In May of 1787, fifty-six delegates from the newly founded thirteen states of the United States of America met in Pennsylvania to amend the ineffective Articles of Confederation. In doing so, they drafted a Constitution that would serve as the law of land for that thirteen states and any others that would join the Union. The Framers designed the Constitution for the purpose that it could be amended in the future. This is because they would not be able to foresee all the circumstances that the state would face in the future, therefore they wanted it to be able to be easily amended in the future. Today, lawmakers in Washington D.C. are trying to utilize this structure to pass what would be known as a State Repeal Federal Laws amendment.
The power to amend the Constitution comes from Article V of the Constitution of the United States of America. An amendment can be proposed through joint resolution by Congress with two- thirds approval in both houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate (Constitutional Amendment Process, Cox, Zernike). A joint resolution is a measure approved by both houses of Congress and is signed by the President (Constitutional Amendment Process). However, the President does not have any power in amending the Constitution, so the states’ Governors receive information regarding the amendment and present it to the state legislature for approval (Constitutional Amendment Process). Another way that an amendment can be proposed is through a
The United States Constitution was an important document that changed history and a flexible document that could adapt to future challenges for many reasons. This important document replaced the Articles of Confederation, which had many problems from the beginning. Over time, the Constitution has also been amended to meet the challenges in the future.
The forefathers wanted to make changes to this aspect of the Constitution because the federal government had very little power, they didn’t have any executive powers, no courts, and no power to tax. Also each state was considered as a nation state,they even coined their own money. They had no unity. This came to be because the states held most of the power, with nothing connecting them together. Also under the Articles the United States had a unicameral legislature with equal representation, and 9 of 13 states had to agree with each other in order to pass laws.
“When people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.” By 1787, the enlightened statesmen began to understand and accept the flaws of the Articles of Confederation. It was too weak and did not allow the new nation’s economy to thrive. The system under these articles failed to create a strong central government and even lacked a court system. One major weakness of the central government was that they could not tax the states and this lead to an uneven distribution of power, and the states became overwhelmingly powerful. The challenge was to write a new constitution that was strong enough to hold the country and states together, secure the rights of the people, and not allow a single
The Judicial Branch has also exerted is power to check the other branches and keep the balance
After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the United States Government was reorganized under the Constitution. This gave the federal government far more power than did the Articles of Confederation, which invested power within the states. Basically, the Constitution created three branches of government (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative) which would work together to run the government. To make sure that there was an equal balance of power among the branches, a system of checks and balances was devised so that each branch could limit the power of the others. It is important to note that "the doctrine of separation of powers is not established by any constitutional provision [but] rather it emerges from he framers'
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution in 1787, the United States just had 13 states. The Founding Fathers believed that more states would want to join the Union in the future. They saw that it would be significant for new states to have the same form of government as the original states had. Since then there are now over 50 states that have similar characteristics which were developed centuries ago; although, resembling the creation of new ideas and inventions, current state government had many problems from being the way it is today, it also has many important features that benefit many people, as well as plays an important role in how American democracy and government works.
If an issue raises between states Articles states to use the system of negotiation. Now the federal court deals with state to state issues. With passing laws before the Constitution, the Articles wanted 9/13 to pass any law. After it states 50%+1 of both of the houses plus the president needs to sign it. Also in the Articles term limit for legislative office is no more than three out of every six years. In the constitution there isn’t a term limit. The Chair of legislature is the president according to the Articles but in the constitution, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Vice President of the Senate.
On July 3rd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously declared the independence of the thirteen United States of America from Great Britain. Determined to unify the thirteen colonies, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. Although the articles did not prevent the United States from winning independence, the innate flaws of the articles became apparent in the years following the revolution. The problems of the weak, purely legislative national government became too prevalent for agents of the revolution, such as James Madison and George Washington. Madison and Washington were strong supporters of a federal, or national, constitution, and on June 21, 1788, congress ratified the Constitution of the United States. And in doing so, violated the “Revolutionary Ideology” and the will of the American people.
The US Constitution states “We The People of the United states in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for more common defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The main purpose of the U.S Constitution is to establish the basic rights of all American Citizens. This follows that every United States Citizens have equal rights. Belonging to a minority group because of culture, religion or race does not assert that one is unconstitutional. In times of war, evacuation of minority groups only in NOT constitutional; however, evacuation of ALL United
A constitution is a written document that sets forth the fundamental rules by which a society is governed. Throughout the course of history the United States has lived under two Constitutions since the British-American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. First in line was the Articles of Confederation (1789-1789) followed by the Constitution of United States of America (1789-present). The Articles of Confederation was the first formal written Constitution of America that specified how the national government was to operate. Unfortunately, the Articles did not last long. Under the words of the Article’s power was limited; Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. Also the articles stated
The Articles of Confederation were designed to make any amendments impossible. With the rule of unanimous consent agreement, there was no chance the Articles could be changed. Not every state agreed with making an amendment, so a single vote could destroy a brilliant plan or a key factor of the constitution. That happened with many ideas such as Assize plan, Port bill, and other helpful bills. These bills required nine out of thirteen states to pass, not the simple majority as they do in modern times.
The United States Constitution was heavily influenced by the Iroquois Confederacy’s political theory, though Eurocentric history lessons often teach about the French and Greek influence. In 1988, the House Concurrent Resolution 331 passed which recognized the Iroquois Confederacy’s contribution to the U.S. Constitution. Even after H.Con.Res 331 was passed, the Iroquois Confederacy’s influence continues to be disregarded, most people have to wait until specific classes in higher education to learn about the connection. With the whitewashing of history, many Native American influences have been overlooked that directly correlate to the creation of the U.S. Constitution, though the ‘Founding Fathers’ did revise the Iroquois’ political theory to better match the ‘freedom’ of the U.S.
issues of all kind. The country I was born in did not guarantee freedom of
In September 1787, a well written document called the U.S. Constitution was being created by our founding fathers, like George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and others, and was ratified on 1791 in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention. The Constitution to was established because our founding fathers wanted to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity”, which says the Preamble, for everyone. The Preamble is a statement that is the introduction to the Constitution and was written to explain the purpose of the Constitution. The seven principles of the
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention, where it was held in Philadelphia. It was written by a group of people known as “Farmers,” or the “Founding Fathers,” and few of the most famous Founding Fathers were George Washington (The first president of the USA), Thomas Jefferson (The first vice president and the third president of the USA) James Madison (The fourth president of the USA), Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. The old government, the Articles of Confederation was not working as it supposed to be, it was vulnerable and cannot secure and defend the new born nation and for that reason the constitution of the united states saw the light.