a bill of rights.
The Anti-Federalists initially held the upper hand, and even Thomas Jefferson, generally in favor of the new government, agreed that a bill of rights was necessary. By the fall of 1788, James Madison, a key advocate of the Constitution, had also been convinced that a bill of rights was essential to ensure acceptance of the Constitution. The Federalists promised that if the Constitution was adopted, amendments would be added to secure individual liberties. This led to the collapse of the Anti-Federalist position, and on June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify.
The first ten amendments introduced were referred to as the Bill of Rights, consisting of ten amendments that were added to the Constitution in 1791. The First Amendment prohibits Congress from obstructing the exercise of certain individual freedoms, including freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition. It guarantees the free exercise of religious beliefs and prevents the federal government from establishing an official national church or favoring one set of religious beliefs over another. The amendment ensures a free exchange of ideas and protects the right to express and be exposed to a wide range of opinions and views.
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Ratification by state conventions
The founding fathers set the terms for ratifying the Constitution of the United States, deciding to bypass the state legislatures. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state, requiring ratification by 9 of the 13 states to enact the new government.
The Federalists, who believed that a strong central government was necessary, faced opposition from the Anti-Federalists, who fought against the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists believed that the Constitution created a powerful central government, reminiscent of the one they had recently overthrown, and that it lacked a bill of rights.
The nationalists, led by Madison, wanted to bring the issue before "the people", as they believed that ratification by state legislatures would be less likely. Madison and his allies argued that many state political leaders stood to lose power, and so a new constitution that reduced their authority would be scuttled in the legislatures.
The ratification campaign was a close contest. The tide turned in Massachusetts, where the “vote now, amend later” compromise helped secure victory, eventually leading to success in the final holdout states. By the end of 1788, nine states had ratified the Constitution: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia, and New Hampshire, followed by Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina.
The Federalists had promised that if the Constitution was adopted, amendments would be added to secure individual liberties. The first ten Amendments, referred to as the Bill of Rights, were added to the Constitution in 1791.
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Protection of individual liberties
The Constitution of the United States was created in 1787 at a convention in Philadelphia, replacing the Articles of Confederation, which had been America's first constitution. The Articles of Confederation had given the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it had no enforcement powers, and it couldn't regulate commerce or print money. The states' disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart.
The new Constitution was intended to address these issues and create a stronger central government. However, many Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution because it gave too much power to the central government and lacked a bill of rights to protect individual liberties. They argued that the new government would be no better than the one they had just overthrown.
The Federalists, who supported the Constitution, needed to convince at least three states to accept it for it to be ratified. They faced strong opposition from the Anti-Federalists, especially in key states like Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts, where leaders expressed concerns over the lack of protections for people's rights.
Fearing defeat, the Federalists eventually relented and promised to add amendments to the Constitution to secure individual liberties if it was adopted. This compromise led to the inclusion of the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, which were added to the Constitution in 1791. The First Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, specifically prohibits Congress from obstructing the exercise of certain individual freedoms, including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and the right to petition. It guarantees an individual's right to hold and exercise their religious beliefs and ensures a free exchange of ideas and opinions, even unpopular ones.
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Compromise on slavery
The issue of slavery was a highly contentious topic during the drafting of the US Constitution, and it required several compromises to prevent derailing the process. One of the most notable compromises was the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation and taxation. This gave the Southern states extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The delegates also agreed to a temporary resolution on the slave trade, allowing it to continue until 1808. This was a compromise between those who wanted to immediately ban the slave trade and those who wanted to continue it indefinitely. The delegates also adopted a fugitive slave clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners, and denying those slaves the right to a jury trial and other constitutional rights.
Another compromise was the admission of new states as either free states or slave states. California, for example, was admitted as a free state, while the Territory of New Mexico, including present-day Arizona and part of Nevada, allowed slavery. The Compromise of 1850 also created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, allowing residents to vote on whether to permit slavery. This led to violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates in these territories.
While the framers of the Constitution sidestepped the issue of slavery, recognising its contentious nature, they left the seeds for future conflict. Many of the framers had moral qualms about slavery, and some became members of anti-slavery societies. However, they believed that concessions on slavery were necessary to gain the support of Southern delegates for a strong central government. As Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice, said on the 200th anniversary of the Constitution's ratification, the document was "defective from the start" as it laid the foundation for tragic events to follow.
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Congressional representation
One of the most contentious issues during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was congressional representation. The delegates were divided over whether representation should be based on population or divided equally among the states. This was a critical issue, as the delegates sought to balance the interests of large and small states in the new government.
The large states, with greater populations, argued for representation based on population. They believed that their larger populations entitled them to more representatives in Congress, giving them greater influence in the legislative process. On the other hand, the small states feared being overshadowed by the larger states if representation was strictly population-based. They advocated for equal representation, with each state receiving the same number of representatives, regardless of population.
The compromise eventually reached was to create a bicameral legislature, consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate. In the House of Representatives, representation would be allocated based on population, with each state receiving one representative for every 30,000 people. This allowed larger states to have a greater number of representatives and, thus, more influence in the House.
However, to appease the small states, the Senate was designed to provide equal representation. Each state, regardless of population, was allocated two senators. This ensured that small states had a stronger voice in the Senate and, consequently, an equal say in the legislative process.
The issue of congressional representation was a significant point of contention during the Constitutional Convention. The compromise reached helped lay the foundation for the structure of Congress in the United States government, balancing the interests of both large and small states.
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