(4 Ratings with score of 5 out of 5)


The United States Constitution was written in 1787; however, it did not take full effect until it was ratified in 1789, when it replaced the Articles of Confederation. The Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confederation. Because the delegations from only two states were at first present, the members adjourned from day to day until a quorum of seven states was obtained on May 25. Through discussion and debate it became clear by mid-June that, rather than amend the existing Articles, the Convention would draft an entirely new frame of government. The Articles placed most of the power in the newly created state governments as a response to fears of re-creating the centralized power of Great Britain. The Articles' government did have some minor success in negotiating the Treaty of Paris (1783) which ended the Revolutionary War; the passage of the Northwest Ordinance which created the Northwest Territory; and the Land Ordinance of 1785 which set up the procedures for admission of new states. All through the summer, in closed sessions, the delegates debated, and redrafted the articles of the new Constitution. Among the chief points at issue were how much power to allow the central government, how many representatives in Congress to allow each state, and how these representatives should be elected--directly by the people or by the state legislators. The work of many minds, the Constitution stands as a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise. On September 17, 1787, the final draft of the Constitution was signed. It remains the basic law of the United States Federal government.

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