Conceived of Compromises: Creating the U.S. Constitution

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1 Conceived of Compromises: Creating the U.S. Constitution By USHistory.org, adapted by Newsela staff on Word Count 1,144 Level 1030L The signing of the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 17, Photo from Wikimedia After the American Revolution, leaders of the United States had to make important decisions. Most important was how to govern the country as one. Freedom from British rule now meant forming a new government. The question was whether to assign more power to a central federal government or to the states. To answer this question, all 13 states came together and their efforts resulted in the Constitution. The Constitutional Convention Before the Constitution, the first governing documents of the United States were the Articles of Confederation. However, it had become apparent that new laws were needed to govern such a complicated federation of states. Delegates from each state met at what was called the Constitutional Convention. The goal was to write entirely new laws that would set the balance of power between national government and states. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 1

2 However, the delegates worried about how states would react to abandoning the articles. The articles had given more power to the individual states, which prevented the national government from having much control. For example, the national government could ask for tax money from the states, but the states could refuse to pay. All delegates agreed that a Constitution was needed for better governance. What they came up with was a blueprint for a new kind of government based on the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 2

3 Separation of powers Article I of the Constitution discussed how Congress would be structured. This legislative body, whose role was to write and pass national laws, was split into two parts. The two parts were called houses and named the Senate and the House of Representatives. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 3

4 Article I also discussed the qualifications a person would need to run for political office in each house. It provided for methods of selecting representatives and senators, so that states could take part in the national government. Article II gave the president of the United States the power to carry out laws and set the president's term at four years. It also provided rules to remove the president from office, should it be necessary to do so. Article III established a Supreme Court. This Court was a group of high judges who were responsible for making sure that other branches of government followed the Constitution. Checks and balances Having been ruled by the British crown, the founders of the United States were very mindful of the dangers of a central government with too much power. They built a system in which the powers of each branch would be used to check the powers of the other two branches. Each house of Congress that is, the Senate and the House of Representatives could also check one another. There were many other examples of this balance of power. Both houses of Congress must vote to enact laws, while the president can veto, or reject, legislation. The Supreme Court can rule laws unconstitutional, and Congress can override presidential vetoes. Article IV defined the relationship between the federal government and the states in a system of Federalism. In this system, power is divided between national and state governments. Article V provided methods of amending, or changing, the Constitution, though only 27 amendments have been made. Big and small states The delegates agreed to hold their meetings in secret, as they felt this would allow them to explore issues with greater honesty. James Madison's proposal was known as the Virginia Plan and called for a strong central government. Madison's plan clearly placed the power of the national government over the powers of states. This strengthened central government would allow people to directly vote for some of their national leaders. Madison also proposed that the central government be made up of three distinct branches: a legislature, an executive and a judiciary. The legislative branch is the government body that writes laws, and in the U.S. the role is assigned to Congress. The president is the head of the executive branch and ensures that laws are put into practice, while the Supreme Court is the judiciary branch. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 4

5 Madison's Virginia Plan was bold and creative. Nevertheless, it was rejected at the Convention by delegates representing states with few residents. These small states would have their national influence greatly reduced. Instead of having one vote each, as they did under the Articles of Confederation, the states' number of votes would be determined by their population. In other words, the more people a state had, the more power it would have over government decisions. The Virginia Plan was unacceptable to the less populated states. These states put forth a different proposal, called the New Jersey Plan, that would continue more along the lines of how Congress already operated under the articles. This plan called for a legislature with one branch, with each state still keeping one vote. Constitution through compromise After more debate, a proposal was finally put forward by delegates from Connecticut, a smallpopulation state. The Senate would include two people from each state regardless of size. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives would have different numbers of representatives from each state based on that state's total population. This mixed solution was called the Connecticut Compromise. Other major issues still needed to be resolved, however. To people today, the most stunning and disturbing constitutional agreement by the delegates was over slavery. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 5

6 Some delegates considered slavery an evil institution. George Mason of Virginia even suggested that the slave trade should be made illegal. Delegates from South Carolina and Georgia, where slavery was expanding rapidly in the late 1700s, angrily opposed this limitation. The delegates agreed that a strengthened union of the states was more important than the Revolutionary ideal of equality. This was a practical, as well as a tragic, constitutional compromise; it may have been possible for the slave state of Virginia to have limited slavery earlier in America's lifetime. The proposed constitution actually strengthened the power of slave states in several ways. Through the "fugitive clause," for example, governments of free states had to help recapture slaves who had escaped their masters in other states. Equally disturbing was the "three-fifths formula." Slave owners wanted their slaves to be counted as part of the state's population, since a higher state population meant more power in government. So, the slave states and free states came up with a compromise: In the government's population count, a slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person. At the end of the long process of creating the new plan, 38 of the remaining 41 delegates signed the proposed Constitution. This small group of national superstars had created a major new framework through hard work and compromise. The risks that they took resulted in the longest-lasting written constitution in world history. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 6