History of the Constitution of America

The constitution is an essential part of a state. So framing a constitution or constitution is a natural phenomenon for any independent country. Therefore, the formation of the American regime is also recognized as a natural phenomenon. However, the process of making this regime, the complexity of the approval, and some of its unique features have attracted the attention of the world’s people to this regime.

Out of British colonial rule, America formed a confederation of 13 states. On May 20, 1776, Congress ordered the states to create their governments. The Confederation and these states were governed by the Articles of Confederation or Articles of Confederation adopted by Congress in 1777.

However, due to various problems arising in the mutual relations between the states, reformation of some of the principles of the constitution both in domestic and foreign spheres is very necessary. Therefore, a convention involving all the states was organized in 1787 as suggested by important American political figures to reform the Articles of Confederation.

Finally, in this conference held in Philadelphia, the US Constitution was formulated through extensive discussions. America’s first Chief Justice James Madison played the most important role in the creation of the Constitution, so he is called the Father of the Constitution of America.

 Philadelphia Convention 1787:

The Philadelphia Convention is an important event in American constitutional history. It was at this conference that the US Constitution was created. The convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 25 to September 17, 1787. The head of the constitution writing committee at the conference was George Washington, the representative of Virginia. A total of 55 representatives of 12 states from 13 states of the United States participated in the Philadelphia conference. Only Rhode Island did not send any representatives to the conference. After 5 long months of hard work and many arguments, the work of governance was completed on September 17.

Context of the Philadelphia Conference

After being freed from British colonial rule, America emerged as an independent country with 13 states. These states were governed by the Articles of Confederation. But at some point, there was great confusion over foreign trade, the development of the western region, taxes, border disputes between states, currency, etc. As a result, it becomes impossible to solve these problems through the conventional Articles of Confederation.

Political leaders like George Washington, and John Adams also realized that the unity of the states could not be maintained without a major change. Because all attempts to limit the government’s tax collection powers through constitutional amendments have failed. Besides, no state could overcome the situation that was created for various reasons in foreign affairs.

Therefore, the leaders of the states came forward to reform some of the policies of the Confederation. As an initial step, in 1785, delegates from Maryland and Virginia organized the Mount Vernon Conference. The main purpose of the conference was to bring the states together on the question of reforming the Articles of Confederation. Following this conference, a conference was held at Annapolis in 1786 to reform the commercial sector.

12 delegates from 5 states Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York participated in the conference held in September. Representative Alexander Hamilton of New York presented written reports to the convention and called on the US Congress to convene a federal convention to reform the Articles of Confederation. On February 21, 1787, Congress invited the states to send delegates to the convention held in Philadelphia in May.

Given this, the conference began on May 25 at the State House in Philadelphia. The convention elected George Washington president and formed a committee to draft a constitution. Among them, 32 were lawyers, 11 merchants, 4 political figures, 2 military figures, 2 doctors, 2 teachers, 1 inventor and 1 farmer. However, important American figures Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Patrick Henry were absent from the conference. They were staying outside the country on state work.

Plans raised at the conference:

Although the Philadelphia Convention was convened on May 25, 1787, to reform the Articles of Confederation, Nationalist leaders adopted a plan to form a new national Government. Given this, several plans were raised at the conference. The plans were as follows:

1. Virginia Plan:

On May 29, 1787, Edmund Randolph proposed the Virginia Plan at the Convention. This plan was created by James Madison. The important points mentioned there are:

1) There shall be a bicameral legislature

2) Representatives of both the Houses shall be elected in proportion to the population

3) Representatives of the lower house will be elected by direct vote of the people

4) Representatives of the upper house shall be elected by the lower house

5) There will be a high-powered legislature

6) The Central Legislature shall have the right to legislate on all matters in which the individual States do not have the right to legislate.

7) Judiciary formation process and

8) Process to compel the state to comply with the provisions of the federal government etc.

2. New Jersey Plans:

On June 15, 1787, William Patterson proposed the New Jersey Plan at the Convention. This proposal was a counterproposal to the Virginia proposal. According to him, if the big states are given more power, they will exploit the smaller states. The important points of this plan were

1) A unicameral Congress will be elected and each state will have one vote.

