Eventually, they settled on the Electoral College suggested by Benjamin Franklin. In the third phase, which lasted from August 6 to September 6, the delegates debated remaining sticking points, particularly relating to the Executive Branch and the means of electing a president. During the second phase of the convention, from July 27 to August 6, the five-man Committee of Detail created a rough draft of the Constitution. That compromise created a bicameral, or two-chamber, legislature, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate. During this phase, delegates also arrived at one important compromise between the interests of large and small states. The first, from May 23 to July 26, created the basic features of the national government, including its division into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Constitutional Convention occurred in three separate phases. Many different factions opposed one another-small states versus large states, farmers versus businesspeople, North versus South, and slave states versus nonslave states. In an atmosphere that combined competitive, lively debate with tolerance and respect for differences of opinion, the delegates reached vital compromises on matters that threatened to divide the still loosely connected union of states. The agreements reached during the convention exemplified the values of constitutional government. Thus, behind closed doors, the delegates hammered out the eventual form of U.S. The meetings of the convention were closed to the public and to the press. Many notable leaders of the time, however, including Thomas Jefferson, who was in France, and Patrick Henry, did not attend. A majority of the delegates were lawyers, and many, such as James Madison, were wealthy landowners. Drawn from the educated and wealthy elite of the country, they included such luminaries as George Washington, the commander of American forces in the War of Independence, who presided over the convention, and Benjamin Franklin, at 81, the oldest delegate and the country's most famous statesman. This remarkable assemblage of men, meeting in Philadelphia between May 23 and September 17, 1787, created the document that has given the United States one of the most stable and admired constitutional democracies in the history of the world.ĥ5 delegates from 12 states attended various parts of the convention. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 is a high point in the history of the United States. Constitution is held at the National Archives, in Washington, D.C. Unlike those other laws, the Constitution may be changed, or amended, only in special ways that reflect its character as a demonstration of the people's will. The Constitution therefore has higher authority than all other laws in the nation, including statutes and laws passed by Congress and state legislatures. Constitution is 'the supreme Law of the Land.' All other laws and judicial decisions are subject to its mandates.

Throughout its existence, it has served as an inspiring example of the potential of constitutional government, causing many other countries and peoples to emulate its provisions.Īccording to Article VI of the Constitution, the U.S. Constitution has been and remains one of the most enduring political agreements in the history of the world.

Constitution establishes and defines the basic outlines of a national government that joins the states in an effective political union. A written document executed by representatives of the people of the United States as the absolute rule of action and decision for all branches and officers of the government, and with which all subsequent laws and ordinances must be in accordance unless it has been changed by a constitutional amendment by the authority that created it.įor over 200 years, the Constitution of the United States has served as the foundation for U.S.

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