The United States had two constitutions to regulate and establish the rights and state orders. Articles of Confederation came into force in 1781, when Maryland ratified it and it was the first Constitution of the United States (Fritz C. G., 2008, p.131). The Constitution came to replace the Articles of Confederation when it was ratified by New Hampshire in 1788. These two documents have much in common. However, there are quite significant differences between them. By comparing them it is possible to see what the drafters considered important in 1781, and that they changed their minds in 1788.
Articles created a confederation gave most of the state governments. In this regard, many problems arose and, therefore, a new constitution was written in 1787 in the Independence Hall. The new constitution calls for a much more unified government with much greater force. Articles of Confederation is an international legal agreement, which recognized the creation of the union of 13 independent states - confederations, created for the common defense to ensure their freedom, as well as of mutual and general welfare.
According to the legal act of the scope of the exclusive powers of the Union State was created, maintained the sovereignty of states. Common citizenship institute was introduced - the free inhabitants of the State should enjoy all the privileges and benefits of free citizens in all states. Congress is the confederal authority, consisting of delegates from the state of 2-7, which is established by the Committee states, one representative from each state. It soon became obvious that the powers of the government of the Confederation were very limited (in particular, it did not have the authority to tax), and this weakened the unity of the new nation. Another major drawback was the equal representation of the states in the Congress of the Confederation, which led to dissatisfaction of large and densely populated states. In the 1780s the problem of the national government only worsened. Britain and Spain refused to obey the terms of the peace treaty, and American settlers feared the intrigues of European competitors greatly, their relations with Indian tribes in the north-western and south-western areas were complicated. In 1784, the country was in a state of decline, and ineffective monetary policies only exacerbate economic problems.
This caused "Shays' Rebellion" broken out in western Massachusetts in 1786. Its main driving force was farmers, beyond measure indebted and hoped to achieve as regards exemptions and tax foreclosures. Thus, in 1786, just five years after the creation of the Confederation, there was an urgent need to convene a conference - in order to finally form a government that can satisfy the needs of the Union. The US Constitution, adopted September 17, 1787, was the first Constitution in the world history set out in writing.
Constitution enshrined the bourgeois-democratic principles and the conquest of the American people contributed to the development of capitalism in the country. Constitution enshrined the republican form of government across the country, and in each of the states and the form of government in a federation. The Constitution consisted of a preamble, a pack of 7 and 10 amendments.
At the core of the US Constitution, the principle of separation of powers between the legislative, that is, Congress, executive (the president) and judiciary (the Supreme Court and lower courts) branches lies. US States are given broad rights in legislation. The main debate on the constitutional convention was between supporters of the two constitutional models, which received the name "Virginia Plan" and "Plan of New Jersey." Due to the "Plan of Virginia" (his authorship belonged to Madison mostly), the main emphasis was on the creation of a system of federal bodies, which would possess considerable powers. "New Jersey Plan" proposed by William Paterson, reflected the interests of small states.
Paterson proposed to make some changes to the Articles of Confederation, including secure supremacy of federal law, without changing the essence of the document. Although the "Virginia Plan" was taken as the basis for the future Constitution for a long time was not allowed a fundamental contradiction on the formation of the legislature (Congress). The delegates from large states insisted on proportional representation, depending on the population of each state, the delegates from small - on equal representation regardless of population.
The Great Compromise was proposed by a delegate from Connecticut's Roger Sherman, who was probably also one of the authors of the "Plan of New Jersey". The House of Representatives was elected on a territorial basis, and in the Senate, states were represented on an equal basis. The question of slavery was acute at the Constitutional Congress. As a result, it was decided to retain slavery for the next twenty years to solve this issue for future generations (Ellis J.J., 2003, p.82).
During the discussions that accompanied the ratification of the Constitution, there were two parties - Federalists (advocated for the ratification) and Antifederalist. Antifederalists claimed that after the adoption of the Constitution and the approval of the central government will infringe the rights of states and the rights of the individual, and the president will receive power, comparable to the tyrannical power of the British king before the War of Independence. Madison, Hamilton, and John Jay began to publish the Federalist Papers. The main objective of the Federalists was to transfer the central power defense, international trade, and some other issues and to ensure the application of the laws issued by the Federation throughout the country.
Antifederalists defended the idea of the Bill of Rights and the minimum intervention of the federal government in the affairs of state. In contrast to the Federalists, they had developed a plan for the organization of the new government. Antifederalists opposed the authoritarian national government, fearing that it could take away their rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The lack of a Bill of Rights troubled many people. Almost every state convention of the constitution's opponents pointed out the need for better protection of individual rights and freedoms that belong to humanity on the natural law, such as freedom of religion and the right to a jury trial. In order to satisfy the claims of the majority, the Federalists promised to submit to Congress a Bill of Rights, which offers justice and protection of people’s rights, immediately after the ratification of the constitution (Lloyd G.).
The Federalist 80-85 reflects the fact that, the Bill of Rights in the United States appeared subsequently. The idea of adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution was originally controversial, as the Constitution does not enumerate the people and the rights and powers of the government. The Federalist 80-85 discusses the possibility of adopting the bill and judicial control of the country, ensuring the rights of citizens (“The Federalist Papers”). Despite the passionate appeals of Patrick Henry and other anti-Federalists, most convents states quickly adopted a constitution. It turned out to be an important discussion of the Constitution of Massachusetts. John Hancock, one of the political generation of leaders, offered nine essential amendments that after three years in one form or another became a part of the Bill of Rights. The debate in Massachusetts ended by voting in favor of the Constitution. Although bitter struggle took place in several states, and Rhode Island took three years to ratify the Constitution, all states eventually adopted the Basic Law.
References
Ellis, J.J. (2003). Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Fritz, C. G. (2008). American Sovereigns: The People and America's Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War. New York: Cambridge University Press.
“The Federalist Papers”. The University of Oklahoma Law Center. Retrieved from: https://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/federalist/federalist-80-85/
Lloyd, G. Introduction to the Bill of Rights. TeachingAmericanHistory.org. The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University. Retrieved from: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/bor/bor-intro/
