The US Constitution

 US Constitution

The US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. It was drafted after the American Revolutionary War, but it was not the first attempt to create a supreme law.

US Constitution

The first form of government set up by the Continental Congress was called the Articles of the Confederation which was adopted in 1777, but it proved to be a failed experiment. The Articles created a Continental Congress composed of 13 delegates, one from each colony, that could declare war, conduct foreign affairs and make treaties. But there were no executive or judiciary branches of the government. It could also coin money, but they couldn't collect taxes; that was left to the states. Overall, it created a weak central government.

The Articles of the Confederation

Eventually, the delegates of the newly independent America met in Philadelphia, in 1787. The main purpose of the meeting was to amend the existing Articles, but a new charter of government was created in the end: The Constitution. Many things were discussed and adopted; for example, the 3 branches of the government: legislative, executive and judiciary, and rather than a direct democracy, they opted out for a representative democracy.

However, there were arguments between different factions regarding how powerful the central government should be. Alexander Hamilton, for instance, advocated for a strong centralized government, while Thomas Jefferson advocated for a decentralized government. 

Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804)

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

There was also a conflict of interests between states. Large states supported James Madison's Virginia Plan, which called for a two-houses legislature with representation in both proportional to a state's population. On the other hand, smaller states rallied behind the New Jersey plan, which called for a single legislative house with equal representation for each state.

James Madison (1751-1836)

In the end, a ''Great Compromise'' was made. The US Congress will have 2 houses: a House of Representatives, with proportional representation, and a Senate with 2 members from each state. House members, also called Congressmen, served 2 years term while Senators served 6 years term, with 1/3rd of them being up for reelection in every 2 year cycle. 

So, the two principles of the Constitution were separation of powers and federalism. As for the separation of power, the Congress can vote laws, but the President can veto them. Also, the judiciary can also declare these laws void. As for federalism, the governmental authority rests both in the national and the states governments. For instance, my godfather, who lives in Chicago, is a citizen of both the USA and the state of Illinois. As a result, the national government is limited in scope to certain powers. These powers are in the hands of the state governments. In order to be adopted, the Constitution had to be ratified by 9 out of 13 states. To make sure this happens, both Madison and Hamilton wrote ''The Federalist Paper'' which simply advocated for the ratification.

The Federalist Papers

To sum up, even though it has been amended 26 times since its ratification, the US Constitution remains essentially the same law adopted in 1787 by the United States of America.