Chapter 2 The Constitution
2.1 The Problem of Liberty
The main reason the colonists wanted independence from Great Britain was because they no longer had confidence in the English Constitution
The English Constitution- A collection of laws, charters and traditional understandings that proclaimed the liberties of British subjects
The protections the colonists had were violated regularly despite their constitutional protection
The Colonial Mind
They believed that most politicians tended to be corrupt and didn’t guarantee the liberty of the citizens
This affected the designing of the American government
The liberties the colonists fought to forget were based on a higher law embodying natural rights
Natural rights- Rights you’re born with, exist with and couldn’t be taken away by any human power
John Locke Ver- Life, Liberty, Property
Thomas Jefferson Ver- Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness
In the eyes of most colonists the war was caused by a conflict in politics rather than economics. It was a war of ideology
The declaration of Independence in essence was stirring philosophical claim that the rights violated by Great Britain were unalienable
The Real Revolution
The revolution was more than the war of independence. It began before the was and continued after it
The real revolution according to John Addams was the radical change in principles, opinions, sentiments and affections of the people
The radical change had to do with:
A vision of what makes political authority legitimate
Rejection of government by royal prerogative
The idea of government requiring consent of the governed
Rejection of political power exercised on the basis of tradition
The idea of political power coming from a written constitution
Respect and protection of individual liberties by the government
The idea of the legislative branch being superior to the executive branch
No government at the time had been organized with these principles
In 1776, after the war, 8 states adopted a written constitution
Within a couple years every colony had adopted a constitution other than Connecticut and Rhode Island who still relied on their colonial charters
Most state constitutions had:
a bill of rights that detailed the rights of individuals and protected individual liberties
Placed power in the hands of elected representatives
The 11 years between the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the signing of the Constitution (1787) were years of turmoil
After the revolutionary war many parts of the now independent nation were in shambles
Even though the British had lost the war, they were still powerful in North America and had an army available in Canada where British loyalists fled to after the war. They also had a large navy at sea
Spain claimed the Mississippi River Valley and occupied the lands from current day California to Florida
Farmers who left their land to fight came back to find themselves in debt with no money and heavy taxes
Weakness of the Confederation
The 13 states had a faint semblance of a national government
The Articles of Confederation (1781) created a league of friendship among the states
State Powers
Retained sovereignty and independence
Tax its citizens
Congressional Powers
Could borrow money from the people
Could suggest to settle disputes among states
Declare times of war and peace
Create a postal system (but it was a thankless job no one wanted)
Coin money (but there was precious little to coin)
Appoint key army officers (but the army was small and depended on independent state militias)
Weaknesses
Congress couldn’t regulate commerce
Congress couldn’t directly tax the people
Congress couldn’t enforce its laws
Congress couldn’t enforce foreign treaties with the states
Congress couldn’t draft soldiers
Congress couldn’t enforce the use of a single currency
9/13 states need to approve to enact a legislation
13/13 states need to approve amendments to the articles
There was no executive branch
There was no judicial branch
Several states claimed the unsettled lands in the west which led to conflicts
Pennsylvania and Virginia went to war near Pittsburgh
Vermont threatened to become a part of Canada
Many of the leaders of the Revolution (ex: Washington and Hamilton) believed that a stronger national government was essential
They also feared the possibility of foreign military intervention with England or France
In 1785 at Washington’s home in Mount Vernon a small group of men decided to call a meeting to discuss trade regulation
In 1786 at Annapolis, Maryland another meeting was scheduled but it was not well attended
No delegates from the New England region came
In 1785 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania a meeting took place to consider the ways of remedying the defects of the confederation
2.2 The Constitutional Convention
The delegates assembled in Philadelphia for what was supposed to be a meeting to revise the Articles by it adjourned 4 months later writing a wholly new constitution
This created a true national government unlike any other and became the oldest written national constitution
The Lessons of Experience
James Madison spent a good part of 1786 studying books trying to find a model for a workable American republic
He concluded that there was no model in existence
