The Constitution

Simply put, the law of the land.

Background• The first government of the United States was the Articles of

Confederation.• The Articles set up a loose alliance of independent states, or, a

confederation.• The Articles established a “firm league of friendship” among the

states.• Each state kept its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and

every right not expressly delegated to the United States.• The United State first became a Confederation, or an alliance of

independent states.• The Articles established a unicameral (one house) legislature where

each state had one vote.• No executive or judicial branch was created.

Weaknesses in the Articles

• One vote for each state, regardless of size.• Congress could not collect taxes or duties.• Congress could not regulate foreign or interstate

commerce.• There was no firm executive to enforce acts of Congress.• There was no national court system.• Changes or amendments could only be made with the

consent of all states.• A 9/13 majority was required to pass laws.• The articles were only a “firm league of friendship”.

Actual Problems

• The states had many quarrels with one another, often levying taxes on imported goods from neighboring states. They also disputed boundaries, navigation of rivers, etc.

• Each state printed their own money, often with little backing, i.e. the money represented no gold or silver or legitimate line of credit.

• Some states even made treaties with foreign governments without consent of the National Government.

• The National Government had no authority to stop any of these problems.

Problems in Massachusetts• In the mid-1780’s, economic conditions in Massachusetts worsened to a breaking

point.• Many small farmers in rural Massachusetts had struggled during the war. Often

times they had to borrow money on credit from local bankers and merchants, who themselves had borrowed from bankers in Boston, who themselves had borrowed from European banks.

• When the war ended, the European banks demanded payment in hard currency, or money that is established on the world market. This led the Boston bankers to demand payment in hard currency, who demanded it from the local bankers and merchants, who of course, demanded it from local farmers.

• Similarly, tax payments were also demanded from these farmers by local governments.

• Debt and tax collectors obtained court orders for seizure of property.• Finally, many of the farmers had served in the Revolution, and were owed back pay

for their service from the state government, which they were not receiving.

Shay’s Rebellion

• After requests for the use of paper currency were ignored, many farmers began taking direct action.

• In 1786 rebel farmers began taking over local courts, repossessing seized property, and otherwise rebelling against the state government.

• In January 1787, the rebels, led by veteran Daniel Shays, attacked the federal armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, where they were repulsed by state militia.

• The incident helped convince many influential figures around the country (especially the elite, who feared more rebellion from the lower classes), of the need for a stronger federal government.

Calls for Change• In 1786, Virginia and Maryland, who had been locked in bitter trade disputes,

decided to meet to resolve the issues.• Initially held in Alexandria, Virginia, these sessions were eventually moved to Mt.

Vernon at George Washington’s invitation. • These sessions were very successful, and encouraged Virginia and Maryland to

invite the other states to meet with them in Annapolis, Maryland later that year.• The joint meeting of all the states in Annapolis did not go so well, with only

representatives from 5 states showing up. • The representatives decided to call for another meeting of all the states the next

year in Philadelphia.• Eventually, perhaps influenced by the events of Shay’s Rebellion, the Congress

called for each state to send representatives to Philadelphia.• Needless to say, the calls for change were led by large property owners,

merchants, money lenders, etc. because they had so much to lose if the instability continued.

Constitutional Convention• The meeting was supposed t begin on May 14th, but really began on May

25th, 1787, when enough representatives arrived, and lasted until September 17th.

• There were 55 delegates that met, sent by each of the 13 states except for Rhodes Island (the state was skeptical of a strong federal government).

• 39 members signed the document, with several leaving before it was complete, and 3 refusing to sign the result.

• George Washington was the president of the convention. • The members were among the leading men of their time, many who were

veterans of the Revolution, 39 who were members of Continental Congress, the Congress of the Confederation, or both, and almost all were wealthy and educated. Surprisingly, the average age was 42.

• These men are known as the Framers, because they “framed” the Constitution.

Changing the Purpose

• Initially, the Convention was called simply to make some revisions to the Articles of Confederation.

