The-US-Constitution
Abdelhafid-Missouri
Last week we started chapter I and looked at principles of government in Part 1. We learnt that government is a political institution that makes and enforces laws, and that political power is used to affect who governs and for what purpose. We also looked at forms of government, and foundations of democracy in the US.
This week, we are going to look at part 2 of chapter I This part 2 is the Constituion.
“E Pluribus Unum” is the motto of the United States. It means “from the many, one”.
The US constitution originally contained only 4.543 words. It is the oldest written constitution. “It offers both hope and optimism as a framework of governance, and it serves as a protection against government and tyranny. The constitution is the supreme and binding law of the land”, according to Franco Sardino in his book U.S. Government and Politics.
The US constitution derives its democratic and constitutional spirit from several important documents and the history of the colonial era. Influenced by a political culture inspired from these documents, colonial history, and the Enlightenment which focused on reason and logic rather than on tradition, the framers of the constitution met in Philadelphia in 1787 to approve the constitution.
Among the documents and colonial history background that played a major role in laying the ground-work of democracy and democracy in the US constitution are the following:
- The Magna Carta: This is a most important document in the history of Britain and the US. It was signed in 1215 by King John to limit the powers of the king over the nobility and the people. “ Among the fundamental rights established by the Magna Carta were trial by jury and due process of law- the protection against the taking of life, liberty, or property at the monarch’s discretion”, Franco Sardino.
- The Petition of Right: In 1626, King Charles demanded funds to continue his war against Spain against the will of the parliament. The parliament, which had grown in influence, made the monarch sign the Petition of Right before it would provide him with any funds.
The Petition of Right challenged the idea of the divine rights of kings and limited the king’s ability to:
1- Imprison critics without a trial.
2- Force his subjects to shelter troops without their consent.
3- Impose taxes without the consent of Parliament.
- The English Bill of Rights:
In 1688, the English parliament enthroned William and Mary of Orange. But before it did so, it had them sign a Bill of Rights that:
-Prevents abuse of power by future monarchs
-Establishes the supremacy of parliament over the monarch
-Guarantees free elections to parliament and legislation only with the consent of the Parliament:
-Allows collection of taxes only to the parliament.
- Natural Rights: The enlightenment idea that people have natural rights given to them by God such as the right to life, liberty, and property. These ideas are found in John Locke’s 1690 work Two Treaties on Government. According to John Locke, the main purpose of government is to protect these rights, “if the government does not protect the natural rights of the people, then the people can overthrow or change the goverment”, Franco Sardino.
- Colonial America: Many documents during colonial America contributed to the popitical tradition manifest in the US constitution nowadays. They all involved:
a- Government by the people
b- Limited powers for the government
c- Government respect for the bill of Rights
d- Division of power betwee executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. This created a system of checks and balances. Among these documents:
1- The Mayflower Compact: A document signed by Englishmen on board their ship the Mayflower in 1620 to submit to government by the people once they settle in the new land.
2- Fundamental Orders of Connecticut: The first written constitution to create a government.
3- Massachusetts Body of Liberties: document containing 100 liberties including:
- The right of equal justice
- The right of appeal
- Ban on cruel punishment
4- Pennsylvania Frame of Government:
In 1682, Willian Penn drafted the Pennsylvania Frame of Government. This frame protected many rights such as:
-Trial by Jury
- Freedom of the press
- Religious tolerance
- Frame also allowed for an amendment process.
5- The Continental Congress and Independence:
The settlers were heavily taxed by the British government even tough they had no representation in the British Parliament. As a consequence, the colonies formed the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774 and wrote to the king voicing their grievances about violations of their rights as Englishmen. They also asked the colonies to raise their own troops.
The colonies again organized the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to form an army and appointed George Washington as the commander-in-chief. In 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.The United States was finally free.
6- The articles of Confederation:
With the passage of the Articles of the Confederation in 1777, the first American government was born. By 1781, all the thirteen original states had joined the confederation. Under the articles of the confederation,
- The central government was limited.
- Congress was unicameral (one House).
- Each state was represented by one vote.
- Only Congress could declare war.
- Government did not provide for an executive.
- Government lacked sources of revenue and had no right to collect taxes. However, it could ask for contributions.
- Government settled disputes between states over territories.
- All actions by Congress required the consent of 9 of the 13 states. All amendments required unanimous approval.
- Articles did not establish a national judiciary or a system of courts.
- Government was weak since it had no resources to support an army.
7-The constitutional convention:
The weak confederation could not protect its institutions against disgruntled individuals. Therefore, representatives of 12 out of the 13 states met in Philadelphia in May 1787 to review the articles of confederation and create a federal government that is capable of defending the security and the stability of the nation and protecting civil rights. These states demanded the establishment of a federal government that consists of an:
- independent legislative
- Independent executive
- Independent judiciary
However, the process involved much conflict and settlement between supporters of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan only to reach the Great Compromise, also called the Connecticut Plan, which established the framework for the new government. To resolve differences, the compromise reached was:
- “The house would be based on proportional representation and would be the larger body.
- The Senate would have equal representation of the states, with each legislature electing two representatives to the body”, Franco Scardino.
Another issue in the convention was in regard to the slaves. Southern states wanted them to be counted, but most Northern states opposed the idea. They finally reached the Three-Fifth Compromise which stated “free persons and three-fifths of all other persons should be counted”.
The convention also led to James Madison’s system of checks and balances. “This model creates independent branches of government that can check each other so that no one branch comes to dominate the government and threaten individual liberty”, Franco Scardino in US Government and Politics.
The constitution which was finally approved in Philadelphia on September 1787 established the following fundamental principles of government:
- Popular sovereignty
- Limited government
- Separation of powers
- Checks and balances
- Judicial review.
- Federalism.
However, the constitution needed to be approved in each of the states in a special state convention. This led to a conflict between the Federalists (supporters of a federal government) and the Anti-Federalists (opponents of a federal government).
The Anti-federalists worried that the federal government would be too powerful and state governments weak, and that the new document did not include a bill of rights. Even though the nine states necessary to put the new government into effect were obtained, the two states of New York and Virginia called for a bill of rights. With the passage of a bill of rights in July 26th, 1788, 11 states out of 13 had ratified the Constitution. The Republic was born.
There is no doubt that had a bill of rights not passed, the history of the United States would have been a different story. The delegates made sure to aggressively push for a bill of rights in order to protect the citizens and the states against tyranny and abuse. In the following, I briefly mention the ten amendments to the constitution (the bill of rights), which are safeguards of civil liberties against encroachments of centralized government:
-Amendment I is on the freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and politics.
-Amendment II is on militia and the right to bear arms.
-Amendment III is on quartering of soldiers.
-Amendment IV is on searches and seizures
-Amendment V is on grand juries, self-incrimination, double jeopardy, due process, and eminent domain
-Amendment VI is on criminal court procedures
-Amendment VII is on trial by jury in common law cases
-Amendment VIII is on bail, cruel and unusual punishment.
-Amendment IX is on rights retained by the people.
-Amendment X is on reserved powers of the states.
Finally, it remains to say that there are formal and informal methods of constitutional change when new issues arise.
Next week in part 3 of chapter I, we will study Federalism.
Thank you for reading.
it's long, i cant read everything
I am agree with you that Constitution of US is the oldest, but US democracy is not, because the universal suffrage was not firmly established in the US until the passage of the voting Rights Act in 1965.