The first effort to relieve the country from the miseries and dangers of the confederation originated in Virginia, in the proposition for a convention of delegates to regulate our foreign commerce. A partial representation of the states was in this manner collected at Annapolis, and the plan of a national convention was by this body strongly recommended to congress, for the purpose of devising a government that should be adequate to the exigencies of the nation. Congress adopted the suggestion, and immediately acted upon it; with the exception of Rhode Island, all the states acceded to the proposal of a general convention, and their delegates assembled at Philadelphia in May, 1787. This assembly united men of the most distinguished talents, high-minded integrity, and disinterested patriotism, and commanded the public regard and confidence in their fullest extent. After a tranquil deliberation of several months, the plan of government, which now forms the constitution of the United States, was adopted with unprecedented unanimity. Nearly a year elapsed before it received the assent of a sufficient number of states to give it a political existence; but on the fourth of March, 1789, the government was duly organized and set in motion. It was not till the year 1790, that the constitutionhad received the unanimous ratification of all the members of the original confederacy. ‘The peaceable adoption of this government,’ says chancellor Kent, ‘under all the circumstances which attended it, presented the case of an effort of deliberation, combined with a spirit of amity and of mutual concession, which was without example. It must be a source of just pride, and of the most grateful recollection, to every American, who reflects seriously on the difficulty of the experiment, the manner in which it was conducted, the felicity of its issue, and the fate of similar trials in other nations of the earth.’ The following is a copy of the constitution as adopted, with its subsequent amendments:
WE, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE I.
SECTION I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives.
SEC. II. The house of representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.
No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years, after the first meeting of the congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
SEC. III. The senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.