Coming Together: The Patriots united as one and created a new American government.
Uniting all thirteen states would not be an easy task. They would need to work together to find common ground to form a new, strong, and unified system of government.
If the Thirteen States could not work together as a single united community, the freedom they had fought for would continue to be under threat from more powerful nations who wanted to acquire land in North America.
The states had to become a single united community but this would prove difficult under the existing government structure at the time. This is because the Thirteen States followed what were called the Articles of Confederation, which had been created by the Second Continental Congress and agreed to by the states in 1781. These Articles created a central government but they were weakly structured and could not provide the direct ability to regulate arguments between the states.
The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia was organized to revise and strengthen the existing Articles of Confederation. However, rather than trying to fix the existing one, many of the attendees felt that creating a new system of government was a better approach.
It was quickly agreed by most attending that the goal of the convention was a new system of government rather than revising and strengthening the existing Articles of Confederation. And to this end, two primary plans were presented and discussed at the convention. These two plans were James Madison’s Virginia Plan and William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan.
The major differences between these two plans centered on three main items: (1) the number of branches in the government, (2) how many branches (i.e., houses or parts) of the legislature there should be, and (3) how states would be represented in the houses of congress. Delegates were able to agree and create a plan at one point in the convention. This is known “The Great Compromise” and it fittingly combined parts of the Virginia and New Jersey plans into one plan.
New Government
After much work, the compromised plan eventually fully became the Constitution of the United States of America. It is for this reason that James Madison is known as the Father of the Constitution.
The Constitution created the government of the United States of America. It guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens and provided principles and rules by which the United States is governed.
To achieve this the federal government is divided into three branches – the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Each branch has different powers and responsibilities. The two most important ideas by which the United States would be governed are:
The government of the United States would work as a federal government which would divide power between a central government and the states. The Constitution makes clear what powers the central government had and everything else was left to the states.
There would be a separation of powers so that the national government would not become too powerful. To achieve this, the federal government is divided into three branches – (1) the legislative, (2) the executive, and (3) the judicial. The Constitution gives each branch different powers and responsibilities. For example, the legislative branch is made up of two parts or “houses,” with the lower house being the House of Representatives and the upper house being the Senate. Together, these houses make up the United States Congress. The legislative branch is responsible for creating laws. The executive branch is headed by the United States President responsible for carrying out laws. The judicial branch, made up of the Supreme Court and other federal courts is responsible for interpreting laws of the United States.
The Legislative Branch
The legislative branch is made up of two parts or “houses,” with the lower house being the House of Representatives and the upper house being the Senate. Together, these houses make up the United States Congress. The legislative branch is responsible for creating laws.
The Executive Branch
The executive branch is headed by the United States President responsible for carrying out laws.
The Judicial Branch
The judicial branch, made up of the Supreme Court and other federal courts, is responsible for interpreting laws of the United States.
Let’s Reflect
Have you ever wanted something to change? Something that affected not just you but all your family or all of your friends, too.
How did you approach that?
How did you get everyone to agree to the change you wanted?