Creating a Constitution
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Dan Harris explores the creation of the U.S. Constitution at the National Constitution Center. He discusses the challenges faced by the founding fathers in establishing a new form of government, the compromises made, and the significance of the Constitution. Harris emphasizes the human nature of the framers, their fears, and the remarkable outcome of their work, which has shaped the United States for centuries.
Takeaways
- 🏛️ The founding fathers viewed the creation of the U.S. Constitution as an experiment in starting a new type of government, which was unprecedented at the time.
- ⚖️ The Constitution aimed to create a government not ruled by individuals but by institutions that would manage conflict through a system of checks and balances.
- 🌟 The founding fathers were not infallible; they were ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges, and their humanity is what makes their achievement remarkable.
- 📜 The Constitution was written during a crisis, reflecting the urgency to establish a stable government to prevent the country from failing.
- 🔒 The Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, was deemed a failure due to its inability to create a unified nation and effectively govern.
- 🤝 The Constitutional Convention was initially called to amend the Articles of Confederation, but it ultimately led to the creation of an entirely new constitution.
- 🗣️ The debate over representation in Congress was a critical point, leading to the Great Compromise which established a bicameral legislature with proportional and equal state representation.
- 🔢 The Three-Fifths Compromise was a significant, though morally complex, concession made to secure the Constitution's passage, reflecting the practical and political realities of the time.
- 🏆 The Constitution did not initially include a Bill of Rights, which was added later to address concerns about individual liberties and to secure ratification.
- 🛠️ The framers intentionally designed the Constitution to be amendable, acknowledging its imperfections and the need for future adjustments to adapt to a changing nation.
Q & A
What was the primary concern of the founding fathers when drafting the Constitution?
-The founding fathers were primarily concerned with creating a government that could manage conflict, prevent the concentration of power, and ensure that the people would accept the outcomes of the government's decisions.
Why did the founding fathers believe that a government run by the people was a risky experiment?
-They believed it was risky because history had shown that people are messy, have their own interests, and tend to disagree, leading to conflicts. Traditionally, rulers or kings used armies to control the people, but the founding fathers wanted a constitution that allowed for conflict and resolution through institutions.
How did the founding fathers view the concept of a government run by the people?
-The founding fathers viewed a government run by the people as an old idea that had never quite worked. They believed that it was essential to create institutions that would allow for conflict to occur and be dealt with, and that people would accept the outcomes.
What was the significance of George Washington's presence at the Constitutional Convention?
-George Washington's presence was significant because he was a trusted figure who had demonstrated his commitment to the country by laying down power after the Revolutionary War. His leadership was crucial in uniting the delegates and ensuring the success of the convention.
Why did the framers of the Constitution decide to meet in secret during the Constitutional Convention?
-The framers decided to meet in secret to allow for open and candid debate without external pressures or influence. They took a vow of secrecy to ensure that they could discuss freely and make decisions in the best interest of the country.
What was the main issue that led to the failure of the Articles of Confederation?
-The main issue was that the Articles of Confederation did not bind the states together into one nation effectively. They failed to provide a strong central government, lacked power to tax, and could not protect the nation or its citizens effectively.
What was the compromise made regarding the structure of Congress known as?
-The compromise made regarding the structure of Congress was known as the Great Compromise or Connecticut Compromise, which led to the creation of a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate with equal representation for each state.
What was the 'three-fifths compromise' and why was it included in the Constitution?
-The 'three-fifths compromise' was an agreement where enslaved individuals would be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. It was included to balance the political power between the northern and southern states, as it gave the southern states a higher population count without granting full representation to enslaved people.
Why didn't the original Constitution include a Bill of Rights?
-The original Constitution did not include a Bill of Rights because the framers believed that every state already had its own bill of rights, and they did not want to prolong the convention with debates over what should be included in a federal Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was added later as the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
How did the founding fathers view the potential longevity of the Constitution they created?
-The founding fathers did not expect the Constitution to be perfect or to last indefinitely. They viewed it as a framework that could be amended and changed as needed, which is why they included Article 5 to allow for amendments.
Outlines
🏛️ Founding of the United States Constitution
Dan Harris introduces the creation of the U.S. Constitution at the National Constitution Center, emphasizing the experimental nature of establishing a government by the people. The historical context is set, highlighting the lack of precedent for such a government and the skepticism it faced. The founding fathers' belief in a constitution that allows for conflict and resolution is discussed, as is the crisis that led to the Constitution's drafting. The narrative challenges the mythologized view of the founding fathers, presenting them as ordinary men facing extraordinary challenges.
