The Us Constitution's Predecessor: What Came Before?

The United States Constitution, which was signed on September 17, 1787, was not the first document outlining the country's framework. The Articles of Confederation, which were adopted on November 15, 1777, and ratified on March 1, 1781, served as the country's first constitution. The Articles of Confederation established a weak central government and a loose confederation of sovereign states, granting the Confederation Congress the authority to make rules and request funds from the states, but lacking enforcement powers, the ability to regulate commerce, or print money.

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The Declaration of Independence

The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, the states did not ratify them until March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government, and power primarily rested with the state governments.

As the young nation faced divisions and local rebellions, nationalists led by James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and others began working towards strengthening the federal government. The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the new Constitution, creating a powerful central government.

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles 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, or print money. The states' disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart. Divisions among the states and even local rebellions threatened to destroy the fruits of the Revolution.

Nationalists, led by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, almost immediately began working toward strengthening the federal government. They feared their country was on the brink of collapse just a few years after the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin also played a role, submitting a plan for a united colonial confederation or American republic to the Continental Congress on July 21, 1775.

Benjamin Franklin's plan for a confederation

The Articles of Confederation, adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, was the first constitution of the United States. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government, leaving most of the power with state governments.

Benjamin Franklin, a delegate to the Continental Congress, was instrumental in drafting the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence. On July 21, 1775, Franklin submitted his plan for a united colonial confederation or American republic to the Continental Congress. This plan, known as the "'Hints'" or the Albany Plan, was a proposal for a voluntary union of the colonies. Franklin's plan appealed to those who had abandoned hope of reconciliation with Great Britain and believed that bold action was necessary.

Franklin's plan for a confederation included the following key elements:

• A scheme for uniting the Northern Colonies through an act of the British Parliament. Franklin wrote to several New York commissioners outlining this idea before attending the Albany Congress.
• A unified government with two branches: one to regulate colonial-Indian relations and the other to resolve territorial disputes between the colonies.
• Greater relative authority for the Grand Council, acknowledging the tendency of royal colonial governors to override colonial legislatures.
• Franklin's international experience and reputation as an intellectual contributed to the influence of his plan. He was chosen by the Continental Congress as one of its first ministers to France.
• Franklin's plan built on earlier ideas and publications by intellectuals and government officials advocating for centralizing the colonial governments of North America.

While Franklin's plan for a confederation did not become a reality, it laid the intellectual groundwork for the Articles of Confederation and the federal constitution. It sparked a national debate on the creation of an American Republic, with Thomas Jefferson annotating his copy of Franklin's plan.

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Thomas Jefferson's plan for six unnamed new states

The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are the three documents that established the US government and continue to protect the rights of American citizens. The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed the separation of the American colonies from British rule and detailed the reasons for this separation.

Now, regarding Thomas Jefferson's plan for six unnamed new states, this refers to his proposal for the Western Territory, which was located west of the Appalachian Mountains and northwest of the Ohio River. Jefferson, as chair of a congressional committee in 1784, outlined plans for the boundaries of these six unnamed states, which he referred to as "New Colonies." This proposal progressed beyond the idea of a single colony to an intermediate stage involving several divisions of the territory.

Jefferson's plan for the Western Territory included a cluster of six states lying to the west of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. The preferred boundaries of these future states were laid out, and Jefferson gave vaguely classical and Native American names to the various regions. For example, the same area between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River had been referred to as a possible future state named "Sylvania" by Jefferson. However, Congress did not adopt Jefferson's proposal, primarily due to their rejection of the abolition of slavery in the region and his nomenclature.

While Jefferson's plan for the Western Territory did not come to fruition, it is worth noting that he also proposed dividing the Northwest Territory into ten new states of roughly equal size. This proposal, which included proposed names for the states, was considered \"absurd\" by some due to the unusual names and the potential issues with the boundaries of the proposed states.

The Bill of Rights

Nationalists, led by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, began working towards strengthening the federal government and revising the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, and the new Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by 38 delegates, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware.

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