The story of the US Constitution

Serutan

Eatibus Anythingibus
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With the US elections coming up, and the ongoing EU constitutional debate, I though
this might be appropriate...


NOTE : "Large State" refers to states that had large populations/economic clout,
"Small State" refers to states that had small populations/economic clout.

In 1781, the rebelling colonies put into effect a constitution known as
the Articles of Confederation. This document more or less made formal the
system that the colonies had been using from the start of the Revolution.
There were no executive or judical functions allocated to the central
government. There was only a legislative body, the Congress, that had
little power. As an example, it could not levy taxes; it could only request
contributions from the several states. Some states complied, some ignored
the requests, others only contributed sporadically. Also, the Congress
could not pass a law unless it was unanimously approved by all the
state delegations. As long as the Revolution was in progress, this worked
well enough, since the colonies knew they had to cooperate if they had
any chance to succeed. But after the fighting ended, and especially after
the peace was signed in 1783, the flaws in the system began to expose themselves.

Without the threat of the British to keep them united, the states began
quarreling among themselves. As one example, New York taxed commerce with
all other states, leading New Jersey to retaliate by taxing New York for
a lighthouse that that state had built on an island in New Jersey. Because a
unanimous vote of states was required, it was very difficult to pass any
legislation, and often the Congress could not even be in session due to
lack of a quorom.

For a few years, the United States muddled along. But the combination of
the country's inablility to get its finances in order (it wasn't making any
meaningful payments on its debt), Shay's Rebellion in 1786, and the Annapolis
Convention of 1786 finally convinced the Congress to call a meeting
in Philadelphia starting May 14, 1787 for "the sole purpose of revising the
Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several
Legislatures, such alterations and provision therein, as shall, when
agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the States, render the Federal
Consitution adequate to the exigencies of Government, and the preservation
of the Union."

Twelve states appointed 75 delagates to the convention. The thirteenth,
Rhode Island, ignored the call completely. Of the 75 appointed, 55 attended
at one time or another. Each state sent credentials and instructions with
their delegations; all states' instructions reiterated that the sole purpose of
the upcoming convention was revision of the Articles.

On May 3, 1787, one of Virginia's delegates, a certain James Madison, arrived
in Philadelphia to prepare for the convention. He was of the opinion that the
Articles were fatally flawed, and there was no use in amending them; they should
be scrapped, and a new constitution substitued. And this is precisely what
he proposed to do. He used the his extra time in Philadelphia to put his
ideas in a form to be submitted to the convention. As his fellow Virginia
delegates arrived (the most prominent of them George Washington), he huddled
with them, and they agreed to support him. Madison also discussed his plans
with the Pennsylvania delegates (led by Benjamin Franklin and James wilson),
and got their support, as well.

On the appointed day, May 14, only Virginia and Pennsylvania had a quorom
in their delegations, and so the convention could not conduct business (the
convention could not begin until 7 state delegations had quoroms present).
On May 25, there were at last enough delegates present to start.
George Washington was unanimously named president of the convention, and
a secretary was named. The delegates also voted to conduct their business
in complete secrecy.

After these initial actions, the convention got down to business.
Governor Randolph then proposed a set of 15 resolutions for the
convention's consideration. These resolutions were Madison's new constitution,
and became known as the Virginia Plan. One of its main features was a 2 branched
(bicarmel) legislature. In both houses, each state would have representatives
in proportion to that state's population. It also provided for a separate
executive and judiciary.

In the ensuing debates, it quickly became clear that the biggest sticking point
was representation in the legislature. Delegates from the small states (Connecticut,
North Carolina,New Jersery and Delaware) wanted to keep equal votes for
the states in the legislature, and the large states (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina) wanted proportional representation.
New York, though a large state, voted as a small state. Georgia voted as a
large state even though it was a small state. Since Rhode Island never
sent delegates, and New Hampshire's delegates did not arrive until July 27,
this issue was decided by 11 states.

The heatedness of the debates on representation can be summed up in a
statement from Delaware delegate Gunning Bedford, Jr., who was addressing
the large state delegates: "I do not, gentlemen, trust you!". On June 18,
Alexander Hamilton proposed an even more radical system than Madison: He
proposed eliminating the states, and putting all power in the federal government.
His proposals were wholly ignored.

On June 11, Roger Sherman of Connecticut first proposed the solution to the
problem : One house of the legislature would have representatives in proportion
to population, the other would have equal representation for each state. But
it took until July 18th for this plan, knows as the Great, or Connecticut,
Compromise, to be (barely) approved. Although Madison and his supporters
were greatly disappointed by this result, it was the key event in the creation
of the Constitution. That is because this compromise made the small states
feel they would be protected under the new system, and for the rest of the
convention they heartily cooperated in fleshing out the rest of the Constitution.

Once the Compromise was adopted, the only other contentious issue was slavery.
Although most delgates were against the slave trade, the instragence of
the South Carolina delegation caused a compromise to be struck where importation
of slaves would be allowed for 20 years. Also, each slave counted as 3/5 of
a person for purposes of determining representation in the lower branch of the
legislature.

During the discussions over the executive branch, particulary the Presidency,
the delegates shaped the office on the assumption that Washington would be the
first person to fill it. Because of this, the President was probably given
more power than he might have been otherwise. Also, the decision was made
for indirect election; the President would not be selected directly by
voters, but by an Electoral College, whose electors would be selected in a
way determined by the individual states.

The Convention spent very little time on the judiciary, other than to
say that there would be a Supreme Court. This Court was not explicitly
given the power to rule on the constitutionality of laws.

