Constitution of the United States

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

In terms of governmental concepts, nothing in the Constitution is new; every part came from the Articles of Confederation, the state constitutions and bills of rights, or the Northwest Ordinance. The genius of the Founding Fathers lay in how they mixed together these disparate “old” provisions to create a federal republic different from any other previously formed state. The genesis of the Constitution came about through a series of compromises struck among delegates representing states with different interests. Delegates from large and small states first vied with each other over representation. Southern delegates differed with northern delegates on representation and a host of other issues. The southern delegates sought an agricultural society in which slavery would be protected from those who wished to abolish the South's peculiar institution, while northerners wanted to encourage commerce, fishing, and manufacturing. The country as a whole was divided between those who wanted a strong central government and those who merely wanted to give the Confederation Congress a few more necessary powers while keeping the primary political authority with the states. These competing forces were in fact essential to the shaping of the Constitution. By dividing power between the federal and state governments and by separating the different branches of the federal government through an intricate system of checks and balances, the convention created a uniquely strong and efficient federal government that could better protect the rights of its citizens.

The Constitution is introduced by a fifty-two-word preamble, written by Gouverneur Morris, that announces a major change in national philosophy. Opening with the famous words “We the People of the United States,” the Constitution replaced the loose confederation of states with a contract forged among all of the nation's people. The new federal government would “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Seven articles follow the preamble. Article I—in length, half of the entire Constitution—gave all legislative power to a bicameral Congress. To be elected biennially by the people, the larger House of Representatives was apportioned among the states based upon population, including three-fifths of the slaves. Reapportionment in the House would occur every ten years after a federal census. For the smaller Senate, each state legislature would elect two federal senators to serve six-year terms. One-third of the Senate was to be elected every two years. Senators and representatives would vote individually, not as a state delegation. The vice president of the United States would serve as president of the Senate, casting votes only to break ties.

The states would set their own rules for electing members of Congress, but Congress could regulate elections that were not held. Congress would be required to sit at least once annually. Each house would elect its own officers, create its own rules, keep its own records, set qualifications for its own members, and determine the results of disputed elections. By law, Congress would set all governmental salaries, which would be paid out of the federal treasury. Mandatory rotation in office and the power of recall were eliminated. No member of Congress would be allowed to coincidentally hold another federal office.

Congress would be entitled to levy and collect taxes; regulate foreign and interstate commerce; declare war; raise and maintain an army and navy; provide rules for training state militias; establish post offices and post roads; borrow and coin money; punish counterfeiters; set uniform bankruptcy laws; pass laws for naturalization; fix standards for weights and measures; grant copyrights and patents; define and punish piracy and crimes at sea; create inferior federal courts; exercise exclusive jurisdiction over a federal capital and over federal forts, arsenals, and magazines; and “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper, for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers.” Only the House could initiate money bills, but, unlike Great Britain's House of Lords, the Senate could amend money bills. The president could veto bills, but Congress could override the veto by a two-thirds vote in each house.

The last two sections of Article I placed limits on the actions of Congress and the states. Both were prohibited from passing bills of attainder, enacting ex post facto laws, and granting titles of nobility. Congress specifically could not levy export duties, close the foreign slave trade before 1808, or suspend the writ of habeas corpus except during rebellions and foreign invasion. The states were also prohibited from passing laws that would impair the obligation of contracts, coining money, issuing paper money, declaring anything but gold and silver legal tender, entering into treaties or alliances, or (without the consent of Congress) levying import or export duties.

Article II vested the executive power in a president to serve for four years and to be eligible for unlimited reelection. Special presidential electors, equal to the total number of each state's representatives and senators and chosen in a manner decided by the state legislatures, were to meet on the same day in their home states and cast two ballots—one of which could not be for a resident of their state. The person receiving the highest number of votes would be elected president; the person with the second highest number would become vice president. If two or more people tied—each with electoral votes that totaled a majority of the electors appointed—the House of Representatives would by ballot choose the winner. If no person had a vote that was a majority of the number of the electors, the House of Representatives would choose the president by ballot from among those with the five highest numbers of electoral votes. The Senate, voting per capita, would elect the vice president.

The president—who had to be at least thirty-five years old, a natural-born citizen or a citizen at the time that the Constitution was adopted, and a resident of the United States for fourteen years—was to be commander in chief of the military and of the state militias whenever they were brought into federal service. He could grant pardons and reprieves—except in cases of impeachment—and, with the advice and consent of the Senate, make appointments (including diplomats and judges), enter into treaties (subject to the approval of a two-thirds vote of the Senate), and require in writing the opinions of the heads of the different executive departments. The president would receive a fixed salary that could not be raised or lowered during his term of office, and he would be required to take an oath to faithfully execute his duties and to defend the Constitution. From time to time the president was to make a “State of the Union” address to Congress containing “such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The president, vice president, and all other civil officers could be impeached by the House of Representatives for “Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The Senate would try all impeachments, with conviction requiring a two-thirds vote. The chief justice would preside over impeachment trials of the president. Punishment was limited to removal from office, but those convicted were also subject to regular criminal prosecution.

Article III provided for a federal judiciary to consist of one Supreme Court and such inferior courts as Congress deemed necessary. To be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, federal judges were to serve during good behavior with salaries that could not be diminished. The judiciary's jurisdiction would extend to all cases of law and equity arising under the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties as well as to cases involving the United States, cases between citizens of different states, and cases involving foreigners. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was delineated in the Constitution; in all other cases the Supreme Court would have appellate jurisdiction in law and fact, with such exceptions as provided by Congress. Unlike with the British House of Lords or in several state constitutions, no provision was made for legislative overview of Supreme Court decisions. By authority of the supremacy clause in Article VI, federal judges could declare state laws unconstitutional and thus null and void. As per the general principles of written constitutions, federal judges could also declare acts of Congress and of the president unconstitutional.

Jury trials were guaranteed in criminal cases within the state in which the crime had been committed. Treason was narrowly defined, and its punishment could not extend to the family of the traitor.

Article IV required that each state give “full Faith and Credit” to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the other states. Citizens of each state would be entitled to the “Privileges and Immunities” of citizens in other states, while states would be required to extradite other states' fugitives from justice and runaway slaves. Congress could admit new states into the Union and could make rules and regulations for federal territories. The United States guaranteed each state a republican form of government, protection from foreign invasion, and assistance against domestic violence upon the application of the state legislature, or of the governor when the legislature was not in session.

Article V provided that amendments to the Constitution could be proposed either by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress or by a constitutional convention called on the application to Congress of two-thirds of the states. Proposed amendments could be ratified by three-quarters of the state legislatures or by state ratifying conventions, whichever method Congress directed.

Article VI provided that the new federal government assumed all the debts and engagements previously held by the Confederation government. It also specified that “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

Article VII provided that the Constitution would be considered in each state by specially elected ratifying conventions and that whenever nine states ratified, the Constitution would go into effect among the ratifying states.