Omar Bennett
The US Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, is the world's longest-surviving written charter of government. It was influenced by several documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers. The Declaration of Independence, authored by Thomas Jefferson, proclaimed the separation of the American colonies from British rule and detailed the reasons for this separation. The Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, guarantees essential rights and liberties for US citizens. The Federalist Papers, written in 1787 and 1788, explored how the American government might operate. Additionally, the Magna Carta, an English document from the 13th century, had a strong influence on the US Constitution. The Continental Congress in 1774 drafted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances claiming liberties for colonists based on the principles of the English constitution and the several charters or compacts. The US Constitution was also shaped by the earlier Articles of Confederation, which gave the Confederation Congress rule-making and funding powers but lacked enforcement powers and the ability to regulate commerce or print money.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date Written | 1787 |
| Date Ratified | 1788 |
| Date Operational | 1789 |
| Purpose | To set up the foundation of the U.S. government, including its purpose and structure |
| Influenced By | Magna Carta, other federations (both ancient and extant), English liberty, and eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophers such as Montesquieu, John Locke, Edward Coke, and William Blackstone |
| Amendments | The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 |
| Signatories | 39 signers, including Benjamin Franklin |
| Disclaimers | Some delegates left before the signing ceremony, and three refused to sign |
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What You'll Learn
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration's vision of equality was not immediately realised, and it took the Civil War and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution to formally end slavery, guarantee equal protection under the law, and grant African-American men the right to vote. The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 also used the Declaration of Independence as a guide to draft their Declaration of Sentiments, further emphasising the document's influence on the ongoing quest for liberty and equality.
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The Bill of Rights
The US Constitution is the world's longest-surviving written charter of government. Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the US Constitution established the foundation of the US government, including its purpose and structure.
The amendments of the Bill of Rights add to the Constitution specific guarantees of personal freedoms, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, the right to bear arms, and other natural and legal rights. The Tenth Amendment, for example, states that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution are reserved to the states or the people.
The concepts codified in these amendments are built upon those in earlier documents, especially the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), the Northwest Ordinance (1787), the English Bill of Rights (1689), and the Magna Carta (1215).
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The Federalist Papers
The first 77 essays were published serially in the Independent Journal, the New York Packet, and The Daily Advertiser between October 1787 and April 1788. A compilation of these 77 essays and eight others were published in two volumes as The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787. The last eight papers (Nos. 78–85) were republished in New York newspapers between June 14 and August 16, 1788.
The Federalist articles appeared in three New York newspapers and, although written and published in haste, they were widely read and greatly influenced the shape of American political institutions. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay published the essays at a rapid pace, with three to four new essays appearing in the papers in a single week. This pace of production “overwhelmed" any possible response, as Garry Wills observed: "Who, given ample time, could have answered such a battery of arguments? And no time was given."
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. This volume was released on March 22, 1788, and was titled The Federalist Volume 1. New essays continued to be published in newspapers, with Federalist No. 77 the last to appear in this form on April 2. A second bound volume was released on May 28, containing Federalist Nos. 37–77 and the previously unpublished Nos. 78–85.
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The Magna Carta
Centuries later, America's Founding Fathers, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, drew inspiration from this medieval pact as they crafted the nation's founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers viewed the Magna Carta as a potent symbol of liberty and the natural rights of man against unjust governments. The influence of the Magna Carta was evident at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in 1787, where the principles of due process and individual liberty were enshrined into law.
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The Articles of Confederation
Each state held "every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled". This meant that the Articles did not establish a genuinely republican form of government, with power concentrated in a single assembly rather than being divided into separate houses and branches as in the state governments. The members of the Confederation Congress were also selected by state governments, not by the people.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution was influenced by the study of the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights (1689), and other federations, both ancient and modern.
The Magna Carta is a document created in 1215 that became the foundation of English liberty against arbitrary power.
The US Constitution is a document that sets up the foundation of the US government, including its purpose and structure. It is the world's longest-surviving written charter of government.