📜 The Articles of Confederation and Its Failures
This section delves into the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which failed to unite the states under a strong central government. The lack of a national power structure and taxation authority led to economic and security issues. Shay's Rebellion is highlighted as a pivotal event that underscored the need for a more effective government. The challenges faced during the Constitutional Convention are explored, including the contentious debate over state sovereignty versus a unified national government, and the critical role of George Washington in the process.
🤝 The Great Compromise and Structure of Government
The paragraph discusses the formation of the U.S. government's structure with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The intention behind this separation of powers was to prevent any single branch from becoming too powerful. The Electoral College is introduced as a compromise for electing the president. The debate over representation in Congress, leading to the Great Compromise and the creation of a bicameral legislature, is detailed. The three-fifths compromise regarding the counting of slaves for representation and taxation is also covered, illustrating the political and moral compromises made during the Constitution's drafting.
🗳️ The Debate Over State and Individual Rights
This section focuses on the tension between state sovereignty and individual rights during the Constitutional Convention. The threat of smaller states walking out and the potential for alliances with foreign countries is mentioned. The bicameral legislature is presented as a solution, with the House of Representatives having proportional representation and the Senate ensuring equal representation for all states. The three-fifths compromise is further discussed, revealing the practical and political considerations that influenced the Constitution's drafting. The framers' limited view of political rights and the necessity of compromise for the Constitution's ratification are highlighted.
🎉 The Legacy and Adaptability of the Constitution
The final paragraph reflects on the Constitution's legacy and its ability to adapt over time. It notes the absence of a Bill of Rights in the original Constitution and the eventual addition of the first ten amendments. The framers' understanding of the Constitution's imperfections and their intention to allow for amendments is emphasized. The paragraph concludes by celebrating the Constitution as a framework that enables the United States to uphold its founding principles and evolve as a nation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Constitution
💡Articles of Confederation
💡Federal Government
💡Separation of Powers
💡Compromise
💡Bill of Rights
💡Shay's Rebellion
💡Electoral College
💡James Madison
💡George Washington
💡Three-Fifths Compromise
Highlights
The founding of the United States was an experiment in creating a new type of government.
The Constitution was written during a time of crisis, with the understanding that failure would mean the failure of the country.
The founding fathers believed in a government run by the people, not by rulers, which was a radical idea at the time.
The Constitution aimed to create institutions that would allow for conflict and ensure its resolution.
The founding fathers were ordinary men who faced real challenges, not demigods or larger-than-life figures.
The Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, was a failure.
Shay's Rebellion highlighted the need for a stronger central government to maintain law and order.
The Constitutional Convention was initially called to amend the Articles of Confederation, but it led to the creation of an entirely new constitution.
The convention operated in secret to allow for open and candid debate among the attendees.
The Constitution established a central government with three separate branches to keep each other in check.
The Electoral College was created as a compromise for the election of the president.
The bicameral legislature was a compromise between large and small states for representation in Congress.
The three-fifths compromise was a controversial decision that counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes.
The Constitution did not initially include a Bill of Rights, which was added later through the first ten amendments.
The Constitution is not perfect and was never intended to be; it allows for amendments to address unresolved issues.
The Constitution's framework allows for the creation of the kind of world the people want to live in.
The Constitution has endured beyond the expectations of the founding fathers, still guiding the United States in the 21st century.
