THE CONSTITUTION AND ITS HISTORY 1 CHAPTER Outline I. Introduction II. History Leading up to the Constitution A. Articles of Confederation 1. A firm league of friendship a. Each state was to remain (1) Sovereign (2) Independent b. There was no executive branch in this governmental scheme c. A Continental Congress was formed (1) This body was weak and had little real power (2) Had the power to raise a Continental Army (3) Also had power to raise money through loans 2. Problems of the new country a. Even after the Revolutionary War ended, the relationship between the states and the Continental Congress persisted b. All power to regulate commerce and trade was dependent on the states voluntary cooperation c. States jealously guarded their sovereignty d. States often (1) Fought over borders (2) Levied duties on incoming goods from other states (3) Minted their own money (4) Tolerated piracy on the high seas B. Shays Rebellion and other reactions 1. Ordinary citizens began to rebel against state governments that they felt infringed on their personal freedoms 2. Shays Rebellion was one such rebellion a. Began with farmers in Western Massachusetts b. The rebels wanted tax reform, paper currency, and judicial reform c. State militia was called out to quash the rebellion d. The leaders were arrested and convicted C. Failure of the Articles of Confederation can be attributed to: 1. Drafters of the Articles were mistaken in putting trust into state politicians who only looked out for themselves 2. Drafters of the Articles were optimistic in their belief that the states would work together for the good of the new nation 3. Articles could only be amended if all 13 original states agreed D. The Philadelphia Convention, also known as the Constitutional Convention 1. Original purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation 2. Held from May to September 1787 3. Attended by 12 of the 13 states; Rhode Island was absent 4. First speaker was Edmund Randolph, governor of Virginia 1
2 Chapter 1 E. The Virginia Plan 1. Stressed the need for a strong, centralized national government 2. Called for a two-chamber (bicameral) legislature 3. Also called for enlargement of the powers of the national government F. The New Jersey Plan 1. Proposed a central government formed by cooperating states 2. Also called for a revision of the Articles of Confederation a. Would allow more power to Congress b. Would allow Congress to raise revenue and regulate commerce without interference from the states c. This plan was rejected G. Alexander Hamilton s plan 1. Rejected because the plan set up the new government in the same manner as the British form of government 2. Some of this plan s supporters even lobbied for a monarchy H. The rejection of the New Jersey Plan and Hamilton s plan brought the discussion back to the Virginia Plan 1. Two major areas of disagreement with this plan a. How representation was to be decided b. If representation was based on population, how slaves would be counted 2. The Great Compromise a. Created a new centralized government b. The new government would have three branches (1) Executive (2) Judicial (3) Legislative (a) Bicameral i. Senate or upper house ii. House of Representatives or lower house (b) Upper house would have equal representation, with each state having two senators (c) Lower house representation would be based on population i. Oliver Ellsworth proposed a compromise for counting slaves called the three-fifths compromise a) Representation would be based on the population of free citizens and b) Each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person 3. The Committee of Detail a. Appointed to draw up a draft of the Constitution b. Committee comprised of (1) National Gorham (2) John Rutledge (3) Edmund Randolph (4) James Wilson (5) Oliver Ellsworth c. Draft of the Constitution presented on August 6, 1787 d. Debate on the proposal lasted for weeks e. Some issues included: (1) Slavery (2) Method used to elect the President (a) The compromise of the electoral college (b) Three reasons why this was an attractive compromise: i. Larger states were given delegate representation proportionate to their size and population ii. State legislatures had the power to select delegates iii. The House of Representatives was given the power to choose the President if no candidate received a majority of electoral votes
The Constitution and Its History 3 4. The Constitutional Convention ended on September 17, 1787 a. The delegates voted to send the Constitution to the Continental Congress b. The proposed Constitution would later be sent to the states for ratification III. The Ratification Process A. Ratification required approval by two-thirds of the states, or nine states 1. Each state held ratification conventions 2. Citizens voted on delegates to these conventions 3. The ratification process was not accomplished quickly B. Anti-Federalist movement 1. Opposed the new government because of the broad powers it would hold 2. Opposed the new government because the Anti-Federalists saw it as a challenge to the sovereignty of the states 3. There was also a concern because the proposed Constitution did not contain guarantees for individual rights C. The battle for ratification ended on July 2, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify D. Amendments The Bill of Rights 1. This was a concern of many citizens during the ratification process 2. Promise was made that a Bill of Rights would be added to the Constitution a. On September 25, 1789, the First Congress proposed a 12-amendment Bill of Rights to the states b. The ratification process for the Bill of Rights took four years c. Of the proposed 12, amendments 3 12 were ratified and became the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution IV. The Constitution as a Living Document A. What is unique about this document? 