The Constitution

Before the Constitution

The Articles of Confederation created a confederation, a government of loosely organized independent states.  The national government under the Articles of Confederation consisted of a single legislative body, called the Congress of the United States.  The national government had limited powers under the Articles of Confederation.  For example, the central government could not levy taxes or regulate commerce.  Additionally, there was not an executive or judicial branch of government under the Articles.

Because the government under the Articles of Confederation did not have enough power, problems began to emerge.

• States were printing their own money in violation of national law.
• States were conducting foreign trade negotiations in violation of national law.
• States were organizing their own armed forces.

These events led to a meeting in Philadelphia in 1787.  This meeting has come to be known as the Constitutional Convention.

• Learn More About the Great Compromise

  It took four long months of debate for the framers to create the Constitution. As the framers worked, different plans and suggestions were made.

  The states with smaller populations supported the New Jersey Plan which sought equal representation among all states, and which added an executive and judicial branch, while giving the government power to tax and regulate trade. The larger states sought to have representation in the new government based on population. They created the Virginia Plan, which did this, and which not only created three branches of government, but also gave the government much more power than under the Articles.

  The result of all this debate was the Great Compromise, which resulted in the Constitution we know today. It solved the representation squabble by creating a bicameral legislature, called Congress, in which the lower house (called the House of Representatives) had representation based on population, and an upper house (called the Senate) had equal representation by states (2 Senators representing each state).

  An executive branch was created, headed by a President to be elected by the people (and an electoral college).

  A judicial branch was also added, with one Supreme Court, whose members were to be chosen by the chief executive and confirmed by the Senate.

  The new government was given the right to tax, to regulate trade and make national laws. It was much more powerful than the national government had been under the Articles of Confederation. The framers finished their work on the Constitution in September of 1787.

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