Constitution of the United States: Difference between revisions

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 | image                = Constitution of the United States, page 1.jpg
 | image_size           =
-| caption              = Page one of [[Jacob Shallus]]' officially [[Enrolled bill|engrossed]] copy of the Constitution signed in [[Philadelphia]] by delegates of the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] in 1787<ref>{{cite web |title=Engrossed in the Constitution |author=John H. Lienhard |url=https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1003.htm |access-date=April 8, 2022}}</ref>
+| caption              = Page one of [[Jacob Shallus]]' officially [[Enrolled bill|engrossed]] copy of the Constitution signed in Philadelphia by delegates of the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] in 1787<ref>{{cite web |title=Engrossed in the Constitution |author=John H. Lienhard |url=https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1003.htm |access-date=April 8, 2022}}</ref>
 | jurisdiction         = [[United States]]
 | date_created         = September 17, 1787
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 | citation             = {{citation |url= https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-110hdoc50/pdf/CDOC-110hdoc50.pdf |title= {{small|The Constitution of the United States of America, As Amended}} |date= July 25, 2007 }}
 | location_of_document = [[National Archives Building]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
-| commissioned         = [[Congress of the Confederation]] in [[Philadelphia]], U.S.
+| commissioned         = [[Congress of the Confederation]] in Philadelphia, U.S.
 | writer               = [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Philadelphia Convention]]
 | signers              = 39 of the 55 delegates
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 The '''Constitution of the United States''' is the [[Supremacy Clause|supreme law]] of the [[United States]].{{sfn|Maier|2010|p=35}} It superseded the [[Articles of Confederation]], the nation's first [[constitution]], on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitution delineates the frame of the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]]. The Constitution's first three articles embody the doctrine of the [[separation of powers]], in which the federal government is divided into three branches: the [[United States Congress|legislative]], consisting of the [[bicameralism|bicameral]] Congress ([[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article I]]); the [[Federal government of the United States#Executive branch|executive]], consisting of the [[President of the United States|president]] and subordinate officers ([[Article Two of the United States Constitution|Article II]]); and the [[Federal judiciary of the United States|judicial]], consisting of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] and other federal courts ([[Article Three of the United States Constitution|Article III]]). [[Article Four of the United States Constitution|Article IV]], [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|Article V]], and [[Article Six of the United States Constitution|Article VI]] embody concepts of [[federalism]], describing the rights and responsibilities of [[State governments of the United States|state governments]], the [[U.S. state|states]] in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. [[Article Seven of the United States Constitution|Article VII]] establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 states to [[Ratification|ratify]] it. The Constitution of the United States is the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in force in the world.<ref>[http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2014/sep/22/bob-goodlatte/goodlatte-says-us-has-oldest-working-national-cons/ Goodlatte says U.S. has the oldest working national constitution], Politifact Virginia website, September 22, 2014.</ref>{{efn|Other countries, such as the [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], and [[New Zealand]], and other [[Commonwealth countries]], have constitutional provisions such as the [[Bill of Rights 1689]], among other statutes, that are older than the United States Constitution that are still in force to this day.}}
-The [[Timeline of drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution|drafting of the Constitution]], often referred to as its framing, was completed at the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]], which assembled at [[Independence Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]] between May 25 and September 17, 1787.{{sfn|Maier|2010|pp=27–28}} Delegates to the convention were chosen by the state legislatures of 12 of the [[Thirteen Colonies|13 original states]]; [[Rhode Island]] refused to send delegates.<ref name=Bio /> The convention's initial mandate was limited to amending the Articles of Confederation, which had proven highly ineffective in meeting the young nation's needs.{{sfn|Maier|2010|pp=11–13}} Almost immediately, however, delegates began considering measures to replace the Articles.{{sfn|Rakove|1996|pp=102–104}} The first proposal discussed, introduced by delegates from [[Virginia]], called for a bicameral (two-house) Congress that was to be elected on a proportional basis based on state population, an elected chief executive, and an appointed judicial branch.<ref name=AvalonVirginia /> An alternative to the [[Virginia Plan]], known as the [[New Jersey Plan]], also called for an elected executive but retained the legislative structure created by the Articles, a unicameral Congress where all states had one vote.<ref name=AvalonNewJersey />
+The [[Timeline of drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution|drafting of the Constitution]], often referred to as its framing, was completed at the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]], which assembled at [[Independence Hall]] in Philadelphia between May 25 and September 17, 1787.{{sfn|Maier|2010|pp=27–28}} Delegates to the convention were chosen by the state legislatures of 12 of the [[Thirteen Colonies|13 original states]]; [[Rhode Island]] refused to send delegates.<ref name=Bio /> The convention's initial mandate was limited to amending the Articles of Confederation, which had proven highly ineffective in meeting the young nation's needs.{{sfn|Maier|2010|pp=11–13}} Almost immediately, however, delegates began considering measures to replace the Articles.{{sfn|Rakove|1996|pp=102–104}} The first proposal discussed, introduced by delegates from [[Virginia]], called for a bicameral (two-house) Congress that was to be elected on a proportional basis based on state population, an elected chief executive, and an appointed judicial branch.<ref name=AvalonVirginia /> An alternative to the [[Virginia Plan]], known as the [[New Jersey Plan]], also called for an elected executive but retained the legislative structure created by the Articles, a unicameral Congress where all states had one vote.<ref name=AvalonNewJersey />