• It didn’t take very long for the delegates to agree that what they were actually doing, was creating a new government.

• On May 30th, a resolution was passed which indicated that a national government needed to be established, which would have a legislature, executive, and judiciary.

• Because of the controversial nature of their task, the delegate agreed to work in secret.

Virginia PlanJames Madison was one of the first delegates to arrive, and he began working on what became known as the “Virginia Plan”, which called for:1. A new government with three separate legislative, executive, and judicial

branches 2. A bicameral (2 house) legislature would be created. The lower house,

the House of Representatives, would be popularly elected in each state, and the House of Representatives would then elect the members of the upper house, the Senate.

3. Representation in both houses would be based on the population of the state, or the amount of money the state gave to support the national government.

4. Congress would have all of the powers it held in the Articles, and would also have the power to solve all of the problems the states couldn’t solve, and to veto any state law in conflict with national law.

5. Congress would choose a national executive and a national judiciary who would form a council of revision, which could veto acts of Congress

6. The executive had authority to enforce and execute national laws, while the judiciary would have official tribunals.

New Jersey Plan

The New Jersey Plan called for:1. The Articles would still be the supreme law of the land.2. Unicameral (1 house), legislature.3. Congress would be able to regulate trade, collect taxes,

and impose tariffs. 4. Each state equally represented.5. A federal executive of more than one person, chosen by

Congress, who could be removed by the majority of state governors.

6. The federal judiciary would be a single supreme tribunal appointed by the executive.

Connecticut Compromise

Conflict broke out between the state with large populations who supported the Virginia Plan, and states with small populations, who supported the New Jersey Plan. The Connecticut delegation came ups with a plan that called for:1. Bicameral legislature.2. Smaller Senate, each state would be represented

equally.3. Membership in the House of Representatives

would be based on population.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Once membership in the House would be based on population, the question of whether or not to count slaves needed to be answered. The solution was the 3/5ths Compromise, which called for:1. All free persons to be counted in the population.2. “Three-Fifths of all other persons” would also be

counted.3. The ration was also used in determining the

amount of money to be raised by a direct tax from Congress.

The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

Fearing that giving Congress the power to regulate trade would give too much power to Northern commercial interests, the Southern states proposed the following compromise, which was adopted:1. Congress would be forbidden the power to

tax the export of goods from any state.2. Congress would not be able to act on the

slave trade until 1808.

Ratification

• Article VII of the Constitution provides how many ratifications were needed in order for the Constitution to take effect.

“The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same”-Article VII of the U.S. Constitution.

The Fight For Ratification

• The fight for ratification was a close one, and and was hotly debated.

• Those in favor of ratification were called Federalists. They were led by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, with strong support from George Washington.

• Those opposed to ratification were called Anti-Federalists. The most prominent of these men were Patrick Henry, George Mason, George Clinton, and Richard Henry Lee.

Federalist ArgumentsThe main points of the Federalists were:1. That the Articles of Confederation were too weak.2. That the new Constitution was needed, and that it properly created a powerful

central government.3. That the Constitution takes careful measures to prevent the central

government from obtaining too much power.4. That the checks and balances of the Constitution prevent any one branch of

government from abusing power.5. That the powers and rights of the states are preserved through Federalism, i.e.

that the central government established by the Constitution would only have the specific powers listed in the Constitution itself, and that all other powers be vested in the states.

6. That a Bill of Rights was not needed, since the Constitution itself prevented abuse of power by the government and because a Bill of Rights might be construed as limiting peoples rights to only those specifically mentioned.

Anti-Federalist ArgumentsThe main points of the Anti-Federalists were:1. That the Constitution would give too much power to the central

government and eliminate any real power the individual states had, and that the central government could potentially use force to force the states to comply.

