Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention has been busy the past two days implementing article after article in an effort to create an organized and effective government of the United States. In just the first two days of their convention, they have passed articles abolishing slavery, defining a citizen, creating three branches of government, giving states more equal voting representation, and many more.

With slavery still being legal in the time frame this constitution is being written for, the convention found it vital to ban the custom immediately. They almost immediately wrote and passed an article freeing all slaves and giving them the rights of a US citizen. Even before that, they wrote an article providing states with a proportional voting representation. The state with the smallest population will be given five representatives, and the state with the largest population will be given 20 representatives. Each state in between will be given a number of representatives proportional to their population and the other states’ populations. The article narrowly passed the convention with a margin of just three votes. When asked his thoughts on the new article, New Jersey delegate David Brearley described it as “innovative,” claiming he thought it was “a good compromise between representation of small states and large states.” 

After attempting to introduce their article the day before but realizing the passing of it could bar them from abolishing slavery in the future, founding fathers Charles Pinckney and Hugh Williamson thought it was time to present their tabled article naming the rights of a citizen. A citizen--defined as a person either born in the United States or living in the United States for a minimum of five years--is given several natural rights. Some of these rights include the right to freely practice religion, speak freely so long as not to threaten the common peace or safety, own property and land, vote, peacefully protest, and others. Citizens are also granted freedom from unwarranted search, cruel and unusual punishment, quartering soldiers, and being detained without cause.

Yet another article was introduced that night, and determined the branches of legislation. Delegates James Madison, John Langdon, and Gunning Bedford Jr. presented the article, which explained there would be three houses of legislation. The first is the sifters. They are elected by popular vote with two representatives for every 75,000 people in a state’s population. Their role is to sift through petitions and determine which are the most pressing, which are then sent to the upper sifters. The second house, the proposers, are elected by direct vote every three years with three representatives per state. They serve the job of interpreting the laws and petitions from the sifters. Finally, the third house, the voices, are elected by the people and are proportional to the state’s population. They are the ones that vote on legislation sent by the proposers. The voices can also suggest amendments, but they must be agreed upon by the proposers. The framers found this article to be a promising compromise and an opportunity for even more equality within the nation; it passed almost unanimously. 

In the near future, the convention looks forward to establishing the more central components of the government, voter rights, the definition of due process, and the process of determining fair punishments. Creating a constitution for a newly developing nation is quite a feat, and will take much more deliberating and teamwork to make it as effective and fair as possible. Over the course of the rest of the convention, the United States Constitution will continue to be built until it is finally finished and ratified by the framers. 

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It is necessary that it serves all citizens of the nation with freedom, equality, and a trustworthy government. Only a tremendous effort of speed, cooperation, and hard work from the delegates can finish this key component of the United States law in the allotted time frame. Americans can only hope for the best with their future in the hands of the qualified Constitutional Convention delegates.