Transcripts
I'm Dan Harris in signers Hall at the
National Constitution Center in
Philadelphia we hardly think of it this
way today but to these men this was an
experiment starting a new type of
government for a new country they were
going to call the United States of
America not only was there no guarantee
that it would work but history pretty
much told them it wouldn't and their de
nations were run by rulers not rules
kings and emperors told everyone else
what to do a government run by the
people themselves that was an old idea
but it had never quite worked people
fight with each other
it's human nature people are messy they
have their own interests and they
disagree all rulers knew that it took
armies to keep the people under control
but these men believed it took a
constitution that they could create
institutions that would let conflict
occur deal with it and that people would
accept the outcome that's what they
believed and in the spring of 1787 it
was time to deliver but they weren't
sure that they could the Constitution
was written in a time of crisis they
knew that if they failed at that moment
their country would fail they responded
by starting a nation in one room with
just a handful of ideas and a small
group of men I do solemnly swear that I
will faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States films
like this really kind of missed the
point
protect and defend the Constitution of
the United States oh boy they play right
into the myth a lot of the image that we
have of the founding fathers comes in
part from 19th century historians who
actually wrote that god handed down the
Constitution Thomas Jefferson was a
founding father he was the one who wrote
the Declaration of Independence he
called the men who wrote the
Constitution demigods so what did that
make him they're the closest thing we
have to the Greek gods or or royalty and
so they've been transformed into
larger-than-life figures for 200 years
we've written books about them we passed
them in bronze carved them from marble
dr. Benjamin Franklin we've made awful
educational films about them and you
James Madison our children's children
will remember you and the average school
child in America is taught to speak of
these men and kind of hushed whispers
they were all heroic figures who are
going to be whisked directly up to
heaven in fact everyday visitors to the
nation's capital can walk into the heart
of the rotunda look up to the ceiling of
the dome and see a painting called the
apotheosis of Washington in other words
George Washington becoming a god these
were real men who faced real challenges
they knew they weren't gods gods have
special powers that men don't and they
didn't trust any man who wanted the
power of a god or say a king many of
them would blush or be embarrassed by
the way we look up to them now some of
them want anyway we should admire them
not because they're superhuman not
because they're Superman but because
they're ordinary people that's what
makes the real story so much more
remarkable
than the myth okay for the record Ben
Franklin thought the Constitution would
last oh about 10 years Franklin and some
of these men were actually brilliant but
they really didn't know what they were
getting themselves into point was they
were trying to get out of a long
seemingly endless cycle of conflict
let's go back for a minute
I'll make this quick 150 years before
the Constitution we were separate
colonies of Britain we ruled as the king
saw fit and could throw us in jail make
us pay unfair taxes take our land his
word was last word I caused some
conflict in 1776 Thomas Jefferson and 55
other men risked their lives by signing
the Declaration of Independence telling
Britain in the world that they weren't
going to obey the king anymore we fought
a war to win our independence and
started our own government in 1781 the
Articles of Confederation and the
Articles of Confederation turned out to
be a recipe for more conflict the first
constitution of the United States was a
failure the Articles of Confederation
really did not bind the new states
together into one nation the Articles of
Confederation were actually called a
League of friendship what kind of a
nation calls itself a League of
friendship remember that the colonists
were revolting against England they were
revolting against a monarchy and they
were revolting against a parliament that
had total power but they wanted to do
was to prevent anybody or any group of
people in the institution in this
country from having that kind of power
over their lives
you had groups of people who had existed
for a fairly long time and identified
themselves as Virginians or as people
from Maryland who prefer Massachusetts
North Carolina where the wonders never
cease
Bella where it's good being first they
want what later would be called states
rights state sovereignty the state saw
themselves as essentially sovereign
nations that had kind of agreed to kind
of maybe work together maybe kind of
sorta and things fall apart so quickly
that it's really kind of dazzling one of
the biggest if not the biggest problems
that there was no power of taxation
under the Articles of Confederation the
national government was flat broke it
couldn't afford to protect ships on the
Atlantic from Pirates and it couldn't
protect citizens on the western borders
either each state printed its own money
even more dramatically New York State
which has a great court of New York City
is charged in Connecticut in New Jersey
and arm and leg for everything that
comes into their port and so Connecticut
in New Jersey are meeting to plan a
United military attack on New York but
the breaking point for the Articles of
Confederation came when veterans of the
Revolutionary War mostly farmers staged
a revolt against the state of
Massachusetts and in this scene against
the basic principles of acting we're
here to get justice Daniel Shays you are
in contempt of court I will see you
jailed for this oh no you're not gonna
judge me or any other man in this county
go to join this Court I will clear you
out Shay's rebellion sends fear through
every state what it represents is a
breakdown of law and order and all their
rhetoric is the rhetoric of the
revolution this is a tyrannical
government this is a government that's
not looking out the interests of the
people when Washington hears about
Shay's rebellion I think for him this is
the low point of the whole Confederation
period General Washington another such
outbreak exists Massachusetts affair and
we shall have an arc he said it's a
triumph for our enemies that we are
incapable of governing ourselves we
can't even win the loyalty of our own
