United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The United States Constitution is

the supreme law of the United States.[1] The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates

the national frame of government. Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is

divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of

the President; and the judicial, consisting of

the Supreme Court and

other federal courts. Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts

of federalism,

describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and

of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes

the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it.

It is regarded as the oldest written and codified constitution in force of the

world.[2]

Since the Constitution came into force in

1789, it has been amended 27

times[3] to meet the changing needs of a nation now profoundly different from

the eighteenth-century world in which its creators lived.[4] In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections

of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of

government.[5][6] The majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual

civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or

modify government processes and procedures. Amendments to the United States

Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to

the document. All four pages[7] of the original U.S. Constitution are written on parchment.[8]

According to the United States Senate: "The Constitution's

first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States

exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has

remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced

governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority

rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state

governments."[4]

The first permanent constitution of its kind,[a] adopted by the people's representatives for an expansive nation, it

is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large body of constitutional law, and has influenced the

constitutions of other nations.

First government

From September 5, 1774, to March 1, 1781, the Continental Congress functioned as

the provisional government of the United States.

Delegates to the First (1774) and then the Second (1775–1781) Continental

Congress were chosen largely through the action of committees of correspondence in

various colonies rather than through the colonial or later state legislatures.

In no formal sense was it a gathering representative of existing colonial

governments; it represented the dissatisfied elements of the people, such

persons as were sufficiently interested to act, despite the strenuous

opposition of the loyalists and the obstruction or disfavor of colonial

governors.[11]The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental

Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in

establishing a central governing body. Endowed by the people collectively, the

Continental Congress alone possessed those attributes of external sovereignty

which entitled it to be called a state in the international sense, while the

separate states, exercising a limited or internal sovereignty, may rightly be

considered a creation of the Continental Congress, which preceded them and

brought them into being.[12]

Articles of Confederation

Main article: Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was

the first constitution of the United

States.[13] It was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776

through late 1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early

1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power was

quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked

enforcement powers. Implementation of most decisions, including modifications

to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state

legislatures.[14]

Although, in a way, the Congressional powers in Article 9

made the "league of states as cohesive and strong as any similar sort of

republican confederation in history",[15] the chief problem was, in the words of George

Washington, "no money".[16] The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was

worthless. (A popular phrase of the times called a useless object or

person ... not worth a Continental, referring to the

Continental dollar.) Congress could borrow money, but couldn't pay it back.[16] No state paid all their U.S. taxes; some paid nothing. Some

few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their

citizens, but no more.[16] No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments. By 1786, the United States

would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due.[16]

Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little

to enhance the United States'

ability to defend its sovereignty. Most of the troops in the 625-man United

States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British

forts on American soil. They had not been paid; some were deserting and others

threatening mutiny.[17] Spain closed New Orleans to

American commerce; U.S.

officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began

seizing American ships of commerce; the Treasury had no funds to pay their

ransom. If any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or

taxing power to finance a response.[16]

Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing

to bring unity to the diverse sentiments and interests of the various states.

Although the Treaty of Paris (1783) was signed

between Great Britain and the U.S., and named

each of the American states, various individual states proceeded blithely to

violate it. New York and South Carolina repeatedly prosecuted Loyalists for wartime activity and

redistributed their lands.[16] Individual state legislatures independently laid embargoes,

negotiated directly with foreign authorities, raised armies, and made war, all

violating the letter and the spirit of the Articles.

In September 1786, during an inter–state convention to discuss and

develop a consensus about reversing the protectionist trade barriers that each

state had erected, James Madison angrily questioned whether

the Articles of Confederation was a binding compact or even a viable

government. Connecticut paid nothing and

"positively refused" to pay U.S. assessments for two years.[18] A rumor had it that a "seditious party"

of New York

legislators had opened a conversation with the Viceroy of Canada. To the south, the

British were said to be openly funding Creek Indian

raids on white settlers in Georgia

and adjacent territory. Savannah (then-capital

of Georgia) had been

fortified, and the state of Georgia

was under martial law.[19] Additionally, during Shays' Rebellion (August

1786 – June 1787) in Massachusetts,

Congress could provide no money to support an endangered constituent state.

General Benjamin Lincoln was obliged to raise

funds from Boston

merchants to pay for a volunteer army.[20]

Congress was paralyzed. It could do nothing significant

without nine states, and some legislation required all thirteen. When a state

produced only one member in attendance, its vote was not counted. If a state's

delegation were evenly divided, its vote could not be counted towards the

nine-count requirement.[21] The Articles Congress had "virtually ceased trying to

govern".[22] The vision of a "respectable nation" among nations seemed

to be fading in the eyes of revolutionaries such as George Washington, Benjamin

Franklin, and Rufus King. Their dream of a republic,

a nation without hereditary rulers, with power derived from the people in

frequent elections, was in doubt.[23]

On February 21, 1787, the Confederation Congress called a

convention of state delegates at Philadelphia

to propose a plan of government.[24] Unlike earlier attempts, the convention was not meant for new laws or

piecemeal alterations, but for the "sole and express purpose of revising

the Articles of Confederation". The convention was not limited to

commerce; rather, it was intended to "render the federal constitution

adequate to the exigencies of government and the

preservation of the Union." The proposal

might take effect when approved by Congress and the states.[