2. That the Constitution would give too much power to aristocrats, i.e. the wealthy.

3. That the central government would not be able to attend to all of the problems of so vast a territory.

4. That the “Necessary and Proper” clause of Article I of the Constitution gave the Congress too much power.

5. That a Bill of Rights was not part of the Constitution.6. That the President would have too much power.

Nine States Ratify

• Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution, and did so unanimously.

• Other unanimous states were New Jersey and Georgia.

• States with substantial majorities in favor included Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and South Carolina.

• Massachusetts and New Hampshire were close votes, with New Hampshire being the ninth state to ratify.

The Big Fights• When New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, it should have

been enough to establish the new government.• Still, without the key states of Virginia and New York, the new government would have

little hope of survival.• In Virginia the vote was close, as Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and James Monroe

argued passionately against ratification. Only with the support of Madison, Washington, and their reluctant partner Thomas Jefferson did ratification win a narrow victory.

• In New York the debate was very hot. Anti-Federalists had been publishing a series of criticisms known as the Anti-Federalist Papers to gain an upper hand. To win support in that state, Federalists Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison published a series of 85 essays and articles called the Federalist Papers. Eventually ratification won a narrow victory there as well.

• North Carolina initially voted against ratification, but later voted in favor after it was agreed to add a Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution immediately.

• Rhodes Island was the last state to ratify, joining even after the government began, again, because of the agreement to add a Bill of Rights.

Six Basic Principles

The Constitution is built around six basic principles. These are:1. Popular sovereignty2. Limited Government3. Separation of Powers4. Checks and Balances5. Judicial Review6. Federalism

Popular Sovereignty

• The power of the government comes from the people.

• In essence, the National Government draws its power from the people have given the government the power it has, through the Constitution.

• We see this in the Constitution’s preamble, which begins with the words “We the People of the United States……”

• Each state has its own Constitution which also gives the state governments their power.

Limited Government

• The principle of limited government holds that the government ONLY has the power given to it by the people in the Constitution.

• Essentially, government must obey the law, which is the Constitution. This is referred to as Constitutionalism.

• A key concept here is that government and its officers are subject to the rule of law, not above it.

• The Constitution itself, and the amendments specify what the government can do, and what it cannot do.

Separation of Powers• The Constitution created three branches of government, each with a specific

power.• The legislative power, or power to make laws, is held by the two houses of

Congress, the Senate and House of Representatives. This is set out in Article I of the Constitution.

• The executive power, or the power to carry out, administer, and enforce the laws, is held by the President. This is set out in Article II.

• The judicial power, or the power to interpret and apply laws in cases is held by the Supreme Court and other inferior courts created by the Congress. This is set out in Article III.

• The Framers believed that if the legislative, executive, and judicial power were in the hands of one branch of government, as in a Parliamentary government, this would lead to tyranny.

• Thus, the three branches were created to keep power as separated as possible.

Checks and Balances

• Each branch of government is not entirely separated, nor completely independent of the others, but rather tied together in a complex system of checks and balances.

• The idea is that the power of each branch is subject to checks (restraints) placed on them by the other branches.

• This system prevents any branch from gaining too much power.

• The specific checks and balances can be seen on the chart that follows.

Judicial Review• Judicial Review is the power of the Supreme Court and other Federal

Courts to determine whether what government does is in accord with the Constitution.

• More precisely, it is the power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of a government action.

• This power is NOT specified in the Constitution in exact language, but instead, the Supreme Court gave the power to itself, in the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison.

• It is mostly clear that the Framers intended for this power to exist, as can be seen in the Federalist Papers, specifically Federalist 51, in which Madison refers to judicial power as an “auxiliary precaution” against the possible domination of one branch of government. In Federalist 78, Hamilton wrote that “Independent judges would serve as an essential safeguard…”

Federalism

• Federalism is the concept of dividing the power among a central government and several regional governments.

• The Constitution sets out the specific powers, roles, and duties of the central government, and places limitations on these powers, leaving all the other powers to the state and local governments.

• Federalism is specifically laid out in Article IV and most especially in Article VI and 10th Amendment.