1. Ability to amend to reflect changing social mores and values 2. Ability to change the document has let the United States remain stable over the years B. The amendment process 1. Article V outlines the process 2. Congress has brought 33 proposed amendments forward 3. What does the two-thirds vote requirement actually mean? a. Some thought it meant two-thirds of the total membership of the House of Representatives b. Others argued that it meant that the amendment must pass by a two-thirds majority of the quorum of members in attendance at the time the proposed amendment was presented c. Rhode Island v. Palmer (1) Also known as the National Prohibition Cases (2) Court held that a two-thirds vote of the appropriate quorum would determine whether the proposed amendment would be sent to the states for ratification d. What is the time limit for ratification? (1) Dillon v. Gloss (a) Plaintiff challenged the seven-year time limit for ratification that had been written into the Eighteenth Amendment (b) The Court looked at the intent of the Framers of the Constitution to determine whether Congress could impose a time limit (c) The Court held that the Framers intended to give Congress discretion in this matter and that Congress could set a reasonable time for ratification (d) In this case, the Court held that the seven-year time limit was appropriate and reasonable (e) The question of whether a long-dormant amendment could be resurrected and its ratification completed years later was left open (2) The question still remains open, even when ratification of the Twenty- Seventh Amendment, first proposed in 1789, was finally ratified in 1992 (3) No judicial action was filed, and ratification was accepted by Congress
4 Chapter 1 e. Can Congress extend the time limit for ratification? (1) The Equal Rights Amendment (2) Congress wanted to extend the time for ratification when it became clear that this amendment would not be ratified by the expiration of the time given in the original amendment (3) Idaho v. Freeman (a) Opponents of the time extension went to federal district court to challenge Congress ability to make such an extension (b) The district court held that Congress did not have the power to do so, but this specific question was never presented to the Supreme Court and remains unanswered at that level (4) Another ratification question is whether a state, once it ratifies an amendment, can withdraw that ratification (a) The states argued that they had the power to do so (b) Congress argued that once a state had voted, that ratification vote could not be changed (c) Coleman v. Miller i. The Court held that the question of changing a ratification vote was a political question that it would not answer ii. This decision left it to Congress to decide and the Court refused to intervene iii. The congressional view seems to be that once a state votes to ratify, it may not withdraw that ratification vote V. Summary Key Terms and Definitions amendment: One of the provisions of the U.S. Constitution enacted since the original Constitution became law. Articles of Confederation: The document that held together the 13 original American colonies before the adoption of the Constitution. bicameral: (two chambers) A two-part legislature, such as the U.S. Congress, is bicameral composed of the Senate (the upper house or upper chamber ) and the House of Representatives (the lower house or lower chamber ). Bill of Rights: The first 10 amendments (changes or additions) to the U.S. Constitution. constitution: A document that sets out the basic principles and most general laws of a country, state, or organization. constitutional convention: Occurs when representatives of the people of a country meet to write or change a constitution. electoral college: A name for the persons chosen by voters to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. The electoral college is now almost a formality, and the vote of the general public in each state directly controls the election. ratification: Confirmation and acceptance of a previous act done by you or by another person. Review Questions 1. There are similarities and differences between the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution. What are the similarities shared in these two historic documents and what are the differences?
The Constitution and Its History 5 2. What historic events or stimulus prompted the Framers of the Constitution to make the changes that reflect the differences between the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution? 3. What was the Great Compromise and why was it so important in the drafting of the Constitution? 4. Who were the Federalists and what role did they play in the ratification of the Constitution? 5. Should the states be allowed to rescind a ratification vote if the majority of the representatives from that state decide that the previous decision to ratify was incorrect? Why or why not? Internet Connections 1. For more historical information on the U.S. Constitution, see The Constitution of the United States, Thomas, Legislative Information on the Internet, The Library of Congress at http://memory.loc.gov. 2. To read the Bill of Rights and learn more about its history, visit The Bill of Rights, Thomas, Legislative Information on the Internet, The Library of Congress at http://memory.loc.gov. 3. To view the Federalist Papers, see The Federalist Papers, Thomas, Legislative Information on the Internet, The Library of Congress at http://memory.loc.gov. 4. To learn more about the debates that took place during the Constitutional Convention, see the Avalon Project at Yale Law School, The Madison Debates, The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 at http://www.yale.edu.