citizens something has to be done but
what everyone knew this government
needed to be fixed but the big
question was how a convention was called
in Philadelphia to fix the Articles
Confederation
but just look around this room these
were the people who were coming to fix
this mess just months before this state
was going to war with this state
delaware came in saying they'd leave
before they gave up any power this
delegation was arguing with itself over
whether or not to commit to a stronger
central government and him he was drunk
only james madison of virginia came with
a clear plan madison was a brilliant
strategist but he wasn't popular enough
to get all these men to follow him poor
James Madison he arrives nobody even
notices him they think he's a minister
he wakes up one morning and he his
church bells ringing and crowds cheering
and he knows right away he says
Washington has arrived George Washington
was the indispensable person when it
came to 1787 he's the only person
everyone in America has heard of there's
no CNN there's no Nightly News he was
famous throughout the world and he
defeated the most powerful nation in the
world
you know Great Britain a French hadn't
been able to do it in hundreds of years
and then instead of seizing power he
laid down power and went home and was a
farmer this was incredible he could be
trusted because people knew he was not
interested interested in wielding or
gaining any kind of absolute power that
he had the best interests of the country
at heart
Washington fought to establish a
republic and here he was less than four
years after the war trying to save it
right away they take care of the easy
stuff the convention unanimously chooses
Washington to preside after that
everything they talked about could have
brought them big big trouble you know
the interesting thing about the
Constitution's drafting is that wasn't
authorized illegal is too strong a word
but what they were doing was not
permitted under the Articles of
Confederation itself these people had no
authority under the previous system of
government to do what they were doing
not supposed to be a constant
additional convention this is a tweaking
convention was it supposed to come for
the new constitution out was supposed to
amend it the third day of the convention
Edmund Randolph gets up and he says
Virginia thinks we should throw out the
Articles of Confederation and write a
new constitution so on the third day of
a convention called to make
recommendations to amend the Articles of
Confederation they overthrow the
government this was it the moment of
truth these 55 men were either going to
save the nation where they had just
destroyed it there was no turning back
they decided in order to accomplish this
mission they had to meet in secret they
really want to have an open and candid
debate they take a vow of secrecy you're
not supposed to say anything to anybody
and they all obey the rule and they pay
for it every day
they literally lock themselves in this
room you've seen the paintings long hair
wigs the northerners are wearing wool
Philadelphia is having a bad summer I
grew up in Philadelphia and is
oppressively hot and humid it pours
every day and there is an invasion of
great big bottleneck flies and so people
can't even open their shutters and
they're in a cooped up room of no
air-conditioning the group buys
Madison's idea and it basically goes
like this a central government with
three separate branches a legislature
which was most important to these men an
executive to do what the legislature
wanted and a judiciary and here's why
the three branches of government should
keep each other in check
no one branch should become too powerful
kind of like a giant very elaborate game
of Paper Scissors rock see look the
president can't go to war unless
Congress declares it Congress can't
create a law unless the president signs
it a president can appoint a judge
unless
this confirms that nominee and then the
judge would surf a life and could one
day strike down a law that both the
President and Congress passed if that
law violated the Constitution sounds
difficult a little complicated
good that's just the way they wanted it
the thing you notice most about the
Constitution in reading it is the keen
awareness that concentrated power is
dangerous it is almost as if the whole
thing was written to make making laws
difficult they expected legislators and
congressmen to try to expand their
powers and expect the President to try
to expand his powers expected the course
try expand their jurisdiction but by
placing them in tension with each other
they thought they would block each
other's overly ambitious actions these
men are anxious each and every one of
them believes that powerful governments
are dangerous so they want to create
something that in a sense they're afraid
of and that double irony of this is that
the very people they don't trust with
power is themselves because they are
going to be the leaders of that
government they start with the executive
branch and can't decide if it should be
a committee or just an individuals all
that power might be too tempting for one
person you might try to take over and
become a dictator or a king or worse and
they can't decide how the president
should be elected to the people vote
form directly or should each state
choosen near the end of the convention
someone comes up with a compromise
called the electoral college in the
electoral college voters choose a slate
of representatives who then never mind
ask your teacher they move on to the
discussion of Congress and this is when
it gets serious the larger states wanted
representation based upon population and
the smaller states wanted equal
representation by state okay
proportional representation
let's say Delaware's got 1 million
people and Virginia's got 10 million
suppose we give each state a vote in
Congress for each million Virginia is
fat and happy with 10 votes
Delaware's got one bigger states rule
they would have a much bigger voice in
the national government Madison wanted
this because he thought a true national
government should be elected by the
people and that states well we tried
that with the Articles of Confederation
remember County the people from the
small states go beserk Maryland will
never give up her freedom nor will
Connecticut mr. Martin my state will
never stand by to see Pennsylvania and
Virginia rule the country
neither will New Jersey they were so far
apart no know that some of the
representatives including one of the
ones from Delaware threatened to walk
out and even threaten that some of the
smallest states would make alliances
with foreign countries but it's not just
