Eleanor Finch
The United States Constitution, the supreme law of the United States, was written by 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1787. The delegates were elected by the states to revise the Articles of Confederation, the country's first constitution. However, the delegates soon realized that the Articles were fundamentally flawed and decided to create an entirely new document. The main authors of the Constitution were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, who played a leading role in drafting the document.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of authors | 55 |
| Authors' role | Delegates to the Constitutional Convention |
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Year | 1787 |
| Month | May |
| Date signed | September 17 |
| Number of signatures | 39 |
| Notable authors | James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, George Washington |
| Influences | Magna Carta, Enlightenment rationalism, English common law, Iroquois Confederacy political concepts, European Enlightenment thinkers, English Bill of Rights |
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What You'll Learn
The Articles of Confederation
Just a few years after the Revolutionary War, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington feared that the young country was on the brink of collapse due to the limitations of the Articles of Confederation. They believed that a strong central government was necessary to address the nation's challenges. In May 1787, a Constitutional Convention was assembled in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation and create a new constitution for the United States.
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The Constitutional Convention
James Madison of Virginia, Alexander Hamilton of New York, and George Washington, a former commanding general of the Continental Army, were among the key figures who recognised the need for a stronger central government and played a significant role in calling for the convention. Madison, in particular, had studied history and political theory extensively and was convinced of the need to replace the Articles of Confederation with a new system of government.
The convention was attended by delegates from 12 states, with Rhode Island being the only state that refused to send representatives. The delegates represented a wide range of interests and views, and their task was to revise the existing government structure. However, they ultimately created a new form of government, establishing a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments.
The convention debated and ratified the United States Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution established a federal government with three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. The delegates grappled with issues such as the role of the executive, slavery, and the balance of power between the federal government and the states. The phrase "We the People", coined by Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, who chaired the convention's Committee of Style, emphasised that the government derived its legitimacy from the people rather than the states.
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James Madison, the 'Father of the Constitution'
James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, played a pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. He is popularly known as the "Father of the Constitution" for his contributions to the Constitution.
Madison was born into a prominent slave-owning planter family in Virginia. In 1774, he joined the Patriots, strongly opposed to British taxation. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress during and after the American Revolutionary War. Dissatisfied with the weak national government established by the Articles of Confederation, he helped organise the Constitutional Convention, which produced a new constitution designed to strengthen republican government against democratic assembly. Madison believed in the value of a strong government in which power was well controlled because it was well balanced among the branches.
Madison took detailed notes of the debates at the Constitutional Convention, which provide the only comprehensive history of the proceedings. He collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in publishing the Federalist Papers, which became the standard commentary on the Constitution. Madison authored 29 of the 85 papers. He also sponsored the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, emphasising freedom of religion, speech, and the press.
Madison's influence extended beyond the Constitution. He was a founding member of a major political party and served as Jefferson's secretary of state from 1801 to 1809. He played a crucial role in shaping the early development of the nation, including his involvement in the Virginia Resolutions, which affirmed the rights and duties of states in relation to federal law. Madison's legacy is defined by his contributions to the Constitution, with his ideas and theories continuing to shape the understanding of constitutional issues.
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Alexander Hamilton and his influence
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father of the United States and played a significant role in the creation and ratification of the US Constitution. Hamilton was a delegate at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he represented the state of New York. He was just 30 years old at the time.
Hamilton was a strong supporter of a powerful central government and believed that the Articles of Confederation, which gave the Confederation Congress only limited powers, were inadequate for governing the union of states effectively. Along with James Madison and George Washington, Hamilton feared that the young nation was on the brink of collapse due to disputes among the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade. He helped convince Congress to organise a Grand Convention of state delegates to revise the Articles of Confederation, but the delegates ultimately scrapped the Articles and created an entirely new constitution.
Hamilton's specific proposals for the Constitution, such as senators and the executive serving for life and the executive having an absolute veto, were not fully adopted. However, he played a crucial role in the ratification process, particularly in his home state of New York, which was initially Anti-Federalist. Hamilton collaborated with Madison and John Jay on the Federalist Papers, a collection of 85 articles and essays written under the pseudonym "Publius" to promote ratification. He also presented a compelling case for ratification at the New York convention, where his persuasive abilities and logic proved critical in convincing New York to ratify the Constitution.
Hamilton's influence extended beyond the creation and ratification of the Constitution. He was appointed as the first secretary of the treasury by President Washington in 1789 and is considered the founder and architect of the American financial system. He sought to increase the power of the central government and create a stable financial foundation for the nation. Hamilton proposed that the national government assume state debts, which would bind creditors to the federal government, and that it establish a steady revenue stream by taxing imported goods.
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The process of amendments
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land, superseding the Articles of Confederation, which was the nation's first constitution. The Constitution was signed by 38 delegates on September 17, 1787, with George Reed signing on behalf of John Dickinson of Delaware, bringing the total number of signatures to 39.
The Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was drafted in 1787. The process of amending the Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution. There are two ways to propose an amendment:
- Proposal by Congress: A proposed amendment must be passed by a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate (two-thirds of both houses of Congress). The President does not have a constitutional role in this process.
- Proposal by Constitutional Convention: Two-thirds of state legislatures can request Congress to call a Constitutional Convention to propose an amendment. However, this method has never been used for any of the 27 amendments.
Once an amendment is proposed, it is sent to the states for ratification. An amendment becomes part of the Constitution when it is ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50). The Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is responsible for administering the ratification process. The Archivist follows procedures and customs established by the Secretary of State and the Administrator of General Services, who previously performed these duties.
The process of amending the Constitution is deliberately difficult and time-consuming. The amendments must be of major impact, affecting all Americans or securing the rights of citizens. Since 1789, there have been approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution introduced in Congress, with members typically proposing around 200 amendments during each two-year term. However, only a small fraction of these proposals have become part of the Constitution.
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