Prepared by Norman D. Ferrari III, MD
Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine
Designated Institutional Official
West Virginia University School of Medicine
Constitution Day
September 17, 1787
This is the day Americans are asked to celebrate
the signing of the Constitution of the United
States. This is a requirement for all educational
institutions receiving federal funds, and was
inserted into a bill in the fall of 2004 by Sen.
Robert C. Byrd, Senate Democrat from West
Virginia (The Chronicle, December 3, 2004).
Here are some constitutional facts:
The nation’s birthday is celebrated on July 4th commemorating the signing of the
Declaration of Independence. Initially following the Revolutionary War the United States
functioned under a loose confederation of sovereign and independent states. It initially
functioned under the Articles of Confederation beginning in 1781. Problems with the
Articles included: people did not identify themselves as Americans, but rather as New
Yorkers, Virginians, etc.; the only part of the central government that existed was the
Congress, so there was no executive branch to enforce the laws or courts to interpret them.
By May 1787 it was apparent that revisions were necessary for the preservation of the
Union. So 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states began meeting at Independence Hall in
Philadelphia trying to revise the Articles of Confederation. Soon they knew that they would
need to write an entirely new document to serve as a guide for the new country. The new
document would need to clearly define and separate the powers of the central government,
the powers of the states, the rights of the people and how the representatives of the
people should be elected. George Washington served as President of the Constitutional
Convention.
After the Constitution was signed in September of 1787, Congress sent printed copies of
the Constitution to the state legislatures for ratification. Only 39 delegates signed the
constitution. Of those only two became future Presidents: Washington and Madison, both
delegates from Virginia. Three of the delegates refused to sign the document: Elbridge
Gerry of Massachusetts, and George Mason and Edmond Randolph of Virginia. The delegates
from Rhode Island had left the convention, and is the only original state who had no one sign
the document.
In the months that followed, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay would write
the Federalist Papers in support of the Constitution, while Patrick Henry, Elbridge Gerry,
and George Mason would organize the opposition to the new Constitution.
By June 21, 1788, nine states had approved the Constitution as outlined in Article VII,
finally forming "a more perfect Union." It took 10 months for those first nine states to
approve the Constitution. The first state to ratify was Delaware, on December 7, 1787, by
a unanimous vote, 30 - 0. New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify. The two most heavily
contested debates occurred in the states of New York and Virginia. The last two of the
original states to ratify was North Carolina (1789) and Rhode Island (1790) which had
originally rejected the document, and later ratified it by only two votes. Neither of these
states participated in the first Presidential election that put Washington in office in March
1789.
The U.S. Constitution did not go into effect until two years later on March 4, 1789. As soon
as the first congress convened it passed the first 10 amendments in 1791, sending them to
the states for ratification. These amendments are called the Bill of Rights, and guarantee
our basic rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of press, right to freely practice our
religion of choice, the right to peacefully assemble, and trial by jury. New Jersey was the
first state to ratify the Bill of Rights on November 20, 1789. Vermont was the first state
added to the Union under Article IV, Section 3. It ratified the constitution on January 10,
1791 and was admitted as the 14th state on February 18, 1791.
The Constitution begins with the words …. “We the people of the United States …” It
provided for three separate branches of government – legislative, executive and judicial.
There are seven Articles and twenty-seven amendments. The legislative branch has two
chambers – the Senate with equal representation from each state, and the House of
Representatives with 435 members distributed to states based on their population as
determined by the census taken every 10 years.
The powers of the legislative branch are defined in Article 1, the powers of the executive
branch are defined in Article 2, and the powers of the judicial branch are defined in Article
3.
Article 4 deals with interstate relations, Article 5 deals with the process to amend the
constitution, Article 6 deals with Federal credit and supremacy, and Article 7 with the
process for initial ratification of the document.
We encourage everyone to get more involved with the government and consider running for
elected office:
Minimum age for member of House: 25 years (Article 1 Section 2)
Minimum age for member of the Senate: 30 years (Article 1 Section 3)
Minimum age to be President: 35 years (Article 2 Section 1)
Since 1787, the constitution has had 27 amendments. There are essentially two ways spelled
out in the Constitution for how it can be amended. One has never been used. The first
method is for a bill to pass both halves of the legislature, by a two-thirds majority in each.
