The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777.
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 established a weak central government that mostly, but not entirely, prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy.
Congress sent the Articles to the states for ratification at the end of November. Most delegates realized that the Articles were a flawed compromise, but believed that it was better than an absence of formal national government.
On December 16, 1777, Virginia was the first state to ratify. Other states ratified during the early months of 1778. The Maryland legislature was the last to ratify the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.
The weakness of this confederation became increasingly apparent when the War for Independence was over and the staggering debt repayment, which Congress under the Articles could proportionally assess but not directly collect, became a point of conflict between the states and a source of intense domestic strife within several of the states. (Williams)
Congress Tried to Revise the Articles of Confederation
The states’ disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart. Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organize a Constitutional Convention.
The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May of 1787. The delegates shuttered the windows of the State House and swore secrecy so they could speak freely.
Although they had gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation, by mid-June they had decided to completely redesign the government. There was little agreement about what form it would take.
One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation – should it be based on population or divided equally among the states? The framers compromised by giving each state one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate.
On July 26, 1787, after two months of fierce debate over the structure and powers of a new federal government, the Constitutional Convention was ready to commit its resolutions to writing. Appointing a “committee of detail” to draft a written constitution, the Convention adjourned until August 6.
After five weeks of debate over the committee of detail’s draft Constitution, the Constitutional Convention appointed a committee of style to prepare a final version; Gouverneur Morris, later known as the “penman of the Constitution,” did most of the work.
The state delegates approved the draft of the Constitution on September 15, 1787. The signing was set for the very next Monday.
Jacob Shallus, the assistant clerk for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, agreed to engross (copy in a fine, clear hand) the document. Over the course of about 40 hours, he created an accurate transcription of the draft. He was paid $30 for his efforts. On September 17, the document was ready for signing.
Thirty-nine of the 42 men present signed the Constitution. George Washington was first, followed by each state delegation descending from north to south. (George Reed signed for John Dickinson of Delaware, who was absent.)
George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph refused to sign because the Constitution lacked a bill of rights. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not sign because they were on diplomatic missions in Europe during the convention, bringing the total number of signatures to 39.
The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution. They bypassed the state legislatures, reasoning that their members would be reluctant to give up power to a national government. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government. But at the time, only 6 of 13 states reported a pro-Constitution majority.
The Continental Congress Institutes a New Government
By the summer of 1788, enough states had ratified the Constitution, and the Confederation delegates who were preoccupied in their home states came back to New York for the last few months of the government under the first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation.
There was much haggling that summer over whether Congress should admit Kentucky as a state or leave that issue to the new government. They debated incessantly over the seat of the First Congress, a question left for the new federal Congress itself to resolve.
They even debated whether another constitutional convention should be called to address the question of a bill of rights and other amendments, with both New York and Virginia calling for such a convention.
On July 2, 1788, Congress received the momentous news that New Hampshire had just become the ninth state to ratify the new Constitution, making it the law of the land.
Congress responded by appointing a committee to schedule the first federal elections and fix the date when the new government would begin operation in New York City. This was the last major act of the Continental Congress.
James Madison, George Washington, and other Federalists resolved to win the first federal elections to ensure that their vision of the new Constitution would have a fighting chance to succeed.
George Washington hoped the First Congress would find a way to deal with the proposed constitutional amendments “without overturning the whole system.” He concluded: “I earnestly pray that the Omnipotent Being who hath not deserted the cause of America in the hour of its extremest hazard, will never yield so fair a heritage of freedom a prey to anarchy or despotism.”
Only thirteen House members, representing five of the eleven states that had ratified the Constitution by March 4, showed up for the opening session. The Senate, too, failed to achieve a quorum. Both bodies adjourned in less than an hour, and the guns sounded again and the crowds cheered again, but the members themselves were disappointed in the anticlimax of their first day under the new Constitution.
What Does the Constitution Say?
The Constitution of the United States contains a preamble and seven articles that describe the way the government is structured and how it operates.
The preamble sets the stage for the Constitution. It clearly communicates the intentions of the framers and the purpose of the document. The preamble is an introduction to the highest law of the land; it is not the law. It does not define government powers or individual rights.
Establish Justice is the first of five objectives outlined in the 52-word paragraph that the Framers drafted in six weeks during the hot Philadelphia summer of 1787. They found a way to agree on the following basic principles:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The first three articles establish the three branches of government and their powers: Legislative (Congress), Executive (office of the President,) and Judicial (Federal court system). A system of checks and balances prevents any one of these separate powers from becoming dominant.
Article I assigns the responsibility for making laws to the Legislative Branch (Congress). Congress is divided into two parts, or “Houses,” the House of Representatives and the Senate. The bicameral Congress was a compromise between the large states, which wanted representation based on population, and the small ones, which wanted the states to have equal representation.
Article II details the Executive Branch and the offices of the President and Vice President. It lays down rules for electing the President (through the Electoral College), eligibility (must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old), and term length. The 12th and 25th Amendments modified some of these rules.
Article III establishes the Judicial Branch with the U.S. Supreme Court as the federal court system’s highest court. It specifies that Federal judges be appointed for life unless they commit a serious crime. This article is shorter than Articles I and II. The Federal Convention left much of the work of planning the court system to the First Congress. The 1789 Judiciary Act created the three-tiered court system in place today.
Articles four through seven describe the relationship of the states to the Federal Government, establish the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, and define the amendment and ratification processes.
Article IV outlines states’ powers in relationship to each other. States have the authority to create and enforce their own laws but must respect and help enforce the laws of other states. Congress may pass Federal laws regarding how states honor other states’ laws and records.
Article V explains the amendment process, which is different and more difficult than the process for making laws. When two-thirds of the Senate and two-thirds of the House of Representatives vote to change the Constitution, an amendment goes to the state legislatures for a vote. Alternatively, two-thirds of the state legislatures can submit an application to Congress, and then Congress calls a national convention at which states propose amendments. Three-fourths of the state legislatures or state conventions must vote in favor of an amendment to ratify it.
Article VI states that Federal law is supreme, or higher than, state and local laws. This means that if a state law conflicts with a Federal law, Federal law takes precedence.
Article VII describes the ratification process for the Constitution. It called for special state ratifying conventions. Nine states were required to enact the Constitution. Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the Constitution in 1790.
To date, the Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992.
Click the following link to a general summary about the US Constitution:
