The Writing of the Constitution The Weakness of the Confederation The Articles of Confederation had established a weak central government, made up of a Congress with no real executive. While the Congress appointing individuals to handle some executive duties, such as John Jay (Secretary of State) and Robert Morris (Secretary of Treasury); there was no central executive mechanism. To make matters worse, any decision required the approval of all the states. Thus, any one state could veto any proposal. This was particularly problematic when it came to raising revenue, which the Confederation had no means of doing other then requesting money from the states. All attempts to give the Confederation the power to raise money by levying a customs duty came to nothing. The weakness of the central government also limited the ability of the Confederation to reach satisfactory agreements with foreign governments. American diplomats made trade agreements with a number of European countries, such as France, Sweden and Prussia. Nevertheless, the Confederation was unable to reach any agreements with Great Britain and Spain, two nations with which the US have serious border disagreements. The one major success during the period was the passage of the Northwest Ordinance (1787), which ended the competing state claims for western territory and provided a framework for settling the territory Annapolis Convention After a successful agreement between Virginia and Maryland over trade, and under the prodding of James Madison; Virginia invited the other states to a meeting in Annapolis in September 1786, to discuss the improvement of trade relations. Only five states sent delegates, so an agreement was impossible. The delegates did, however, accept a plan to invite all the states to a conference the following May to draft a constitution to provide suitable powers to the federal government. The Convention The Constitutional Convention began on May 25th in Philadelphia. The need for a new constitution was clear throughout the colonies. The Articles of Confederation had not provided the means of governing the nation. The central government had no power to regulate commerce or enforce taxation. It did not have any executive powers. Fifty-five of the colonies best and brightest arrived in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. They came from every state in the Confederation, except Rhode Island. Representatives included: Samuel Adams; Alexander Hamilton; George Washington, who presided and James Madison, whom many consider to be the author of the Constitution. One third of the representatives were veterans of the Revolutionary War; thirty-four were lawyers. The Virginia Plan The Virginia Plan was the first plan submitted to the convention. It called for a central government composed of executive, legislative and judiciary arms. The legislative arm was to consist of two branches: the lower house, elected directly, and the upper houses, appointed by the lower house from a list compiled by the state legislatures. Under the plan, the size of each state would determine the number of representatives it would have. The New Jersey Plan The small states opposed the Virginia Plan, since it would have given overwhelming power to a few large states. They banded together and presented the New Jersey Plan, which called for a single body of Congress in which each state would be equally represented. The Compromises For seventeen weeks, from May 25th to September 17th, delegates debated the details of the proposed Constitution. The primary debate was between those who believed in a stronger federal government and those who wished the states to retain power. The final draft of the Constitution was constructed of a bundle of compromises. Having two houses in Congress, one based on population (the House of Representatives) and the other based on number of states (the Senate), was called the great compromise. It was reached between states with large and small populations. The Electoral College came about as a result of a compromise between those who wanted the direct election of a President and those who felt that Congress should elect the President. Another issue of contention was raised questioning whether slaves could be counted when assessing the population of a given state. As a compromise, states were allowed to count slaves as 3/5 th of a person, in calculating their total populations. It was decided that slave importation could be continued until 1807, at which point Congress could outlaw it. Despite clashes over many issues, there was a general agreement on the need to establish a stronger form of government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States was a loose confederation of states. Under the Constitution, however, it became a firm union of people. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, which provided no practical vehicle for its amendation, the Constitution required only a two-thirds majority of states to ratify a constitutional amendment. In addition, while under the Articles of Confederation, Congress required a two-thirds majority to pass a bill; the Constitution called for a simple majority to pass a bill. Most importantly, the Constitution provided extensive executive powers to the newly-created office of the President and gave Congress the power to impose taxes. It also created a federal judiciary, and bestowed on the federal government the power to enforce laws. A terrific basic summary of the constitution origin and meaning .
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 12:04:53 +0000
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