American Public University

The United States Constitution: Creation and Ratification

June 5, 2010

WILLIAM R COX
4075725
U.S. Constitutional History
Professor Elizabeth Moneymaker
HIST. 556, K001, Spring 2010
 The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all men are “endowed by their Creator

with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”

and that the purpose of government was to protect these rights.1 It was within this context that

the Continental Congress pursued the difficult task of creating a central government. Their effort

produced the Articles of Confederation a “firm league of friendship among the people of the

different states.”2 Through war America secured its independence from Britain; however, many

questioned its ability to remain free in a world dominated by hostile European Monarchies.3 The

war and resulting peace illustrated the problems and defects of a “firm league of friendship;”

including, the inability of Congress to tax or regulate commerce, the inability of Congress to

satisfy national debts incurred during the war and the inability of Congress to deal with European

mercantilist policies faced with this reality the States called for a Constitutional Convention in

Philadelphia.

Was America prepared for a new government? Could the delegates devise a better

system of government? Thomas Jefferson provided reason for hope as he notably pointed out

that, “the new states had had eleven times thirteen, or nearly 150 years of experience in

republican government.”4 James Madison, in preparation for the Convention, studied ancient

and modern confederacies in order to grasp the proper role of a federal government. Through

scholarship and diligence he arrived in Philadelphia with the Virginia Plan, a blue print for a new

1
Thomas Jefferson, "The Declaration of Independence" (Philidelphia, PA: Continental
Congress, July 4, 1776).
2
Congress of the United States, "Articles of Confederation 1777," in The Anti-Federalist Papers
and the Constitutional Convention Debates, ed. Ralph Ketcham (New York: Signet Classics,
1986) 357-359.
3
Gordon Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (New York, NY:
Oxford University Press, 2009) 15.
4
Ralph Ketcham, ed., The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates:
The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of Government, ed. Ralph Ketcham
(New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, 2003) 3.

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federal system of government.5 The country was desperate for change, “nearly everyone in 1787

conceded ‘the weakness of the Confederation . . . even the most orthodox republicans’ said

Madison were alarmed by the ‘existing embarrassments and mortal diseases of the

Confederacy.’”6

The debate centered on the proper role of government; the Federalist argued that the

survival, growth and prosperity of America depended upon eradicating the deficiencies of the

Confederation. They proposed a new central government empowered for more than mutual

friendship. They intended the American identity to exist “within a federal system of government

retaining the states and deriving its authority from the people but also competent to all the needs

and exigencies of respectable, energetic nationhood.”7 The Anti-Federalist most notably argued

against the proposed government; however, it is fair to state that they desired a local system of

government where the governed and governors were intimate, to them closeness defined self-

government. The document forwarded from the Constitutional Convention to the United States

Congress represented months of debate, negotiations and compromise. Contained within its

words was a new federal government consisting of three separate, yet equal, branches of

government based on popular sovereignty; however, to become a reality, nine states must agree

that this system best protected mans’ rights and provided political liberty.8 The proposed

government structure with separate and co-equal branches provided political liberty, as

Montesquieu argued political liberty is only present when “there is no abuse of power . . . and to

prevent this abuse it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to

5
Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic: 1776-1787 (Chapel Hill, NC:
University of North Carolina Press, 1998) 471-472.
6
Ibid., 471.
7
Ralph Ketcham, ed., The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates:
The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of Government, 20.
8
Ibid., 16-20.

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power.”9 The government established an Executive branch represented by the President, a bi-

cameral congress for legislative affairs and a judicial branch represented by the Supreme Court;

each branch illustrated the framers’ attempt to promote liberty while prohibiting tyranny by

checking the power of one with the power of the other.10

The Constitution once ratified became the foundational authority for the protection of

mans’ unalienable rights; however, the constitution also created popular sovereignty through the

people’s elected representatives. The framers realized that a majority could establish statutes

that infringed upon the minority; therefore, they established the Judiciary and tasked it to protect

mans’ rights from Legislative abuse.11 Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 78 concluded that

“where the will of the legislature declared in its statutes, stands in opposition to that of the people

declared in the Constitution,” the judiciary must rule in favor of the will declared in the

Constitution, some things were more important that the hot temper of a majority.12

The framers provided a unique bi-cameral congress consisting of the House of

Representatives and the Senate to address the fickle nature of popular opinion and to assuage

sectional fears of small states. The Constitution established membership in the House by

proportional representation facilitated by frequent elections because “it is essential to liberty that

the government in general should have a common interest with the people.”13 The members of

the House must depend upon the people they represent or they will not protect the people’s

9
Baron de Montesquieu, "The Spirit of Laws," in The Portable Enlightenment Reader, ed. Isaac
Kramnick (New York: Penguin Books, 1995) 412.
10
Congress of The United States, "The Constitution of the United States of America" (1787).
11
Ralph Ketcham, ed., The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates:
The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of Government, 5.
12
Alexander Hamilton, "Federalist 78," in The Federalist Papers, ed. Garry Willis (New York:
Bantam Classics, 2003) 471-475.
13
James Madison, "Fedearlist 52," in The Fedearlist Papers, ed. Garry Willis (New York:
Bantam Classics, 2003) 320-322.

