CHAPTER XXXIII - The Adoption of the Constitution

AT the beginning of the Revolution, the different colonies were governed under charters of one kind or another from the king, as we have seen in Chapter XXV. After the war began, the most of them adopted constitutions which established governments very much like those they had been accustomed to. The chief difference was, that the authority of the king was not recognized in the new government.

The Congress of the Colonies was as yet only a congress of men representing thirteen different allied countries, for each State assumed to act as an independent nation. A confederation was therefore proposed, which combined all the States into one government for purposes of war and the regulation of commerce. The Articles of Confederation were not accepted by all of the colonies until 1781. This confederation left each State independent in the matter of taxes. Much of the suffering of the American army during the Revolution came from the lack of power in Congress to levy a tax without the assent of the several States. The largest States had but one vote apiece in Congress; the smallest had the same. This made a wretchedly weak government, which was soon held in contempt at home and abroad.

But this weak government continued for several years after the close of the Revolution, until it became unbearable. In 1787 a convention met in Philadelphia, to form a constitution better suited to give strength to the nation. George Washington, who had retired to private life when the war was over, was chosen president of this convention.

The Constitution adopted by this convention, which, with a few amendments, is the one we now live under, was not to go into force until nine States had adopted it. There was a strong party opposed to the Constitution, and it was not until June, 1788, that the ninth State voted to adopt it. Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen to accept it, which it did in 1790.

Under the old confederation, the execution of the acts of Congress was entrusted chiefly to committees of its own members. But the new Constitution made an almost complete separation of the government into three parts, each of which is confined to its own duties.

First, the legislative, or lawmaking, department is called in the Constitution, the Congress. It includes two bodies: a House of Representatives, chosen by the people, and a Senate, chosen by the Legislatures of the several States. In the House of Representatives the States have a greater or less number of members, according to their population. In the Senate each State has two members. A bill must get a majority of votes in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, in order to become a law. It must also be approved by the President. But, if the President refuses to sign it, then two thirds of both the Senate and the House may pass it, and it becomes a law in spite of the President’s veto.

Second, the executive department, which consists of the President (and those appointed under him). The President is chosen for four years. He is commander-in-chief of the army and navy. He appoints all the chief executive officers, with the consent of the Senate. In case of the death of the President, the Vice-President takes his place.

Third, the judicial department consists of the Supreme Court of the United States and such lower courts as Congress may establish. The President appoints the judges of the United States courts, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

It is a great advantage of our system of government that lawmaking for the regulation of morals and the ordinary business of life is left to the States, so that people of each region can have laws suited to their necessities. It is also a great source of strength that the general concerns of the whole country: the money, the foreign commerce, treaties with foreign nations, and affairs of war and peace are settled by the central government of the whole country.

Before the Revolution, the Episcopal Church of England was established in the Southern colonies, while the Congregational churches were supported by law in all the New England colonies except Rhode Island. During the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson led a movement in favor of religious freedom. Now there is no religious establishment in any part of the country, but all are free to worship in their own way. The Constitution provides that Congress shall not interfere with religious freedom, or with the freedom of speech or the freedom of the press.

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