Interestingly, there was some debate over what to do about territories that
were part of the United States, but were not currently part of states. Given
that lack of representation was one of the issues between the colonies and
Britain, it is a bit surprising that some delegates had to be persuaded that
these new territories should be able to petition to be admitted as new states.

Also, the convention put in a mechanism for amending the Constitution.
Without this, it would have been necessary to rewrite the Constitution
at least once, and maybe several times over the last 215 years.

On September 17, 1787, the final draft of the Constituion was signed by
the delegates. Amazingly, the secrecy of the deliberations had been
preserved throughout, despite the fact that some delegates hostile to
the Constitution went home early, and that a local printer was hired
to print the various drafts of the Constitution. The printer's
silence may have been bought with the promise of exclusive rights to
the first public printing.

The easy part was done. Now the Constituion had to be approved.
It had been agreed that ratification by conventions in 3/4 of the
states was necessary for the Constitution to take effect. First,
the existing Congress had to submit the Constitution to the states.
With difficulty, it was persuaded to submit the Constitution without
a recommendation for ratification or rejection. Unsurprisingly, there
was strong sentiment within the Congress to recommend rejection,
since the convention had blatantly disregarded its instructions.

It quickly became apparent that the greatest complaint against
the Constitution was that it contained no bill of rights. Madison,
Hamilton, and John Jay argued in the "Federalist Papers" that such
a bill was unnecessary; the Constitution already protected both
people's and state's rights as written. Events would prove that
many people did not agree.

Once submitted to the states, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut,
Georgia, and South Carolina ratified easily. In Maryland, it was
somewhat more difficult, but it was still ratified by a good
margin.

In Pennsylvania, the vote in the convention was heavily in favor
of ratification, but getting the getting the convention called was
another matter. Opponents of the Constitution in the legislature
boycotted the session, leaving the legislature short of a quorom.
Supporters of the Constituion solved this problem by tracking down
the 3 necessary legislators, hauling them to the chamber, and forcibly
sitting them in their seats.

In Massachusetts, there was strong opposition to ratification, and
at first a majority were probably opposed. Supporters swung just
enough votes in favor of ratification by ratifying the Constitution
"with recommendations" these "recommendations" were proposed amendments
which constituted a bill of rights.

The first convention in New Hampshire contained a majority opposed
to ratification; many delegates had been sent with firm instructions
to vote for rejection. Knowing this, supporters of ratification worked
to adjoun the convention without taking a vote, and then call a second
convention after getting enough people to change their minds.
This worked; a second convention narrowly ratified, again with proposed
amendments a la Massachussetts. This action, in June 1788, gave the 9
states necessary for the Constitution to take effect.

The critical convention was in Virginia. Everyone knew that for
the new government to have a chance to succeed, Virginia had to ratify.
But there was strong opposition to the Constitution in Virginia, led
by Patrick Henry (of "Give me libery or give me death" fame). The
convention was mainly a debate between Henry and his allies, and
James Madison and his allies. When the vote was taken, the Constitution
was ratified, with proposed amendments, by 10 votes (out of more than 300).

The method used to swing votes in the New York convention was somewhat
different. Alexander Hamilton used the threat of the New York City area
seceding, and ratifying on its own, to bring about a narrow vote in
favor of ratification.

North Carolina rejected the Constitution, and Rhode Island did not
call a convention. These states only ratified in 1790, after an ultimatum
was issued by the US Senate : Ratify, or be treated as foriegn countries.

On December 2, 1788, the first Congress under the Constituion met.
The votes of the electors were counted, and George Washington was
proclaimed as the first President. He was inaugurated on April 30,
1789.
 
Random notes and comments:

There are two allowable ways to submit amendments to the Constitution.
First, an amendment can originate in Congress. Second, 2/3 of the state
legislatures may petition Congress to call a convention to propose amendments.
In either case, a proposed amendment would be submitted to the states for ratification.
For some strange reason, the latter method has never been used. :mischief:

Cliton Rossiter argues that the decision to make the deliberations at the
convention secret was critical to its success. This allowed delegates to
take stands on issues, then be able to change their minds easily, where in
a public debate, that delegate would be much more less likely to change his
mind, for fear of being criticized for, say, "flip-flopping".

One thing that needs to be remembered is that at the time the Constitution
was written, people thought of themselves as citizens of their state first,
and country second. Although the preamble to the Constitution starts
out "We the People of the United States", "We the People of {state1, state2...}"
would have more accurately reflected the thinking at the time. The former was
used because only because no one was sure if all of the states would want to
join the new government. So the House of Representatives was set up to
represent the people, but the Senate was set up the represent the states.
And Senators were originally chosen by the state legislatures, not by
direct vote. This did not change until the 17th Amendment in 1913.

This state-based thinking is also behind the Electoral College. It
represented a desire to have a uniform way of selecting a President, but
not impose a method on the states. The individual states could decide
how electors should be chosen. For example, until the American Civil War,
the state legislature of South Carolina selected its Presidential electors.


SOURCES :

As a note, any two deptictions of the events of Constitutional Convention
are going to look suspiciously similar. This is because for all practical
purposes there is only one primary source for those events : James Madison's
notes. Without them, we would never known exactly how the Constitution came
into the form it took. The secretary's journal of the Convention records
only motions and votes. And although some other delegates kept notes, too,
they were too sporadic (not much detail/delegate was absent much of the time)
to provide much detail of the Convention's doings. Madison, on the other hand,
was there from gavel to gavel, and took very detailed notes of the debates and
votes.

Clinton Rossiter, "1787 : The Grand Convention"
Catherine Drinker Bowen "Miracle in Philadelphia"


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