Beginning
By: Marcus Smith
In March of 1781, near the end of the military phase of the Revolutionary War, the colonies officially established a government of their own under the Articles of Confederation.
Under the Articles there would only be a single legislative body—called Congress—in which each state had one vote.
In order to pass any major acts there had to be a super-majority of votes, and that rarely happened.
The Articles did not provide for an executive branch, nor a judicial branch, thus the Governors and Judges of the several states would have the final say as to law and order in their states.
In sum, the federal government had very little power to do anything and that resulted in the states falling prey to economic attacks by Britain and political attacks by local rebellious factions.
So, on February 21, 1787, the Congress officially authorized each state to send delegates to a convention to be held in Philadelphia with the “sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.”
Every state except Rhode Island selected and sent delegates to the Federal Convention (also known as the Constitutional Convention or the Philadelphia Convention).
And by May 25, 1787 the framing of our new federal government was under way.
When Thomas Jefferson read the list of the delegates chosen to attend the Convention he called it “An Assembly of Demi-Gods.”
James Madison, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, etc.
Aside from John Adams (who was in London), and Thomas Jefferson (who was in Paris)—both as ambassadors for the colonies—the delegates selected to attend the Convention were some of the most influential men ever to walk the face of the earth.
Although most of the delegates who arrived in Philadelphia were instructed only to revise the Articles of Confederation, a delegate from Virginia, James Madison, came with the intentions of doing much more than a little ‘revising.’
In fact, when it was all said and done, the government that the delegates created was not only a revision of the Articles of Confederation, it was a completely different form of government exclusively.
Following the completion of the Federal Convention the completed Constitution was sent out to the states as merely a proposal to be voted on.
Indeed, the Constitution would have know authority or legal consequence until the ‘people’, through popularly elected ratification conventions in every state, voted on and accepted the proposed government.
Of this James Madison said—comparing the occasion to that of the creation account in Genesis—that the Constitution as it came forth from the Convention was “nothing but a dead letter, until life and validity were breathed into it by the voice of the People.”
According to the Constitution itself the ratification (adoption) of the Constitution in nine states would be “sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution.”
By July of 1788 eleven of the states had said ‘yes’ and George Washington took the oath of office on April 6, 1789.
It wasn’t until late 1789 and mid-1790 respectively that North Carolina and Rhode Island would ratify the Constitution, so for a brief period of time America was a nation consisting of only 11 colonies.
Of the adopting of the Constitution James Wilson, one of the Pennsylvania delegates said, “You have heard of Sparta, of Athens, and of Rome; you have heard of their admired constitutions, and of their high-prized freedom….
But did they, in all of their pomp and pride of liberty, ever furnish, to the astonished world, an exhibition similar to that which we now contemplate?
Were their Constitutions framed by those, who were appointed for that purpose, by the People?
After they were framed, were they submitted to the consideration of the people?
Had the people an opportunity of expressing their sentiments concerning them?
Were they to stand or fall by the people’s approving or rejecting vote”.
Why were our founding fathers some of the most influential men to ever walk the face of the earth?
Because they created a government that would last through the ages.
Our Constitution is the oldest written constitution on the earth today.
It has also been used by governments in both hemisphere’s in the creation of their constitutions.
And like a tree in the middle of the summer, it has provided a shade of freedom, liberty, and happiness that people in all parts of the earth would give up everything to sit under.
By: Marcus Smith
Any typing errors are to be charged to Wendell Haws Eyring Jr.