The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789, when the Constitution was enacted.
Following the pivotal Lee Resolution that proposed independence for the American colonies, the Second Continental Congress took a momentous step. On June 11, 1776, it appointed three committees, one of which was tasked with determining the form of the confederation of the colonies. This committee, comprising a representative from each colony, was led by John Dickinson, a delegate from Delaware.
The Dickinson Draft of the Articles of Confederation named the confederation "the United States of America." After considerable debate and revision, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777.
Originally called to amend the Articles of Confederation, our nation’s first written constitution, the delegates engaged in protracted and often contentious debates over states’ rights, representation, and slavery. These debates, ultimately leading to the birth of the U.S. Constitution, were a significant and weighty moment in our nation's history.
The Constitution of the United States of America is the fundamental law of the United States system of government. It is a landmark document in the Western world and the oldest written national constitution. The Constitution defines the principal structure of our government, its jurisdictions, and the fundamental rights of citizens.
The Constitution, a testament to our nation's resilience and adaptability, was crafted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1787. It was the collective effort of 55 delegates, each with their unique perspectives and convictions, who convened at the Constitutional Convention. This event, showcasing the unity and diversity of our nation, is a source of great national pride.
The creation of the Constitution was not without its challenges. Delegates from small and large states engaged in heated debates over the issue of representation in the new federal legislature. The question of whether each state should have the same number of
representatives, as under the Articles of Confederation (1781–89), or if representation should be based on a state’s population, as proposed in the New Jersey Plan and Virginia Plan, sparked intense and contentious discussions, underscoring the intensity of the historical moment and the fervor of the debates.
In addition, some delegates from Northern states sought to abolish slavery or, failing that, to make representation dependent on the size of a state’s free population. At the same time, some Southern delegates threatened to abandon the convention if their demands to keep slavery and the slave trade legal and to count slaves for representation purposes were not met.
Ultimately, the framers found common ground by embracing a proposal from the Connecticut delegation. This proposal, known as the Great Compromise, was a turning point in the debates. It led to the creation of a two-house legislature, with a Senate where all states would be equally represented and a House of Representatives where representation would be based on a state’s free population plus three-fifths of its enslaved population. Another significant compromise on slavery was the prohibition of Congress from banning the importation of enslaved people until 1808 (Article I, Section 9).
After all the disagreements were bridged, the new Constitution was signed by 39 delegates on September 17, 1787, and it was submitted for ratification to the 13 states on September 28.
In 1787–88, to persuade New York to ratify the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison published a series of essays on the Constitution and republican
government in New York newspapers. Their work, written under the pseudonym “Publius” and collected and published in book form as The Federalist (1788), became a classic exposition and defense of the Constitution.
In June 1788, after nine states had ratified the Constitution (as required by Article VII), Congress set March 4, 1789, as the date for the new government to commence proceedings (the first elections under the Constitution were held late in 1788).
Because ratification in many states was contingent on the promised addition of a Bill of Rights, Congress proposed 12 amendments in September 1789; the states ratified 10, and their adoption was certified on December 15, 1791.