Once the bill has passed both houses, it goes on to the states. This is the route taken by all
current amendments. Because of some long outstanding amendments, such as the 27th,
Congress will normally put a time limit (typically seven years) for the bill to be approved as
an amendment.
The second method prescribed is for a Constitutional Convention to be called by two-thirds
of the legislatures of the States, and for that Convention to propose one or more
amendments. These amendments are then sent to the states to be approved by threefourths of the legislatures or conventions. This route has never been taken, and there is
discussion in political science circles about just how such a convention would be convened,
and what kind of changes it would bring about.
Besides the Bill of Rights ratified in 1791, the most famous amendments include:
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XIII
XV
XVI
XIX
XXII
XXVI
(Abolished slavery),
(prohibited denying the vote to someone based on race),
(income tax),
(prohibited denying the vote to someone based on gender),
(limited terms of Presidents to two),
(gave voting to rights to citizens beginning at age 18 years).
The most recently adopted Amendment is XXVII ratified in 1992 and prohibits
implementation of compensation increases for members of Congress until after a new
election is held.
Amendment XVIII prohibited the manufacturing and distribution of alcoholic beverages,
but was repealed by Amendment XXI. There have been six other amendments passed by
Congress but failed to be ratified by the states.
No matter how much we argue about the details of its meaning today, in the opinion of many,
the Constitution signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787 represents the greatest
expression of statesmanship and compromise ever written. In just four hand-written pages,
the Constitution gives us no less than the owners' manual to the greatest form of
government the world has ever known.
Two future Presidents were not present at the Constitutional Convention but did
communicate with the delegates. John Adams was serving as Ambassador to Great Britain,
and Thomas Jefferson was doing the same in France.
Here is a summary of United States Constitution Trivia:
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Constitutional Convention met at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA.
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There were 55 delegates to the Convention.
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Twelve of the Thirteen states were represented.
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Rhode Island did not send delegates to the Convention.
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The Constitution was drafted in 1787.
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James Madison is often called the "Father of the Constitution." He later became
the 4th President.
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Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution.
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The Constitution became law on June 21, 1788 after 2/3 of the states ratified it.
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The ninth state to ratify the Constitution was New Hampshire.
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Not all the states had ratified the Constitution by April 30, 1789 when George
Washington became the first President of the United States.
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The Constitution provides that the Senate's "advice and consent" is necessary for
the President to make certain appointments and to ratify treaties. The House has
no constitutional role in either process. Thus, the powers of the Senate are more
extensive than those of the House.
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The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal
officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and
empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. Impeachment means to bring
formal charges against an official. The House may approve "articles of
impeachment" by a simple majority vote; however, a two-thirds vote is required for
conviction in the Senate. A convicted official is automatically removed from office;
in addition, the Senate may stipulate that the defendant be banned from holding
office in the future. No further punishment is permitted during the impeachment
proceedings; however, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of
law.
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In the history of the United States, the House of Representatives has impeached
sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. (Another resigned before the
Senate could complete the trial.) Only two Presidents of the United States have
ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. Both trials
ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the twothirds majority required for conviction.
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Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House has the power to elect the President if
no presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the electoral college. The
Twelfth Amendment requires the House to choose from the three candidates with
the highest numbers of electoral votes. The Constitution provides that "the votes
shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote."
Electoral college deadlocks are very rare; in the history of the United States, the
House has only had to break a deadlock twice. In 1800, it elected Thomas
Jefferson over Aaron Burr; in 1824, it elected John Q. Adams over Andrew
Jackson and William H. Crawford. The power to elect the Vice President in the case
of an electoral college deadlock belongs to the Senate.
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The structure of the document has not changed since it was written.
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Amendments have provided the flexibility necessary to meet changing
circumstances.
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The original Constitution is preserved for all to view at the National Archives in
Washington, DC
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Under Article V of the Constitution, there are two ways to propose amendments to
the Constitution and two ways to be ratified by the states.
To Propose Amendments
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Two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to propose an
amendment, OR
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Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national
convention to propose amendments. This version has not yet been
used.
To Ratify Amendments
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Three-fourths of the state legislatures approve it, OR
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Ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states approve it. This
method was used only once -- to ratify the 21st Amendment
(repealing Prohibition).