2) The present Congress will remain in place and more powers will be given to the Congress. e.g.: Congress can impose taxes and pressure to collect them.

3) Treaties signed and ratified by the United States are the final laws of their respective states.

4) If any inconsistency or contradiction is noticed in the law of any state, then the judges of that state will be bound to obey the aforesaid law.

5) Dictatorship is the final rule of the state, against it all laws are inoperative and the court is the only competent representative to enforce it.

3. Hamilton Plan:

On June 18, Alexander Hamilton expressed his views on the plan for the formation of the United States government. In his long speech, Hamilton discussed the plans for the presidential and senate elections. He also mentioned that the House of Representatives are directly elected for 3 years. He originally planned a centralized system of governance. Hamilton’s plan was based on British rule. However, Hamilton’s plan was not widely discussed at the conference. So he left the conference. However, he arrived at the end of the conference to sign the constitution.

John Dickinson and Roger Sherman also presented their plans. However, John Dickinson did not formally present his views. Dickinson opposed Hamilton’s plan. Roger Sherman, on the other hand, presented his plan on June 11. Sherman’s plan is known as The Great Compromise. According to his plan, the House of Representatives would be based on population and the Senate would have equal members from each state.

Along with that, he expressed the opinion that only the free people were eligible to elect representatives in the House of Representatives, excluding the slaves. But when the southern states of America opposed it, James Wilson decided that representation in the House of Representatives would be proportional to the total population, including three-fifths of the slaves and the number of free people.

Formulation of Constitution

The leaders of the conference could not agree on the direction of the election of delegates given the plans presented at the Philadelphia conference. A large committee was therefore formed with one member from each state to resolve the contentious issue of representation. In an important resolution adopted by the committee on July 16, all states, large and small, gained the right to one vote in the Senate.

They were determined according to the views of James Wilson. According to him three-fifths of the slaves and the number of freemen would dictate representation in the House of Representatives in proportion to their total population. Since slaves accounted for three-fifths of the population, this move was called the Three-Fifths Compromise.

At the same time, it was decided that all bills relating to finance would be introduced by the popularly elected House of Representatives. Consensus was reached on the selection of representatives, but disputes arose on other issues. There was a clash between the industrial North and the agricultural South.

Northern states favored protectionist policies, but southern states opposed the imposition of additional government authority over import and export trade. It was finally decided that the government would adopt no strict policy regarding the export. Of agricultural products and the importation of slaves for the next twenty years.

Similarly, after appeasing the southern states, the federal government promised to pass a new Navigation Act to remove the threat of loss to the northern states. Besides, the delegates of the conference had to maintain a certain balance regarding the regional economic interests. According to Charles Pinckney, the five commercial interests in regionalism were as follows:

1. The fisheries and West Indian trade were under the control of the New England states.
2. New York’s main interest was foreign trade
3. The main cash crops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were wheat and flour
4. Tobacco was grown mainly in parts of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
5. The main exports of South Carolina and Georgia were rice and indigo.

In addition to disagreements on two important issues in the Three-Fifth Compromise and the Navigation Act, various types of differences can be seen between the representatives of different states on minor issues. Finally, through dialogue and in some cases by reconciling conflicting views, obstacles to constitution-making are removed. As a result, a committee was formed to draft the constitutional principles adopted by the conference in late July 1787.

For the next month, the committee worked tirelessly to prepare the draft. A 2nd committee was then formed to draft the final constitution. Hamilton, William Samuel Johnson, Rufus King, Madison, and others were on this committee. Governor Morris was the head of the committee. The committee presented the final constitution to the convention on 17 September 1787. Although this constitution was drafted through long discussions, not one of the representatives was fully satisfied.

All created the Constitution through the Compromise to ensure the prosperity of America and the unity of the states. Some of them left before the end of the convention and three refused to sign the constitution. They were Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts.

In the end, 39 of the delegates who participated in the conference signed the constitution. So at the end of the conference, the delegates started the process of approving the Constitution On June 21, 1787, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution. Finally, on March 4, 1789, the United States Constitution came into force.