 On June 19, 1787, delegates rejected the New Jersey Plan with three states voting in favor, seven against, and one divided. The plan's defeat led to a series of compromises centering primarily on two issues: slavery and proportional representation.{{sfn|Warren|1928|pp=231–232}}{{sfn|Rakove|1996|p=58}} The first of these pitted Northern states, where slavery was slowly being abolished, against Southern states, whose agricultural economies depended on slave labor.{{sfn|Beeman|2009|pp=67–68, 310–311}} The issue of proportional representation was of similar concern to less populous states, which under the Articles had the same power as larger states.{{sfn|Rakove|1996|p=54}} To satisfy interests in the South, particularly in Georgia and South Carolina, the delegates agreed to protect the slave trade, that is, the importation of slaves, for 20 years.{{sfn|Maier|2010|p=123}} Slavery was protected further by allowing states to count three-fifths of their slaves as part of their populations, for the purpose of representation in the federal government, and by requiring the return of escaped slaves to their owners, even if captured in states where slavery had been abolished.{{sfn|Bernstein|1987|pp=167, 177}} Finally, the delegates adopted the [[Connecticut Compromise]], which proposed a Congress with proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation in the upper house (the Senate) giving each state two senators.{{sfn|Beeman|2009|pp=200–204}} While these compromises held the Union together and aided the Constitution's ratification, slavery continued for six more decades and the less populous states continue to have disproportional representation in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] and [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]].{{sfn|Amar|2005|pp=20–21, 310}}{{sfn|Rakove|1996|p=58}}
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 ===First government===
-From September 5, 1774, to March 1, 1781, the [[Second Continental Congress]], convened in [[Philadelphia]] in what today is called [[Independence Hall]], functioned as the [[provisional government]] of the United States. Delegates to the [[First Continental Congress]] in 1774 and then the [[Second Continental Congress]] from 1775 to 1781 were chosen largely from the [[American Revolutionary|revolutionary]] [[committees of correspondence]] in various colonies rather than through the [[Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies|colonial governments of the Thirteen Colonies]].{{sfn|McLaughlin|1935|pp=83–90, 124}}
+From September 5, 1774, to March 1, 1781, the [[Second Continental Congress]], convened in Philadelphia in what today is called [[Independence Hall]], functioned as the [[provisional government]] of the United States. Delegates to the [[First Continental Congress]] in 1774 and then the [[Second Continental Congress]] from 1775 to 1781 were chosen largely from the [[American Revolutionary|revolutionary]] [[committees of correspondence]] in various colonies rather than through the [[Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies|colonial governments of the Thirteen Colonies]].{{sfn|McLaughlin|1935|pp=83–90, 124}}
 ===Articles of Confederation===
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 Congress was paralyzed. It could do nothing significant without nine states, and some legislation required all 13. When a state produced only one member in attendance, its vote was not counted. If a state's delegation was evenly divided, its vote could not be counted towards the nine-count requirement.{{sfn|Maier|2010|p=13}} The Congress of the Confederation had "virtually ceased trying to govern."{{sfn|Wood|1969|pp=356–367, 359}} The vision of a respectable nation among nations seemed to be fading in the eyes of revolutionaries such as [[George Washington]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], and [[Rufus King]]. Their dream of a [[republic]], a nation without hereditary rulers, with power derived from the people in frequent elections, was in doubt.{{sfn|Maier|2010|pp=14, 30, 66}}<ref>[[Thomas Dawes|Dawes, Thomas]]. ''An Oration, Delivered July 4, 1787, at the Request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, in Celebration of the Anniversary of American Independence,'' pp.15–19, printed by Samuel Hall, Boston, 1787.</ref>
-On February 21, 1787, the Confederation Congress called a convention of state delegates in [[Philadelphia]] to propose revisions to the Articles.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a7s1.html |title= Resolution of Congress, 21 Feb. 1787 |work= The Founders' Constitution |publisher= University of Chicago Press |postscript= ;}} The Congress of the Confederation thus echoed a previous resolution of a conference at Annapolis; see {{cite web |url= http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/annapoli.asp |title= Proceedings of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government: 1786}}</ref> Unlike earlier attempts, the convention was not meant for new laws or piecemeal alterations, but for the "sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation." The convention was not limited to commerce; rather, it was intended to "render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union." The proposal might take effect when approved by Congress and the states.<ref>{{harvnb|Maier|2010|p=21}}</ref>
+On February 21, 1787, the Confederation Congress called a convention of state delegates in Philadelphia to propose revisions to the Articles.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a7s1.html |title= Resolution of Congress, 21 Feb. 1787 |work= The Founders' Constitution |publisher= University of Chicago Press |postscript= ;}} The Congress of the Confederation thus echoed a previous resolution of a conference at Annapolis; see {{cite web |url= http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/annapoli.asp |title= Proceedings of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government: 1786}}</ref> Unlike earlier attempts, the convention was not meant for new laws or piecemeal alterations, but for the "sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation." The convention was not limited to commerce; rather, it was intended to "render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union." The proposal might take effect when approved by Congress and the states.<ref>{{harvnb|Maier|2010|p=21}}</ref>
 ==History==