American Government and the Constitution Lecture One
American Government and the Constitution Lectures: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
| â | Hold on my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what happened once in 6,000 years may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution! | â |
Those were the words of one of the greatest statesmen of the 1800s, Daniel Webster, who represented Massachusetts in the House of Representatives in the 1820s, and in the U.S. Senate until 1850, and was Secretary of State after that.
Daniel Webster was not the first to call the U.S. Constitution a "miracle". George Washington was. He presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the hot summer of 1787 which created the Constitution. The following winter he said this about it:[1]
| â | It appears to me, then, little short of a miracle, that the Delegates from so many different States (which States you know are also different from each other in their manners, circumstances and [prejudices]) should unite in forming a system of national Government, so little liable to well founded objections. | â |
There was no single author of the Constitution, and no single person (not even George Washington) had an enormous influence over it. It was the product of a few dozen men, most of whom had fought alongside each other in the successful American Revolution, and virtually all of whom where devout Christians inspired by their faith. They opposed a monarchy, which was the system of government in England and all of Europe.
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.[2]
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 â a Republic or a Monarchy?" Benjamin Franklin responded, "A Republic, if you can keep it."[3]
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 Articles of Confederation
The "United States of America" existed before the Constitution was written and approved. Written in 1777 (a year after the Declaration of Independence) and adopted by all 13 colonies by 1781, the "Articles of Confederation" brought together the 13 colonies while they were still fighting in the American Revolution to win independence from the King of England. The Articles of Confederation had 13 Articles, but did not establish a federal executive branch (now led by the president) or a federal judiciary. Instead, nearly all the power remained in the hands of the States, the former colonies. Each State had equal power in the Continental Congress established by the Articles of Confederation. [4]
Only a few good things were achieved after the Articles of Confederation were adopted, most notably the passage by Congress of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to set rules for the settlement and eventual creation of what became the new states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, which were "northwest" of the original 13 colonies.[5]
By the summer of 1787, many people (including George Washington) recognized that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate for the young United States of America. Rebellions occurred which the national government was unable to quell. At one point congressmen themselves had to flee Philadelphia, where they were meeting, because the Pennsylvania governor would not use his militia to protect them from rioters. The national government depended on voluntary contributions from the States to raise money, and as a result the national government was broke. Amendments to the Articles of Confederation required unanimous consent of all 13 States, and which was virtually impossible to achieve. The tax burdens on the States were in proportion to their land values, but the national government had no power to collect the taxes and support its operations. Britain continued to occupy forts in territory west of the States, but there was nothing the new United States of America could do about it. The national government was simply too weak under the Articles of Confederation. A stronger national government was needed.
The Constitutional Convention
In early 1787, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison pushed for a new convention to fix the problems in the Articles of Confederation. They persuaded George Washington, who was the recognized leader of the young nation by virtue of his victory in the American Revolution, to ask the States to send representatives ("delegates") to this new convention. Many people refused to participate, while others were unable to attend due to other responsibilities. The Founders who did not attend included John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson (American minister to France at the time), John Hancock, and Richard Henry Lee.[6]
But an even greater group of men did attend and participate in the new convention, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Elbridge Gerry, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Mason, Gouverneur Morris, Roger Sherman, William Paterson, Charles Pinckney, and Edmund Randolph.[2]
The delegates met in Independence Hall in Philadelphia during the hot summer months of 1787, debating and writing the new Constitution over a period of about four months (from May to September, with breaks in between). There were three basic rules for the convention:
- All proceedings were secret and communications with the outside media were strictly prohibited;
- Each state had one vote, based on the majority opinion of the delegates from that State; and
- Respectful decorum must be maintained at all times during the proceedings.
George Washington was elected by unanimous vote to preside over the convention, giving him the power to keep order and rule on issues of procedure.
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."
See also
- http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_q_and_a.html - interesting facts and figures about the Constitution
References
- â http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/04-06-02-0079 -Letter from George Washington to Marquis de Lafayette, dated Feb. 7, 1788
- â 2.0 2.1 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/marryff.html
- â http://www.bartleby.com/73/1593.html
- â http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/artconf.asp
- â http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/nworder.asp
- â https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/articles
Homework
1. Read the entire Constitution in about an hour's time beginning to end, to see the "big picture" of the document. Do not worry if you do not understand every term or concept in it.
2. Write an outline for the Articles in the Constitution (do not include the Amendments, which were added later). For example, "Article I - establishes Congress and defines its legislative power. Article II - ...."
3. (add more)