US Constitution in Brief

Finally approved on September 17, 1787, the Constitution laid out the framework for the  new United States government. It reconciled the differences between the states  on the subject of representation, and represented, ultimately, a balance between  the delegates' knowledge that the national government had to be strengthened and  their fear of despotism and tyranny. Congress was granted the power to lay and collect  taxes, to regulate interstate commerce, and to conduct diplomacy as the single  voice of the people in international affairs. States were thus disallowed to  coin money and tax interstate commerce, and the national government had the  power to invoke military action against the states. The Constitution declared  all acts and treaties made by Congress to be binding on the states.

The Constitution set forth  a government composed of 3 branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial.  Each branch was given certain powers over the others to ensure that no one  branch usurped a dangerous amount of power. This system, known as checks and balances, was the  cornerstone of the new  framework of government. The system of checks and balances represented the  solution to the problem of how to empower  the central government, yet protect  against corruption and despotism.

The President was  granted the power to veto acts of Congress deemed unnecessary or unjust, and  would be responsible for appointing federal and Supreme Court judges. The Senate  had to ratify treaties proposed by the President, and had to approve the  President's cabinet appointments. Congress as a joint body was given the power  to impeach, try, and remove the President from office, as well as Supreme Court  justices, should it become necessary. The judicial branch, headed by the Supreme  Court, had the responsibility and power to interpret the laws passed by  Congress.

The Constitution set forth  a form of federalism that balanced the authority of the state and national  governments. The state legislatures would elect the members of the Senate, as  well as select delegates to  the Electoral College, which selected the President.  Furthermore, the Constitution could be amended by a vote in favor of  amendment by three-fourths of the state legislatures. The writers of the Constitution intended  to increase the power of the national government, but they were wary of taking  too much power from the states.

One debate that was  resolved by the Constitution was that of whether  slaves should be  considered persons or property for reasons of representation. Southern delegates  argued that slaves should count toward representative seats, whereas the  representatives of northern states, most of which had already or would soon  abolish slavery, argued  that to count slaves as members of the population would  grant an unfair advantage to the southern states. The result of this debate was  the adoption of the Three-fifths Clause, which allowed three-fifths of all  slaves  to be counted as people. The Constitution further forbade any state to refuse to  return runaway slaves to the states from which they came. Under the Constitution, Congress  was permitted to ban the importation of slaves after 1808, but there was no  explicit mention of the framers feelings about the legality of slavery.

Once approved by  the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the  Constitution was sent  to the states for ratification.