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liberty. The proportional representation of one per thirty thousand, seemed inadequate to the

Anti-Federalist Brutus who argued that, “the small number which is to compose this legislature”

will lead to disaster including “corruption” and “bribery” for it is impossible for true

representation with this equation.14

The proportional representation of the House favored the more populous states and

contrasts sharply with the construction of the Senate. The Senate provided smaller states a

modicum of equality by representing their sovereign concerns and interests. Senate membership

consisted of two appointed members from each state to serve six-year terms in the hopes of

protecting the nation from the hot house of public opinion certain to spring forth form the House.

The bi-cameral legislature “established a direct relationship between the national government

and the people” by proportional representation in the House and representation of the States in

the Senate, popular sovereignty or We the People was born.15

The Constitution established the executive branch, yet provided little direction other than

the oath stating that the President was to the best of his “Ability, preserve, protect and defend the

Constitution of the United States.”16 The framers did explicitly provide the power of veto, the

power to make treaties and the power of appointment, otherwise as the Anti-Federalist Cato

purported the new government offered “language of the article relative to the establishment of

the executive . . . was vague and inexplicit.”17 The establishment of procedures and standards for

14
Brutus, "Brutus Essay IV, 1787," in The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional
Convention Debates: The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of
Governmen, ed. Ralph Ketcham (New York: Penguin Putnam, 2003)325-326.
15
Joshua Miller, "The Ghostly Body Politic: The Federalist Papers and Popular Sovereignty,"
Politial Theory (Sage Publications) 16, no. 1 (Feb 1988): 100.
16
Congress of The United States, "The Constitution of the United States of America" (1787).
17
Cato, "Cato Letter V, 1787," in The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention
Debates: The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of Governmen, ed. Ralph
Ketcham (New York: Penguin Putnam) 317.

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the executive occurred, in large measure, on the job and President Washington was well aware,

that every action became a precedent. He set the standards high, making the office a symbol of

unity and strength for the country and in contrast to King George, a symbol of republican

ideals.18 In 1794 President Washington sealed the fate of despots worldwide by a simple act of

classical republicanism: he finished his term of office and retired to Mount Vernon.

The framers established the Constitution of the United States to protect the liberties

endowed upon man by his Creator from foreign and domestic tyranny, as further protection of

mans’ liberties from the newly established government, Congress established the Bill of Rights.19

The Constitution returned a central government system; however, this central government

differed from that of British tyranny, it was established by the consent of the governed. The

people of the United States were represented by an executive officer charged to uphold and

defend the foundational authority embodied in the Constitution as the will of the people, as well

as, a legislative branch that provided popular sovereignty, and finally the Judiciary assured that

the majority through statute could not impede the unalienable rights of the minority. The framers

followed the examples of their English heritage, the philosophies of Montesquieu, and most

importantly the collective 150 years experience; while they did not create a perfect system of

government, they did create: “novus ordo seclorum, a new order of the ages” and that new order

certainly deserves my vote.20

18
Carol Berkin, A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution (New York: Harcourt,
Inc, 2002) 206-207.
19
Linda R Monk, The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution (New York:
Hyperion , 2003) 126.
20
Ralph Ketcham, ed., The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates:
The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of Government, 3.

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Bibliography
Baron de Montesquieu. "The Spirit of Laws." In The Portable Enlightenment Reader, edited by
Isaac Kramnick. New York: Penguin Books, 1995.

Berkin, Carol. A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution. New York: Harcourt,
Inc, 2002.

Brutus. "Brutus Essay IV, 1787." In The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional
Convention Debates: The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of
Governmen, edited by Ralph Ketcham. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2003.

Cato. "Cato Letter V, 1787." In The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention
Debates: The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of Governmen, edited by
Ralph Ketcham. New York: Penguin Putnam.

Congress of the United States. "Articles of Confederation 1777." In The Anti-Federalist Papers
and the Constitutional Convention Debates, edited by Ralph Ketcham. New York: Signet
Classics, 1986.

Congress of The United States. "The Constitution of the United States of America." 1787.
Hamilton, Alexander. "Federalist 78." In The Federalist Papers, edited by Garry Willis. New
York: Bantam Classics, 2003.

Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." Philidelphia, PA: Continental Congress,

July 4, 1776.

Ketcham, Ralph, ed. The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates:
The Clashes and Compromises That Gave Birth to our Form of Government. New York, NY:
Penguin Putnam, 2003.

Madison, James. "Fedearlist 52." In The Fedearlist Papers, edited by Garry Willis. New York:
Bantam Classics, 2003.
Miller, Joshua. "The Ghostly Body Politic: The Federalist Papers and Popular Sovereignty."
Politial Theory (Sage Publications) 16, no. 1 (Feb 1988): 99-119.

Monk, Linda R. The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution. New York:
Hyperion , 2003.

Wood, Gordon. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. New York, NY:
Oxford University Press, 2009.

—. The Creation of the American Republic: 1776-1787. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North
Carolina Press, 1998.

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