large state small state this is the
moment of truth are the states going to
have as States a house a a platform in
the government where their sovereignty
is recognized or is this government
going to be a government of the
individual people is it going to be the
United States of America or the United
States of America even the men who
believed in a strong national government
knew they had to give him a little right
now if they said any chance of working
one of the supporters of the nationalist
camp comes up to James Madison and says
Corner 'some and says if you don't
compromise the small states are going to
walk out of this convention and you will
have destroyed the chance for the
country to survive this was it the whole
thing was on the line so the next day
Connecticut's Roger Sherman came back
with the idea of a bicameral legislature
which is a fancy way of saying two
houses in one Congress so now to go
along with the House of
there would be a Senate the house would
have proportional representation based
on population that made the nationalists
happy and the Senate was the compromise
there each state big and small would
have two representatives so Delaware we
get the same number of votes in the
Senate as Virginia
this made the federalist happy this is
all in article 1 and if you look closely
you'll see another big compromise right
here three fifths of all other persons
probably the biggest consideration
regarding slavery in the Constitution is
what's known as the three-fifths
compromise other persons was a code that
everyone in the room understood it meant
slaves and slaves were counted as
three-fifths of a person to the framers
this wasn't a direct statement about a
person's value as a human being
equality the end of slavery they weren't
there to talk about that this was all
about the power some states would have
in the new Congress if slaves were
counted even though they were slaves
then southern states would get more
representatives in the house northerners
didn't want slaves to count as whole
persons because then the southern states
would have more power half or more of
the population in many of those southern
states were slaves so it means the more
slaves a state has the more political
power it has so on Philadelphia the
founders decided that almost everyone in
the population would be counted but not
everyone counted would have rights or
could even vote the framers of the
Constitution the leaders of the
revolution had a very limited idea about
who was entitled to political rights
they did not believe in democracy they
did not believe that every man should
have the vote they certainly didn't
believe that women should have the vote
they didn't believe that
african-americans should have the vote
to have a vote in the 18th century he
had to have what they called a stake in
society it is you had to have property
because it was their theory that you
would make irresponsible decisions if
you didn't have anything to lose they
didn't get things something's right I
mean clearly we now realize if they and
many framers then realize a slavery was
evil he should not be protected by a
legal system
at the same time it showed that they had
to make compromises to get the
Constitution through if the Constitution
actually prohibited slavery in 1788 and
79 ever would have been ratified by the
southern states and we would not have
had a constitution at all so you can
also see saw the practical aspect of
people willing to make compromises
sometimes against the principles they
believed in they were making it up as it
along and they were making compromises
for purely political reasons to get an
agreement they didn't believe for a
moment it was an ideal Constitution it
was simply the best one they could get
in the circumstances the story of the
Constitution is too often told without
acknowledging its problems not all the
compromises made in Philadelphia worked
out as brilliant as it was the
constitution written in 1787 left
slavery and state sovereignty unresolved
and seventy years later these
compromises led to the greatest
constitutional crisis the United States
has ever seen the Civil War to me it's
important to realize that the
Constitution is not perfect and it was
never intended to be perfect the framers
themselves did not think it was perfect
so they made it possible to change it
that's why they wrote article 5
amendments they knew they hadn't solved
every issue and it was one problem with
their constitution they'd have to fix
almost as soon as the ink dried why
didn't the framers at the Philadelphia
Convention add a bill of rights to the
Constitution to us it would seem obvious
your freedom of speech freedom of
religion freedom the press we won and in
there you have to understand every state
had a bill of rights virtually every
state had very carefully spelled out
Bill of Rights the guys wanted to go
home that's just the plain fact of it
and when someone said should we have a
Bill of Rights
everyone moaned because they thought by
time we all argue of what should be in
it and how many clauses will be here
another month the Bill of Rights are the
first ten amendments and they weren't
part of the original Constitution
the first Congress wrote the bill of
rights and it was ratified two years
later finally it was time to go home
they had created a constitution it would
last beyond the wildest dreams quite
certain not one of them would have
imagined that in the early part of the
21st century we would still be operating
under their constitution it would be as
if you started a club with a bunch of
friends in 2001 and someone said to you
what's the probability it'll be in
existence in 20 to 25 and so we have the
legends the coins the statues they're
all part of the myth now but their words
tell the better story
they weren't gods and they knew they
weren't perfect but they were pretty
good these are men who are remarkable
largely because they were ordinary human
beings facing a major crisis who did
something that turned out really quite
well they were in a new world they were
away from all the old forms of
government what they were saying is we
have an opportunity to create the right
kind of government what should that
government beam they created a framework
that is extraordinary in that it allows
us to set in motion the kind of world we
want to create for ourselves each year
we have our parades and our fireworks on
July 4th because our founding principles
were first announced to the world with
the Declaration of Independence
but it's the Constitution that allows us
to live by those principles every day
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