Eleanor Finch
The United States Constitution, drafted in 1787, was an attempt to address the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which had left the young nation on the brink of collapse. The Articles gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers, the ability to regulate commerce, or print money. The delegates, representing diverse interests and views, crafted a powerful central government with a strong national focus. The Constitution has endured and evolved over 234 years, with amendments addressing contradictions and ensuring equal rights for all, including Black Americans and other marginalized groups who were initially excluded. It has been praised for articulating the notion that the government's power derives from the people, and it continues to be one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions globally.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| To replace the Articles of Confederation, which gave 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 need for a powerful central government |
| To ensure freedom for Americans, but excluding Black and indigenous people, women, and other marginalized groups | Equality and opportunity for everyone |
| To ensure the government’s power flows from the people | People including African Americans |
| To ensure the Senate is a “continuing body”, unlike the House of Representatives, with all members facing election every two years | A powerful central government |
| To ensure a free exchange of ideas, even unpopular ones | Freedom of speech and assembly |
| To ensure the Supreme Court has jurisdiction in cases involving ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, and in controversies subject to federal judicial power | Judicial review over the actions of Congress and the executive branch |
| To ensure a bicameral (two-house) Congress that is elected on a proportional basis based on state population | An elected chief executive and an appointed judicial branch |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
The US Constitution's promise of freedom excluded marginalised groups
The US Constitution, which came into being a few years after the Revolutionary War, was a response to the inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation, America's first constitution. The Articles of Confederation 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 disputes among the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart.
The US Constitution, while offering Americans the promise of freedom, excluded Black and Indigenous people, women, and other marginalised groups. It has endured and evolved over the last 234 years. Despite its inherent contradictions, it beautifully articulated the notion that "government's power flows from the people". People including African Americans and many others have continued to fight to realise its guarantee of liberty and equal justice for all.
The 14th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. It granted citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States," thereby granting citizenship to formerly enslaved people. However, it failed to protect the rights of Black citizens. Citizens petitioned and initiated court cases, Congress enacted legislation, and the executive branch attempted to enforce measures to safeguard all citizens' rights.
The US Constitution has been amended and improved over time. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments abolished slavery, ensured due process and equal protection of the laws, and ensured voting rights for Black men. The Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, guarantees civil rights and liberties to individuals, such as freedom of speech, press, and religion. It sets rules for due process and reserves powers not delegated to the Federal Government for the people or the states. The Ninth Amendment states that listing specific rights in the Constitution does not mean that people do not have other rights that have not been spelled out.
Harm's Definition: Health and Social Care
You may want to see also
The Articles of Confederation had no enforcement powers
The Articles of Confederation, America's first constitution, gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states. However, it had no enforcement powers, meaning it couldn't regulate commerce, print money, or enforce attendance. The central government's power was limited, and it couldn't prevent the landing of convicts that the British government continued to export to its former colonies. It also lacked the authority to enforce provisions of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which allowed British creditors to sue American debtors for pre-Revolutionary debts. This led to British forces continuing to occupy forts in the Great Lakes region.
The Articles of Confederation established a weak central government, with only those powers that the former colonies recognised as belonging to the British Crown and Parliament during the colonial era. The document provided written rules for how the states' league of friendship, known as the Perpetual Union, was to be organised. The Articles envisioned a permanent confederation but granted Congress little power to finance itself or ensure its resolutions were enforced. There was no president, no executive agencies, no judiciary, and no tax base. The absence of a tax base meant there was no way to pay off state and national debts from the war years, except by requesting money from the states, which seldom arrived.
The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. It limited the rights of the states to conduct their own diplomacy and foreign policy, but this proved difficult to enforce. The Articles also included language guaranteeing that each state retained its sovereignty, leaving the matter of western land claims in the hands of individual states.
The Articles of Confederation's lack of enforcement powers and the disputes between the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart. This led James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington to fear that their country was on the brink of collapse. Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organise a Grand Convention of state delegates to work on revising the Articles of Confederation, leading to the Constitutional Convention that formulated the current US Constitution.
The Constitution has endured and evolved over the last 234 years, with amendments improving it over time. It beautifully articulated the notion that the government's power flows from the people, including those who have continued to fight for the guarantee of liberty and equal justice for all.
The Death Penalty and the Constitution: Which Amendment?
You may want to see also
The Federalists believed a strong central government was necessary
The Constitution of the United States was created to address the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which was America's first constitution. The Articles of Confederation gave the Confederation Congress the authority to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers, the ability to regulate commerce, and the ability to print money. This led to disputes among the states over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade, threatening the young nation's stability.
The Federalists, a group that included prominent figures such as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington, believed that a strong central government was necessary to address these challenges. They advocated for a new constitution that would establish a more robust and effective national government.