The problem was that confederacies that were too weak tended to collapse whereas a stronger government tended to trample on the liberties of the citizens
State Constitutions
Madison and the others didn’t need to consult history for illustrations of the problem since examples could be seen in the government of different states at the time
Pennsylvania Constitution (1776)
The most radically democratic of the state regimes
All power was given to a one house (Unicameral) legislature
Legislatures serve 1 year terms and couldn’t have more that 4 terms
There’s no president or governor
There’s only an executive council with very few powers
Their constitution was very popular in France
It wasn’t very accepted in Philadelphia
Downsides
It disenfranchised/disempowered the Quakers
It persecuted conscientious objectors to the war
It ignored the requirement of trial by jury
It manipulated the Judiciary
Showed how a government can be democratic but also tyrannical when power is concentrated into one branch
Massachusetts Constitution (1780)
It was less democratic
There was a clear separation of powers between different branches of government
The governor who’s directly elected could veto acts made by legislature
Judges served for life
Voters and elected officials had to be land owners
Principal officeholders had to be Christians
Shays’s Rebellion (January 1787)
A group of ex-revolutionary war soldiers in Massachusetts that were mostly farmers were plagued by debts and high taxes
The state government threatened to seize their property if they failed to pay their taxes
The soldiers attempted to forcefully prevent the courts in western Massachusetts from taking action
This movement was led by Daniel Shay’s
The governor of Massachusetts asked the continental congress to send troops to help dissolve the rebellion but congress didn’t have the money or the manpower
The governor then asked his state militia but he discovered that he didn’t have one
He then privately funded a volunteer army that marched onto Springfield and dispersed the rebels
The Shays’s rebellion influenced delegated who were reluctant to attend the meeting in Philadelphia to attend
The Framers
The Philadelphia meeting was attended by 55 delegates where 30 participated regularly
Rhode Island refused to send any delegates
The delegates swore to keep their deliberations secret
The delegates that attended the meeting were young for the most part but they were experienced
Some names that were made famous by the Revolutionary war were absent from the convention
Thomas Jefferson and John Addams were serving as ministers abroad
Samuel Addams was ill
Patrick Henry refused to attend because he believed that the meeting was leaning towards a monarchy
The delegates were split on many issues like:
Powers given to the central government
State representation
Slavery
Role of the people
Their main issue was how strong the government should be to preserve order without threatening liberty
The Challenge
The convention was organized and chose Washington as their presiding officer
The Virginia delegation led by Governor Edmund Randolph and James Maddison presented a plan for a new national government
The Virginia Plan
The convention fundamentally altered its agenda after the introduction of the Virginia Plan
The Plan called for:
Strong national government divided into 3 branches (Legislative, executive, judicial)
The legislative is divided into two houses
One elected by the people
One elected by the first house
Amount of people a state gets in the legislative branch depends on population of the state
The executive branch is elected by the legislative branch
The judicial branch is chosen by the legislative branch
The executive and judiciary have the power to veto acts of legislatives
The legislative branch has the power to override their veto
The national legislature has the supreme powers on all matters that separate states
The national legislature has the power to veto state laws
The New Jersey Plan
Representatives of New Jersey and other small states presented their own plan because they feared their interests wouldn’t be represented in a constitution based on the Virginia plan
Had William Paterson of New Jersey as their spokesperson
Proposed to amend the Articles instead of rewriting it
Enhanced the power of the national government
The state’s representation in congress remains unchanged
A Plural executive branch chosen by the legislature
After a vote 7 states preferred the Virginia plan, 3 preferred the New Jersey plan and 1 state was split
The Compromise
A committee was appointed to need to work out a compromise called The Great Compromise or the Connecticut Compromise
The compromise stated that:
The legislative branch would be Bicameral
House of representatives elected by the people and amount determined by the population of a state
Senate of 2 people per state chosen by state legislatures
Single executive chosen by the electoral college
Congress has the power to tax in proportion to a state’s representation in the House
On July 26, the accepted proposals and a bundle of unresolved issues were given to a Committee of Detail where
On August 6, the first draft of the constitution was completed, submitted, debated, revised and amended
2.3 Ratification Debates