Omar Bennett
The United States Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, but it was not the first constitution of the United States. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, drafted in 1777 and ratified in 1781, was the first constitution of the United States. The Articles of Confederation established a weak central government, which led Nationalists like James Madison, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton to advocate for a stronger federal government. The Constitution of the United States, therefore, introduced a new form of government.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty |
| Type of government | A completely new form of government |
| Legislative powers | Vested in a Congress of the United States, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives |
| House of Representatives | Composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states |
| Electors | Qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature |
| Representatives | Must be at least 25 years old, have been a citizen of the United States for at least 7 years, and inhabit the state in which they are chosen |
| Ratification | Unanimous consent of the states present, with 11 state delegations and the lone remaining delegate from New York |
| Amendments | 12 proposed amendments sent to the states for ratification, including the 10 that became known as the Bill of Rights |
| Compromises | Protection of the slave trade for 20 years, allowing states to count three-fifths of their slaves as part of their populations for representation, and requiring the return of escaped slaves to their owners |
| Connecticut Compromise | Proposed a Congress with proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation in the upper house (the Senate) with each state having two senators |
| Convention leader | General George Washington, with James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and others |
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What You'll Learn
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles provided for a one-house legislature, a weak executive, and no national power of taxation. It outlined a Congress with representation based on a single vote per state, regardless of population size. While the Articles prevented individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy to some extent, the central government had limited power to regulate commerce, assemble delegates, raise funds, or support a war effort.
The process of drafting the Articles of Confederation began in 1776, with Benjamin Franklin proposing a plan for "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union." This plan faced opposition from some delegates, but the need for a central government became apparent following the Declaration of Independence. The final draft of the Articles was achieved through compromise, guaranteeing state sovereignty and leaving the matter of western land claims to individual states.
Despite the Articles of Confederation serving as the first constitution, it had several flaws. The lack of a standard currency and the inability of the central government to tax or effectively manage commercial policy led to economic issues. Disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to divide the country. These weaknesses prompted nationalists like James Madison and George Washington to work towards strengthening the federal government, leading to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles.
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The Bill of Rights
The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 resulted in a new Constitution, which introduced a new form of government. The delegates at the convention grappled with serious controversies, including the regulation of commerce and the issue of slavery. The three-fifths compromise on slavery, which allowed states to count three-fifths of their slave population for representation, was a compromise that held the union together but allowed slavery to continue for decades.
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The Connecticut Compromise
The Compromise provided for a bicameral federal legislature that used a dual system of representation. It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with proportional representation of the states in the lower house or House of Representatives. It required the upper house or Senate to be weighted equally among the states, with each state having two members in the Senate.
The Compromise allowed deliberations to continue and led to the Three-fifths Compromise, which further complicated the issue of popular representation in the House. The Three-fifths Compromise stated that each state should have one representative for every 40,000 inhabitants, counting three-fifths of each state's enslaved population toward that state's total population.
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The Declaration of Independence
In ratifying and signing the Declaration of Independence, the delegates committed an act of high treason against the Crown, punishable by torture and death. The Declaration was published in several forms, including the Dunlap broadside, which was widely distributed and is now preserved at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
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The Federalist Papers
The high demand for the essays led to their publication in a more permanent form. On January 1, 1788, the New York publishing firm J. & A. McLean announced that they would publish the first 36 essays as a bound volume, titled "The Federalist Volume 1". New essays continued to be published in newspapers, and additional bound volumes were released in the following months. The last eight papers (Nos. 78-85) were republished in the New York newspapers between June 14 and August 16, 1788. The Federalist Papers were written and published with haste, but they were widely read and greatly influenced the shape of American political institutions.
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Frequently asked questions
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States.
The first constitution of the United States was drafted in mid-June 1777.
The first constitution of the United States was adopted on November 15, 1777, and ratified on March 1, 1781.
The Articles of Confederation provided for a one-house legislature, a weak executive, no national power of taxation, a lack of standard currency, and voting by state.
The Articles of Confederation were replaced by the United States Constitution, which was submitted to the Congress of the Confederation on September 17, 1787.
