The Constitution's Journey: Law And Legacy

The United States Constitution, the supreme law of the United States, was signed on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, and established the government of the United States. The Constitution superseded the Articles of Confederation, which established a firm league of friendship between the States, but vested most power in a Congress of the Confederation, rendering the central government ineffective. The Constitution, drafted in secret by delegates to the Constitutional Convention, separated the powers of government into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. It also divided power between the states and the federal government, and outlined the rights and freedoms of the people. The Constitution was ratified by the states, and it continues to be the supreme law of the land.

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles established a weak central government, affording it only those powers the former colonies had recognised as belonging to king and parliament. It established a league of friendship for the 13 sovereign and independent states, with each state retaining "every Power...which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States". The document also outlined a Congress with representation not based on population – each state would have one vote.

The Articles gave little power to the central government. While the Confederation Congress had some decision-making abilities, it lacked enforcement powers. The implementation of most decisions, including amendments to the Articles, required legislative approval by all 13 of the newly formed states.

Despite these limitations, based on the Congressional authority granted in Article 9, the league of states was considered as strong as any similar republican confederation ever formed. However, the chief problem, as George Washington put it, was "no money". The Congress could print money, but it was worthless, and while it could borrow money, it could not pay it back. No state paid its share of taxes to support the government, and some paid nothing.

Under the Articles, the United States had little ability to defend its sovereignty. Most of the troops in the nation's 625-man army were deployed facing non-threatening British forts on American soil. Soldiers were not being paid, some were deserting, and others were threatening mutiny. Spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, despite the protests of U.S. officials. When Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the treasury had no funds to pay toward ransom. If a military crisis required action, Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response.

The Constitutional Convention

Delegates from 12 of the 13 states (Rhode Island did not send representatives) convened in Philadelphia to begin the work of redesigning the government. The convention's initial mandate was limited to amending the Articles of Confederation, but almost immediately, the delegates began considering measures to replace them. The convention was without some of the country's major political leaders, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and John Jay, who were abroad on foreign missions. Nevertheless, it was an impressive assemblage, including George Washington, who was unanimously elected president of the convention, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, among others.

The delegates debated and redrafted the articles of the new Constitution throughout the summer in closed sessions. Among the chief points at issue were how much power to allow the central government, how many representatives in Congress to allow each state, and how these representatives should be elected—directly by the people or by the state legislators.

The convention saw the emergence of two competing plans for structuring the federal government: the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan, also known as the Large State Plan or the Randolph Plan, proposed a bicameral Congress with representation based on the population of each state. It generally favoured the most highly populated states and was supported by James Madison. The New Jersey Plan, also called for an elected executive but retained the legislative structure created by the Articles of Confederation, a unicameral Congress where all states had one vote. It generally favoured the smaller states.

On June 19, 1787, the delegates rejected the New Jersey Plan, leading to a series of compromises centring primarily on two issues: slavery and proportional representation. The delegates eventually adopted the Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, in which the House of Representatives would represent the people as apportioned by population, the Senate would represent the states apportioned equally, and the President would be elected by the Electoral College.

The final document, engrossed by Jacob Shallus, was taken up on September 17, 1787, at the convention's final session. Of the 55 delegates, 39 signed the new document, with many of those who refused to sign objecting to the lack of a bill of rights. The Constitution was then submitted to the Congress of the Confederation, then sitting in New York City, and within three days, it was forwarded to the thirteen states for their ratification.

The three branches of government

The US Constitution divides the federal government into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.

The legislative branch consists of the bicameral Congress (Article I). It is responsible for making the laws.

The executive branch consists of the President and their subordinate officers (Article II). This branch executes the laws.

The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article III). It interprets the laws.

The powers of each branch are enumerated in the Constitution, with powers not assigned to them reserved for the states. The Constitution also includes checks and balances on those powers to ensure that no one branch of the government gains supremacy.

Ratification and amendments

Ratification of the Constitution

The process for ratifying the Constitution is outlined in Article VII. This provided for ratification by "Federal Conventions" in each state. The document would come into effect once it had been ratified by nine of the thirteen state legislatures. This was a two-thirds majority, meaning unanimity was not required.

The process of ratification was not without its challenges. Two factions emerged: the Federalists, who supported the adoption of the Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists, who opposed it. The former group included James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, who together published a series of commentaries now known as The Federalist Papers in support of ratification.

The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware, which voted unanimously 30-0. This was followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Georgia. However, the outcome became less certain as leaders in key states such as Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts expressed concerns over the lack of protections for people's rights. Eventually, the Federalists relented, promising that amendments would be added to secure individual liberties if the Constitution was adopted.

On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, and the Confederation Congress established March 4, 1789, as the date to begin operating under the Constitution. By this time, all the states except North Carolina and Rhode Island had ratified. North Carolina waited to ratify the Constitution until after the Bill of Rights was passed by the new Congress, and Rhode Island's ratification only came about after a threatened trade embargo.

Amendments to the Constitution

The process for amending the Constitution is outlined in Article V. There are two steps to the amendment process: proposals to amend must be adopted and ratified before they can become part of the Constitution.

Firstly, there are two methods for adopting the language of a proposed amendment. The first is by a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives of Congress. The second is by a national convention, which is called for when two-thirds of the state legislatures collectively request one.

Secondly, there are two methods for ratifying a proposed amendment, which requires the approval of three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50). The first is by gaining the consent of the state legislatures, and the second is by gaining the consent of state ratifying conventions. The ratification method is chosen by Congress for each amendment. State ratifying conventions have only been used once, for the 21st Amendment.

Since its ratification, the Constitution has been amended 27 times. The first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of the government within the U.S. states. The majority of the 17 later amendments expand individual civil rights protections, while others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures.

The traditional constitutional amendment process has been used for the ratification of every amendment thus far. However, Article V also provides for an alternative process, which has never been utilized. If requested by two-thirds of the state legislatures, Congress must call a constitutional convention for proposing amendments. To become part of the Constitution, any amendment proposed by that convention must be ratified by three-fourths of the states through a vote of either the state legislature or a state convention convened for that purpose.

The Bill of Rights

The First Amendment provides several rights protections, including freedom of speech, press, and religion, and the right to assemble or gather with a group to protest or for other reasons. The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms. The Third Amendment prevents the government from forcing homeowners to allow soldiers to use their homes. The Fourth Amendment bars the government from unreasonable search and seizure of an individual or their private property. The Fifth Amendment provides several protections for people accused of crimes, including the right to not be tried twice for the same offence (double jeopardy) and the right against self-incrimination. The Sixth Amendment provides additional protections to people accused of crimes, such as the right to a speedy and public trial, trial by an impartial jury, and to be informed of criminal charges. The Seventh Amendment extends the right to a jury trial in Federal civil cases. The Eighth Amendment bars excessive bail and fines and cruel and unusual punishment. 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. The Tenth Amendment says that the Federal Government only has those powers delegated in the Constitution. If it isn’t listed, it belongs to the states or to the people.

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