Case Study - Constitution

It is February 1787, a very chilly afternoon in Mount Vernon, Virginia. George Washington was outside his cabin chopping cherry trees with his hatchet, as a hobby. He took the wood and cherries home to his wife and two adopted kids. Sadly, he couldn’t fully enjoy the cherries as any person would because he had dentures. His dentures weren’t made of wood, as the popular rumor believed. They were instead more uncomfortable than wood. They were made of cow’s teeth, human teeth, and elephant ivory set in a lead base with springs so he could open and close his mouth. The dentures fitted poorly and distorted the shape of his mouth. Being land rich, he used the wood for warmth and to build his own city in Pennsylvania, which he named Cherry Hill. Besides being a carpenter, he was also a surveyor, farmer, and solider. On his way home, he realized that although he just lead the United States to victory from the British, his work wasn’t done.

George Washington went home and invited representatives from the thirteen states to help him revise the Articles of Confederation for a better federal government. The Articles were known as a “league of friendship” and they didn’t provide for any type of effective power in a central government. The Articles led to problems and left the central government to regulate commerce between states, settles disputes, deal with foreign governments. They also didn’t have power to levy taxes, enforce its decisions, manage the country’s economic problems, or have an army. This meant that the country was weak and was bound to disasters. In May, representatives were to meet in Washington’s newly built meeting house in Philadelphia. All the states sent delegates to represent the state besides Rhode Island. 55 delegates showed up and they began to draft the new document, later known as the Constitution. The Constitutional Convention met for 4 months and because of the poor weather and the travel was bad, an average of 35 delegates were present during the writing of the Constitution.

George Washington was selected by the delegates to be president. As president of the Constitutional Convention, Washington's job was to keep the meetings orderly and effective. This was not easy because of all the different viewpoints among the delegates. Before the Constitutional Convention began, rules were that each state got one vote and everything was to be kept secret until the Constitution was finished. Any delegate could voice an opinion. A total of 9 out of the 13 states would also have to ratify the Constitution before it went into effect.

George Washington was going insane because of the differences in the Virginia and New Jersey Plan. Large states supported the Virginia Plan to create a bicameral (two-house) legislature in which representatives would be appointed according to population. Small states supported the New Jersey Plan, under which all states would have equal representation in the legislature. The Great Compromise among the states created a bicameral Congress in which states would be equally represented in the Senate and proportionally represented in the House of Representatives. Congress also was given powers to levy national taxes and control interstate commerce. In addition to the legislative branch, an executive and judicial branch was formed, and it was agreed that no branch would have more power than the other, through a system of checks and balances. The Constitution was drafted and presented to the American public on September 17, 1787.

George Washington thought this was a great Constitution for the nation. But, he was wrong. By the time he got home, he got plenty of mail from Anti-Federalists saying that the Constitution developing a stronger government would hurt the freedom they just won from the Revolution. He then gathered the delegates again to solve the problem, and they promised to add a Bill of Rights, which guaranteed important individual rights of every citizen. These Bills of Rights were the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

The Constitution became law on June 21, 1788 after 2/3 of the states ratified it. Once ratified, the Constitution set the basis for the government. Powers are divided between the federal government and the 50 states. The Founding Fathers knew they had to leave enough powers with the states when they