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The Bill of Rights were 10 amendments guaranteeing basic individual protections, such as freedom of speech and religion, that became part of the Constitution in To date, there are 27 constitutional amendments. The national government was comprised of a single legislature, the Congress of the Confederation; there was no president or judicial branch.
The Articles of Confederation gave Congress the power to govern foreign affairs, conduct war and regulate currency; however, in reality these powers were sharply limited because Congress had no authority to enforce its requests to the states for money or troops. Soon after America won its independence from Great Britain with its victory in the American Revolution , it became increasingly evident that the young republic needed a stronger central government in order to remain stable. In , Alexander Hamilton , a lawyer and politician from New York , called for a constitutional convention to discuss the matter.
The Confederation Congress, which in February endorsed the idea, invited all 13 states to send delegates to a meeting in Philadelphia. On May 25, , the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence had been adopted 11 years earlier. There were 55 delegates in attendance, representing all 13 states except Rhode Island , which refused to send representatives because it did not want a powerful central government interfering in its economic business.
Many had served in the Continental Army, colonial legislatures or the Continental Congress known as the Congress of the Confederation as of In terms of religious affiliation, most were Protestants. Eight delegates were signers of the Declaration of Independence, while six had signed the Articles of Confederation. Political leaders not in attendance at the convention included Thomas Jefferson and John Adams , who were serving as U. John Jay , Samuel Adams and John Hancock were also absent from the convention.
Reporters and other visitors were barred from the convention sessions, which were held in secret to avoid outside pressures. The delegates had been tasked by Congress with amending the Articles of Confederation; however, they soon began deliberating proposals for an entirely new form of government.
After intensive debate, which continued throughout the summer of and at times threatened to derail the proceedings, they developed a plan that established three branches of national government—executive, legislative and judicial. A system of checks and balances was put into place so that no single branch would have too much authority. The specific powers and responsibilities of each branch were also laid out. Among the more contentious issues was the question of state representation in the national legislature.
Delegates from larger states wanted population to determine how many representatives a state could send to Congress, while small states called for equal representation. The issue was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation of the states in the lower house House of Representatives and equal representation in the upper house Senate. Another controversial topic was slavery. For the purposes of taxation and determining how many representatives a state could send to Congress, it was decided that slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a person.
On September 17, George Washington was the first to sign the document. Of the 55 delegates, a total of 39 signed; some had already left Philadelphia, and three—George Mason and Edmund Randolph of Virginia , and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts—refused to approve the document. In order for the Constitution to become law, it then had to be ratified by nine of the 13 states. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, with assistance from John Jay, wrote a series of essays to persuade people to ratify the Constitution.
People who supported the Constitution became known as Federalists, while those opposed it because they thought it gave too much power to the national government were called Anti-Federalists.
Beginning on December 7, , five states— Delaware , Pennsylvania, New Jersey , Georgia and Connecticut—ratified the Constitution in quick succession. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve undelegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion and the press.
In February , a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, , New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.
These images point to pictures of the Emancipation Proclamation. These images point to pictures of the Gettysburg Address. Several different versions written by the President exist - these images are of the so-called "Hay Copy". These images are courtesy of the Library of Congress. Click on an image to get an image suitable for printing.
PDF files are also available. These pages make great learning tools for kids in the preschool through 2nd grade ages. These images can be copied as many times as needed, for educational purposes. Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were created and signed. This is the chair back that George Washington sat in as President of the Convention. Benjamin Franklin remarked that until the Constitution was completed, he was unsure if the sun was rising or setting, but he was then convinced it was surely rising.
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