After just six years under the Articles of Confederation, the country was in an economic and political crisis. A committee of anxious delegates agreed to meet in Philadelphia to amend the government. Fifty-five men gathered to determine the shape of the new United States. The result was the Constitution - the supreme law of the land.
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cpb:
Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nick:
Hello, Civic 101 listeners, Nick Capodice here.
Hannah:
And MacCarthy here. And today we are bringing you yet another installment of civics shorts
Nick:
A bite-sized refresher on the U.S. Constitution. It's created with middle schoolers in mind.
Hannah:
That all ages can enjoy.
Archive tape:
By gum, I'll stand on my constitutional rights. You know, just saying that made me think, do I really know what my constitutional rights are? Do I really know what the Constitution is?
Jacqui:
I'm Jacqui.
Christina:
I'm Christina.
Christina:
Today on Civics 101 Shorts, we are talking about the Constitution of the United States.
Jacqui:
Pull out your pocket, says Constitution, and let's get crack-a-lakin.
Archive tape:
The and our problems, gentlemen, originate from a government that is no more than a mere contract, resting only on the good faith of the individual states. A government too weak to solve our common problems is a government too weak to preserve our union and our liberties.
Christina:
The year was 1787, and we're at the state house in Philadelphia. It's a meeting of the ultimate old boys club,
Jacqui:
The constitutional convention, the Con Con. Very different from Comic-Con,
Christina:
Although some of the founders did wear wigs to my wig.
Computer:
That has an unfortunate over. Can I borrow someone's wig powder?
Christina:
It was a whole 11 years after the United States had declared independence from Britain and four years since they won the Revolutionary War.
Jacqui:
The law of the land at that point was the Articles of Confederation.
Archive tape:
Article for the better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the different states of this union.
Christina:
The national government was made intentionally weak,
Jacqui:
All of the power lay with the states.
Christina:
And the states were not getting along.
Archive tape:
A government too weak to solve our common problems is a government too weak to preserve our union and our liberties.
Jacqui:
Quarreling over land, taxes and trade, it was tearing the country apart.
Christina:
And almost everyone could see that it wasn't working.
Computer:
This isn't working.
Christina:
So the who's who in baby America gathered in Philadelphia.
Jacqui:
Men like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin.
Computer:
My friends call me Electric Ben.
Christina:
George Washington presided over the gathering.
Archive tape:
We shall now open discussion on that clause in the Virginia plan.
Jacqui:
Almost everything I've read about the convention mentions how far it was in there and probably stinky.
Computer:
My wig smells like cheese.
Christina:
So many people were cranky.
Archive tape:
Do I understand, Mr. Randall, to call for the complete overthrow of the state government?
Jacqui:
So soon after they began the convention, decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation and start again,
Christina:
This time with a stronger national government.
Jacqui:
Big questions were wrangled with.
Christina:
What power should a leader have, how should an executive be chosen?
Jacqui:
How should states be represented in the new government?
Jacqui:
Some states, like Delaware, were small.
Christina:
And had a smaller population, while others, like Virginia, were big and had a bigger population.
Jacqui:
So should it be based on population or should every state have the same number of representatives?
Archive tape:
Why not abolish all the states? Let us take them up and divide our states into equal areas with equal representation for each area.
Jacqui:
The solution is what's known as the great compromise.
Christina:
It called for two houses of Congress,
Jacqui:
First, the House of Representatives,
Christina:
Which would be based on population.
Jacqui:
Second, the Senate.
Christina:
In which each state would have two senators.
Jacqui:
White supremacy was baked into the Constitution.
Christina:
An abominable compromise was also made the three-fifths compromise,
Jacqui:
Which counted each enslaved person as only three-fifths of a human being.
Christina:
It was agreed to for tax purposes and representation in the House.
Jacqui:
They also agreed to not ban slavery for at least 20 years
Christina:
The men use bits and bobs from already existing documents,
Jacqui:
The original Virginia plan,
Christina:
The Articles of Confederation,
Jacqui:
The Magna Carta.
Christina:
And the philosophy of John Locke.
Jacqui:
They finally hammered out a final draft.
Christina:
Take it away, Captain James T. Kirk.
Archive tape:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense. Promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty.
Jacqui:
The Constitution established the three branches of government,
Christina:
The legislative,
Jacqui:
Executive.
Christina:
And judicial branches, 39 delegates signed the document.
Jacqui:
The United States Constitution was adopted on September 17th, 1787.
Christina:
It wasn't until 1791 that all the states ratified the Constitution.
Jacqui:
The Constitution isn't set in stone. It's a living document.
Archive tape:
Article five, which provides for amending the Constitution, shows that the man who wrote...
Christina:
It's been amended 27 times.
Archive tape:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free,
Jacqui:
And it will no doubt be amended in the future.
Archive tape:
The freedom of speech.
Christina:
If it was a rigid document, democracy would have fallen apart- as society changes over time. And that's all she wrote, folks!
Computer:
This episode was produced by Jacqui Fulton.Hannah McCarthy Nick Capodice with help from Christina Phillips. Erika Janik is the big boss.
Computer:
Check out our Web site, civics101podcast.org, for more fun.
Christina:
Take it away, Captain James T. Kirk... Is that a Star Trek reference? Don't tell people that. I feel like a lot of people get really angry if you say you don't know Star Trek.
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