Characteristics of the American Constitution

The US Constitution is federal. According to this constitution, every agreement made by the center will be binding on the member states. The government will exercise that power through its officials and courts. Also, the federal government has the power to use force against certain individuals if necessary. The US Constitution is founded on three pillars. They are: Administration Department, Judiciary Department, and Law Department. Other salient features of this constitution are discussed below:

1. Written Constitution: 

The United States Constitution is the first written constitution in the modern. World. In it, the basic rules, procedures, powers of the center and states, Their relationship with various departments of the government etc. has been recorded in the constitution. However, many unwritten provisions have also been incorporated into the governance system during the evolution of the US Constitution for nearly two hundred years. Examples of the unwritten or customary system of the US Constitution include the presidential cabinet or cabinet, the emergence and influence of political parties, and the direct election of the president in nature.

2. Short Constitution: 

The US Constitution is very short compared to the current Constitution. The US Constitution only mentions the basic principles of governance, without any detailed explanations. The original constitution of 1789 had 7 clauses including 1 preamble. The US Constitution has yet to exceed six thousand words. Its number of pages in printed form shall not exceed 15-16.

3. Language and content are clear: 

Although the US Constitution is short, the content of the Constitution is very clear and logical. The language of the Constitution is also plain. No unnecessary, complicated, or ambiguous words have been found in it.

4. Preamble appended to the Constitution: 

The first preamble was appended to the US Constitution drafted and adopted at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. There is no precedent for adding a preamble to the Constitution before this. In this regard, the United States is leading the way.

5. Sovereignty and Supremacy of the Constitution: 

The US Constitution speaks of the sovereign authority and supremacy of the Constitution. Article 6 of the Constitution declares the Constitution to be the ‘supreme law of the land’ – which applies equally to the national government, local governments, and states.

6. Sovereignty of the People: 

Recognition of the sovereignty of the people is a prominent feature of the US Constitution. The US Constitution begins with the phrase ‘We the people of the United States. Such reference in the Preamble of the Constitution is indicative of a clear recognition of sovereignty. According to Lord Bryce, the sovereignty of the people mentioned in the US Constitution is the basis and motto of democracy. It follows from the preamble that the source and legal and moral foundation of the US Constitution is the people of that country.

7. Federal System of Government: 

The US Constitution establishes a federal system of government. Federal nature is the main feature of this constitution. A federal system of governance means that state power is vested in both the central and state governments. Separation of powers between two governments, written and immutable constitution, and its supremacy, the authority of federal courts, and dual citizenship are these four characteristics of a federal system of governance. The essential conditions of the federal government are duly present in the US Constitution.

8. Principle of Compromise: 

The US Constitution is founded on the principle of compromise. Disputes arising between large and small states on matters of interest shall be resolved through conciliation. For reconciliation, two representatives from each state will be reserved in the upper house of Congress and seats will be reserved by population in the lower house.

9. Presidential form of government: 

A presidential form of government is established in the United States as per the Constitution. All the powers of the administrative department are vested in the hands of the President. He is the head of state and government. He was elected for a four-year term. Article 2, Article 2 of the Constitution states that “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.”

10. Democratic Nature: 

The system of government of the United States is democratic. The US president is elected by an Electoral College (Electoral College) for a four-year term. Members of the two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, are also directly elected by the electorate. US state governments are also democratic. That is, the administration and legal departments of the United States are controlled by the representatives of the people.

11. Separation of Powers: 

A notable feature of the US Constitution is the separation of powers. The American system of government, given the bitter experience of colonial rule, considered the principle of separation of powers as a safeguard of individual freedom and kept the law, administration, and judiciary completely independent. As a result, the legislative power is vested in the hands of Congress, the administrative power in the hands of the administrative department, and the judicial power in the hands of the Supreme Court and other courts.

12. Primacy of the Judiciary: 

The Constitution recognizes the primacy of the judiciary. If there is a conflict between the government and the Constitution, the Supreme Court can judge the Constitutional validity of any activity of the government. That is, US courts act as protectors of the Constitution.

13. Balance of Powers: 

The US Constitution provides for the balance of power and mutual control between the various branches of government so that no single branch of government can dominate. For example, even if the President is entrusted with the supreme responsibility of the administration, the Congress can depose the President. Before the expiry of the term of office. A law made by Congress can be struck down by the Supreme Court if it violates individual liberties. Again, the judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President subject to the approval of the Senate. For this reason, Woodrow Wilson called the Supreme Court ‘A Kind of Constitutional Convention in Continuous Session’.

