The US Constitution

After the American Revolutionary War, the frame of government for the United States was the Articles of Confederation. Only one law was passed by the Articles because it required unanimous agreement and that was the Northwest Ordinance. However, after the war the Articles of Confederation wasn't very effective in governing the New Nation because it was too weak. These weaknesses, including not being able to collect taxes, left war veterans and farmers with massive amounts of debt. One of these farmers, Daniel Shays, started a rebellion because of the unfair situation him and many others found themselves. Shay's rebellion showed the country that it needed a new Constitution, so 55 delegates met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 and debated on a new frame of government. The meeting was called the Constitutional Convention, where delegates debated and wrote a new Constitution, once again based on democratic principles, but with solutions and compromises to address the issues with the Articles of Confederation. 

At the Convention, delegates decided on a frame of government with separation of powers. Even though the delegates agreed to have separate branches of government, they had to make many difficult choices and compromises such as whether or not to include an executive branch, how to apportion representation, and how to count the slaves toward a state's population. Once finished, a Bill of Rights was added to compromise between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The document was then ratified. 

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of Congress (Article I); the executive, consisting of the president (Article II); and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article III). Article IV, Article V and Article VI embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. Article VII establishes the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified national constitution in force.

Since the Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended 27 times, including one amendment that repealed a previous one, in order to meet the needs of a nation that has profoundly changed since the eighteenth century. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, due process, and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government. The majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures. Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document.

According to the United States Senate: "The Constitution's first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments." The first permanent constitution of its kind, it is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large body of federal constitutional law.