Chapter IX
The Constitution
After the revolution, the American government had many problems. The soldiers who had fought in the revolution had not been paid. They came to Philadelphia to demonstrate for their money. The government ran away to Princeton in New Jersey. The soldiers followed them to Princeton. The government ran away to Annapolis in Maryland. The soldiers followed them. The government then ran away to New York. That is how New York became the capital of the United States for a number of years.
The first American money was called the continental. Each state was allowed to print its own continentals. Rhode Island printed so many that it caused inflation. The continental became worthless. The central government did not collect taxes. Each state gave money to the central government. Sometimes, some states could not or did not want to give money to the central government. The central government never had enough money. People bought so much from Spanish ships that there was not much hard money left inside the United States.
The states had very much power and the central government very little. Sometimes Congress could not hold its meeting because not enough delegates came to the session. When that happened, important decisions could not be made.
By 1787, many people began to think that they needed a different system of government. The states were asked to send delegates to a conference in Philadelphia. Fifty-five men came from twelve states. George Washington was chosen as the presiding officer. The session lasted from May until September of 1787. The delegates talked about the problems of the American government and they decided that they needed to write a constitution, which would set up a new government. They decided they wanted the American government to consist of three separate parts: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The executive part would carry out the laws. It would rule the country. The legislative part would write the laws. The judiciary would be the courts and the judges.
They easily agreed on the executive part. One delegate suggested that they have a king. However, none of the other delegates liked the idea. All of the other delegates wanted a president. His job would be to carry out the laws. The president would also be the commander-in-chief of the American army. They also decided that they needed a vice-president who would take the president's place if something happened to the president. They easily agreed that the president and vice-president should serve for four years, and then new elections should be held.
They decided that they should have a congress to make new laws. Congress would be the legislative part of the government. However, they could not agree about how many people there should be in congress. At that time, Virginia had the largest population. Ten times as many people lived in Virginia as in the state of Delaware. Virginia said that the number of people in congress should be proportional to the population. Virginia said it should have ten times as many seats in congress as Delaware. Delaware would not agree to this. Delaware said that all states should be equal and every state should have exactly two seats in Congress. They talked about this for many weeks and they could not agree. Finally, some one suggested that congress should consist of two parts. One part would be called the Senate. Here the states would be equal and each state would have two senators. The other part of congress would be called the House of Representatives. The number of representatives would be proportional to the population of the state. Today the state of Wyoming has a very small population. It elects only one person to the House of Representatives. But California, which has a very large population, elects more than forty people to the House of Representatives. The men writing the Constitution decided that senators should serve for six years, but that elections for the House of Representatives should be held every two years. In order for a law to become a law, a majority in both the House and the Senate must vote for it and then it must be signed by the President. If the President does not want to sign the law, then it must have the support of two-thirds or more in both the House and the Senate to become a law.
The delegates decided that the Supreme Court should be the highest court. They also decided that there would be a system of lower courts. The Supreme Court would be very powerful. The delegates decided that the president would select the judges for the courts, but before one could become a judge, the senate would have to approve. They also decided that the judges should serve for life, for as long as they lived. The courts interpret the laws and make sure that new laws conform to the constitution.
The people writing the constitution wanted a government that was effective but not too powerful. They wanted the executive, the legislative, and the judicial to be equal in power. Each part of the government had its own powers, but each part could limit the powers of the others. A system of checks and balances was worked out so that no part of the government would be more powerful than either of the other two.
They also decided that amendments could be added to the constitution.
Earlier the states had a great deal of power. They took some of the power away from the states. For example, the states could no longer print money. Only the central government could do that. However, very many powers were left to the states. The people in each state elect a state government, which makes laws for that state. Today the states still control the schools and universities. Each state decides what kind of schools and universities it wants. That is why the schools are so different from one state to the next. The states also decide the age at which people can get married, the kinds of tests to get a driver's license, and very many other things.
On September 17, 1787, the delegates finished writing the constitution and voted to accept it. Then they sent it to the states so that the people could decide if they wanted to accept it.