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| | The men were "delegates" sent from 12 of 13 colonies (every colony except Rhode Island). The total number of delegates who attended was 55, but only 39 of them signed the final document, as others gave up during the process or disagreed with the final result. The eldest was Benjamin Franklin, who was too weak at age 81 to walk up the stairs to the room, and the youngest was 26 years old.<ref name="UMKC list">http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/marryff.html</ref> | | The men were "delegates" sent from 12 of 13 colonies (every colony except Rhode Island). The total number of delegates who attended was 55, but only 39 of them signed the final document, as others gave up during the process or disagreed with the final result. The eldest was Benjamin Franklin, who was too weak at age 81 to walk up the stairs to the room, and the youngest was 26 years old.<ref name="UMKC list">http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/marryff.html</ref> |
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| − | The convention was conducted in total secrecy, so that the media could not report on and influence the decisions. Participants were ordered to destroy the notes that they took. At the conclusion, a woman noticed Benjamin Franklin outside and asked him, "What have we got — a Republic or a Monarchy?" Benjamin Franklin responded, "A Republic, if you can keep it."<ref>http://www.bartleby.com/73/1593.html</ref> | + | The convention was conducted in total secrecy, so that the media could not report on and influence the decisions. Participants were ordered to destroy the notes that they took. At the conclusion, a woman noticed Benjamin Franklin outside and asked him, "What have we got — a Republic or a Monarchy?" Benjamin Franklin responded, "A Republic, if you can keep it."<ref>http://www.bartleby.com/73/1593.html</ref> Franklin's quote explains that the Constitution neither creates a monarchy (rule by a king or queen, as in Europe at that time) nor a democracy (rule directly by the people, as in ancient Athens), but a "Republic" (rule by representatives of the people, in accordance with the law). By saying "if you can keep it," Franklin emphasized that it requires constant work and education to maintain a Republic against pressures to convert it to a less favorable system of government, such as a monarchy or democracy. |
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| − | The Constitution itself is less than 5,000 words, and can be read easily in less than hour. It contains only seven separate Articles (entitled Article I, Article II, Article III, etc.) Subsequent to the adoption (ratification) of the Constitution, 27 Amendments have been added to it, pursuant to Article V which sets the rules for amendments. The Constitution is the greatest legal document ever written, and this course will enable you to understand and use it. | + | The United States Constitution has been successful longer than any other written legal document in the history of the world - nearly 230 years. This Constitution is relatively short, less than 5,000 words, and can be read easily in less than hour. It contains only seven separate Articles (entitled Article I, Article II, Article III, etc.) Subsequent to the adoption (ratification) of the Constitution, 27 Amendments have been added to it, pursuant to Article V which sets the rules for amendments. The Constitution is the greatest legal document ever written, and this course will enable you to understand and use it beneficially. |
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| | == The Articles of Confederation == | | == The Articles of Confederation == |
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| | All told, 55 delegates participated in some way in the Constitutional Convention, but some left early and others (including Elbridge Gerry and George Mason) refused to sign it. When the Constitution was fully written, only 39 delegates signed it on September 17, 1787, which is honored annually as "Constitution Day." | | All told, 55 delegates participated in some way in the Constitutional Convention, but some left early and others (including Elbridge Gerry and George Mason) refused to sign it. When the Constitution was fully written, only 39 delegates signed it on September 17, 1787, which is honored annually as "Constitution Day." |
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| | + | == Limited Powers, and a Separation of Powers == |
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| | + | George Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention that created the new Constitution, explained that it had two great features:<ref name="Washington Letter to Lafayette"/> |
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| | + | {{cquote|1st That the general Government is not invested with more Powers than are indispensably necessary to perform [the] functions of a good Government; and, consequently, that no objection ought to be made against the quantity of Power delegated to it. |
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| | + | 2ly That these Powers (as the appointment of all Rulers will forever arise from, and, at short stated intervals, recur to the free suffrage of the People) are so distributed among the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches, into which the general Government is arranged, that it can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarcchy, an Oligarchy, an Aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form; so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the People.}} |
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| | + | Notice the condition that George Washington included at the end: "so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the People." The Founders knew that the Constitution would not last unless the people continued to be moral and virtuous. John Adams, another Founder and the second President after Washington, said that "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."<ref>John Adams, October 11, 1798.</ref> |
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| | == The ''Federalist Papers'' == | | == The ''Federalist Papers'' == |