The Federalist Party, formed in 1791, supported Hamilton's vision of a strong centralized government. They believed in federalism, which implies a strong central government, and sought to replace the weaker national government under the Articles of Confederation. Federalists argued that a strong central government was needed to safeguard the liberty and independence that the American Revolution had achieved. They recognized the weaknesses of the central government created by the Articles of Confederation and saw the Constitution as a necessary solution.
The Federalists also believed that a strong central government would be better equipped to manage the vastness and diversity of the country. James Madison, a leading Federalist, argued that a large republic would counterbalance various political interest groups vying for power. He wrote, "The smaller the society, the fewer probably will be the distinct parties and interests composing it; the fewer the distinct parties and interests, the more frequently will a majority be found of the same party, and the more easily will they concert and execute their plans of oppression." Madison's argument highlighted that expanding the size of the republic would make the country less vulnerable to factions and special interests.
The Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay, played a significant role in articulating Federalist beliefs. These essays emphasized the need for an adequate central government and argued that the republican form of government could be adapted to the large territory and divergent interests within the United States. The Federalist Papers were recognized as a powerful defense of the Constitution and contributed to the eventual ratification of the document.
Philosophers' Influence on Constitution Writers
You may want to see also
Explore related products
![Founding Fathers [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71f9-HsS5nL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
The Constitution has been amended and improved over time
The US Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, is the world's longest-surviving written constitution. The Founding Fathers intended the document to be flexible to accommodate the changing needs and circumstances of the country. Since the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791, Congress has passed 23 additional amendments to the Constitution, and the states have ratified 17 of them.
The balance of power between the federal government and individual state governments has also shifted over time. Initially, individual state governments were more powerful, but the federal government expanded and assumed a more dominant role. Supreme Court decisions, such as McCulloch v. Maryland (1823), affirmed the federal government's right to take actions necessary and proper to meet the nation's urgent needs.
The Constitution has also been amended to address social and economic issues. For example, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the New Deal program for economic relief and reform. However, the Supreme Court, dominated by Republican appointees, ruled several New Deal initiatives unconstitutional. Roosevelt contemplated supporting a constitutional amendment to require more than a simple majority vote on the Supreme Court to strike down an act of Congress.
The original Constitution has been criticised for excluding Black and indigenous people, women, and other marginalised groups. Over time, amendments have been made to address these inequalities and to ensure equal justice for all. For instance, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, passed after the Civil War, abolished slavery, ensured due process and equal protection under the law, and guaranteed voting rights for Black men.
Religion in Public Schools: Constitutional?
You may want to see also
The Senate is a continuing body
The US Constitution was born out of the fear that the young country was on the brink of collapse. America's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, 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 country apart. The delegates, representing wildly different interests and views, crafted compromises to revise the existing government.
The US Senate is a continuing body, with an existence unbroken since 1789. Unlike the House of Representatives, where members must stand for election every two years, the Senate maintains a sense of permanence. Only one-third of the senators run in each congressional election, with two-thirds of the body insulated from the political frenzies of the moment. This means that the majority of senators continue, and the Senate does not need to re-authorize its rules from Congress to Congress. The Senate has retained all the powers originally assigned to it by the Constitution. No bill can become law, no office can be filled, and no treaty can be ratified without the assent of the Senate.
The delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention debated the Senate class system and the length of terms. They ultimately adopted a six-year, three-class Senate, with one-third of the members going out every second year. The framers hoped that staggered elections would bring stability to the Senate and, in turn, to other branches of the government. Class rotations would bring about gradual change and prevent senators from permanently combining for "sinister purposes."
The Senate's representation is the only part of the Constitution that cannot be amended by three-quarters of the states. Senator Lodge admired the qualities of the Senate as a continuing body and opposed Progressive-era initiatives to shift the election of senators from state legislators to voters. He also dissented from reformers' advocacy of the initiative, referendum, and recall. Lodge reflected on the Senate's continuous nature, stating, "Administrations come and go, Houses assemble and disperse, Senators change, but the Senate is always there."
The Constitution: A Replacement for the Articles of Confederation
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
The Constitution needed to address the needs of different groups because it aimed to unify a country with diverse interests and views. The delegates who drafted the Constitution represented different states and had to craft compromises to create a powerful central government that would prevent the country from collapsing.
The Constitution established a powerful central government while also recognizing the importance of state representation. It aimed to balance the interests of various political groups and ensure equal justice and liberty for all citizens.
The Constitution included provisions for equal state representation in the Senate, with two senators from each state. It also addressed economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
The Constitution has been amended over time to address the needs of marginalized groups, such as Black people, indigenous people, and women. Amendments were made after the Civil War to abolish slavery, ensure due process, protect equal rights, and guarantee voting rights for Black men. The Constitution has also been interpreted to allow for judicial review and ensure protection for civil rights, political minority groups, and aliens.