The Supreme Court has stated that ratification must be within "some reasonable
time after the proposal." Beginning with the 18th amendment, it has been
customary for Congress to set a definite period for ratification. In the case of the
18th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd amendments, the period set was 7 years, but there has
been no determination as to just how long a "reasonable time" might extend.
Of the thousands of proposals that have been made, only 33 obtained the
necessary two-thirds vote in Congress. Of the 33, 27 amendments have passed.
There have been 6 amendments approved by Congress that have failed to be ratified by the
states.
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The 1st Congress in 1789 intitially proposed twelve amendments. Ten of them were
ratified by the states and became the Bill of Rights. More than 200 years later another
one became the XXVII amendment in 1992 stating: No law, varying the compensation
for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an
election of Representatives shall have intervened. The unratified amendment would have
regulated the size of the United States House of Representatives and is still technically
pending before, and subject to, ratification by the state legislatures.
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The 11th Congress in 1810 passed an amendment regarding Titles of Nobility
amendment and which came extremely close to being ratified by the legislatures of the
requisite number of states. It would have provided that if an American citizen were to
accept a title of nobility from a foreign nation, his or her American citizenship would
have been revoked. It remains pending before, and subject to, ratification by the state
legislatures.
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The 36th Congress in 1861 proposed the Corwin amendment, to forbid future
constitutional amendments that would permit Congressional interference with State
domestic institutions. Specifically, it reads: "No amendment shall be made to the
Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere,
within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held
to labor or service by the laws of said State." This amendment sought to protect
slavery from federal intervention and was a last-ditch effort to avert the outbreak of
the American Civil War. While it technically remains pending before, and subject to,
ratification by the state legislatures, the subsequent passage of the Amendment XIII
renders much of this proposal moot. If belatedly ratified, the Corwin Amendment might
not be deemed to pertain to slavery at all.
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The 68th Congress in 1924 proposed the Child labor amendment to grant Congress
exclusive authority to legislate on the subject of child labor and to force state law to
yield to federal law. It remains pending before, and subject to, ratification by the state
legislatures.
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The 92nd Congress in 1972 proposed the Equal Rights Amendment. It read in pertinent
part: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any state on account of sex." It expired unratified in either 1979 or in
1982 depending upon your point of view relative to the controversial extension of its
initially agreed-upon deadline.
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The 95th Congress in 1978 passed he District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment
which—had it been ratified—would have granted to the people of Washington, D.C. the
full voting rights in Congress of a U.S. state. It expired unratified in 1985, well short of
the necessary approval by lawmakers in three-fourths of the states.
Given the fact that the first four of these unratified amendments are still pending,
meaning that they could—however unlikely—still be ratified, Congress initiated the practice
in 1917 of placing deadlines on the amendments that it sends to the states for
consideration, typically seven years.
The only two post-1917 exceptions to this were the Nineteenth Amendment offered in 1919
and ratified in 1920, and the still-pending, anti-child-labor amendment offered in 1924.
Hence, the Equal Rights Amendment and the D.C. Voting Rights Amendment have both
expired and cannot be resurrected without re-passage by Congress.
For More Information, CLICK HERE.
[1]
The amendment was first introduced to Congress by West Virginia representative Jennings Randolph
in 1941. Randolph argued that people who were old enough to fight and die for the country during wars
should also have the right to vote. Randolph left the House in 1947, but became a senator in 1959 and
began to introduce the amendment at every session.
Suffrage to those eighteen or older was endorsed by Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon
Johnson. Congress and the state legislatures felt increasing pressure to pass the
Constitutional amendment because of the Vietnam War, in which many young men who
were ineligible to vote but were requied to fight, and die. With this in his mind, President
Lyndon Johnson had asked Congress to propose an amendment lowering the voting age to
18 in the summer of 1968. The amendment passed through Congress when it was
reintroduced by Randolph in 1971, and within months passed three-fourths of the state
legislatures, more quickly than any other amendment. The 26th Amendment was formally
certified by President Richard Nixon on July 1, 1971. Senator Randolph was married to
Mary Babb, the person for whom the West Virginia University School of Medicine Cancer
Center is named.
Special recognition and thanks goes to Donna Tucker, Social Studies Teacher at St. Joseph the Worker
School, Weirton, WV for her dedication to teaching the constitution, and her editing of this work.