14. Limitation on the Powers of Government: 

The US Constitution provides for limitations on the powers of the government. The framers of the Constitution recognized the concept of limited government by establishing the principle of separation of powers and the principle of balance and checks. The original Constitution of the United States imposed limits on the powers of the central government and state governments in various areas.

15. Dual Citizenship: 

The principle of dual citizenship has been recognized by the Federal Government. Every citizen of the United States is simultaneously a citizen of the United States and a citizen of his state.

16. Reservation of Fundamental Rights: 

The United States was the first to recognize some of the fundamental rights of citizens written into the Constitution. Initially, the lack of these principles in the US Constitution led to ratification complications in the states. Later in 1791 Fundamental Rights were included in the Constitution. These fundamental rights include personal freedom, freedom of expression, religious freedom, right to vote, right to property, etc. All these rights of US citizens are called the Bill of Rights.

17. Constitution is unamendable: 

The amendment process of the United States Constitution is very complex. That is, the Constitution is immutable. A special procedure has to be followed to correct it. Congress can introduce amendment proposals after the approval of two-thirds of both the Houses (Upper House, Lower House) of the Union Legislature. Then the approval of three-fourths of the states is required to implement the amendment proposal.

18. Influence of liberal political philosophy: 

The framers of the US Constitution were influenced by the liberal political philosophy of political scientists like John Locke, Thomas Paine, etc. That is why the features of liberal democracy are present in the US governance system.

19. Cabinet system without authority: 

The USA also has a cabinet like Britain. But the US cabinet has no power and authority of its own. The members of the US Cabinet are only considered subordinates of the President.

20. Bicameral Federal Legislature: 

The legislature of the United States is bicameral. Its upper house is called the Senate and the lower house is called the House of Representatives. The lower House of Representatives is elected for two years by direct vote of the people of the state and the members of the senate are elected for six years by the state legislatures.

21. Denial of Official Titles: 

The US Constitution completely prohibits the acceptance of official titles of any kind. It is said that this measure has been taken to establish the equality of American citizens and make democracy a reality.

22. Chances of appointing government party loyalists to high positions: 

After the election of a new president in the United States, only supporters of the president’s party are appointed to important government posts. During the tenure of the previous president, officials had to resign. This type of system of employment in the government sector is called the ‘Spoil System’. Apart from government jobs, this spoil system is also applied in awarding contracts and tax exemptions. However, the application of this system is currently quite limited.

The above features serve as benchmarks of the US Constitution and distinguish it from other constitutions. And the progressive nature of the Constitution makes it long-lasting. Along with that, keeping pace with the changing times, by changing its structure, the US Constitution has brought in dynamism. President Monroe said, “The American system of government is static, not dynamic, Newtonian, and not Darwinian.”

Why American Constitution get longevity? 

The US Constitution is an enduring constitution. There are many reasons behind keeping this constitution lasting. The three main reasons are-

a) Timing through amendment: 

The picture of the problem changes over time. And in this changed situation, the Constitution also needs some amendments. Otherwise, the state cannot act as its Guiding principle. Its amendment system is one of the reasons behind the longevity of the American Constitution. In the United States, two-thirds of the members of Congress would raise the issue in a special convention if there was a problem with the Constitution. Then this proposal was implemented with the approval of three-fourths of the members of the legislature.

b) Contemporaneous Interpretation of Laws by the Judiciary: 

The Judiciary provides a contemporaneous interpretation of any subject or clause of the Constitution. This should not lead to any confusion. Whenever a law provided by the Constitution is questionable or unclear before the public, the judiciary provides a clear interpretation of it – a very important factor in the longevity of the American Constitution.

c) Balance of Powers: 

America’s legal, judicial, and administrative branches are held accountable to each other. Although these three branches of government are distinct, there are mutual Understanding and balance of power between each branch. As the President is Accountable to Congress, any law passed by Congress can be overturned by the Supreme Court. Also, Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President on the
Recommendation of Congress.

Thus it can be seen that the US Constitution has become a timely constitution by maintaining the balance of power.