by Xiaohong Wei
The Constitution of the United States of America, written well over 200 years ago, has been the foundation for building one of the great nations. It is the central instrument of American government and the supreme law of the land. For more than 200 years, it has guided the evolution of U.S. governmental institutions and has provided the basis for political stability, individual freedom, economic growth and social progress.
However, the birth of the Constitution is not accidental, but has complicated economic and political backgrounds. The period after the Revolutionary War was characterized by economic depression and political crisis on the grounds that the Articles of Confederation just devised a loose association among the states, and set up a central government with very limited powers. The central government could not get the dominant position in the country’s political life while the individual states could do things in their own ways. In this chaotic situation, the central government was incapable of paying its debt, of regulating foreign and domestic commerce, of maintaining a steady value of the currency, and worst of all, incapable of keeping a strong military force to protect the country’s interests from foreign violations. As time went by, the old system became more and more adverse to the development of the young nation, and political reform seemed to be inevitable. The best solution was to draw up a new constitution in place of the Articles of Confederation.
The Constitution was drawn up by 55 delegates of twelve states (all but Rhode Island) to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 and ratified by the states in 1788. That distinguished gathering at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall brought together nearly all of the nation’s most prominent men, including George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. Many were experienced in colonial and state government and others had records of service in the army and in the courts. As T