Preface
America's original 13 colonies banded together to form the United States of America. The first constitution for the United States was the
Articles of Confederation which were adopted by the
Continental Congress, also known as the Philadelphia Congress, on November 15, 1777. However, the Articles were not ratified by all thirteen states until March 1, 1781.
Not long after its adoption, there was a call to hold a convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. to discuss and draft improvements to the Articles of Confederation.
The Convention met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. However, most of the delegates (not all) in attendance concluded that a new system of government was needed, not simply a revised version of the Articles of Confederation.
The Philadelphia Convention became known as
The Constitutional Convention of 1787. At the Convention, several plans were introduced. James Madison's plan, known as the Virginia Plan, was the most important plan. The
Virginia Plan was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch.
After much debate, several major compromises were reached at The Constitutional Convention.
Ratification of the new Constitution of the United States of America was a
long, tedious process. The new proposed Constitution did not require ratification of all 13 States to take effect; it only required ratification of 9 States.
"On June 21, 1788, the Constitution became the official governing document of the United States of America when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to ratify it." Virginia soon followed with ratification on June 25, 1788, with New York quickly following on July 26, 1788, becoming the 10th and 11th States to ratify the new constitution.
The lack of guarantees of individual rights was a major impediment to the ratification process. It was
not until a bill of rights was proposed by Congress in 1789 that North Carolina became the 12th State in the process and ratified the Constitution on November 21, 1789. Rhode Island had originally rejected the Constitution in March 1788 by means of popular referendum. However, in 1790 upon being faced with the possibility of being treated as a foreign government, Rhode Island called for a ratifying convention and ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790 by only a 2 vote margin, making Rhode Island the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the present day Constitution.
Soon after the new
Constitution of the United States of America as written in 1787 was ratified, the first ten amendments, known as
The Bill of Rights, were passed. As of today, there are a total of
27 Amendments to the United States Constitution.
NOW, on to my Commentary:
There have been many
criticisms of the National Government of the United States of America. People have been critical of electing the President by means of the Electoral College, of the way in which Congress functions or doesn't function, of national legislative "career politicians" who have no term limits (except by means of the ballot box - that sarcasm is all mine) and whose primary interest is being elected to another term, of Presidents for everything from A to Z, of corrupt elected officials bought and paid for by special interests, ---- and the list goes on and on and on.
As you know, the United States of America Congress consists of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Right now, the House of Representatives has a Democratic Party majority and the Senate has a Republican Party majority.
The U.S. House of Representatives is based on the one person/one vote principle, with the House consisting of 435 Representatives proportionally representing the population of the 50 states. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives each represent a portion of their state known as a Congressional District, which averages 700,000 people.
The Senate is not based on the one person/one vote principle. The U.S. Senate consists of 2 Senators from each of the 50 States, for a total of 100 Senators. Unlike a U.S. Representative, each Senator represents the entire population of a State, regardless of the State's population. Consequently, a State with a small population, such as Rhode Island (1.06 million people) has an equal vote (read that as "has as much power") in the Senate as a State with a large population, such as New York (19.85 million).
The President blames Democrats for everything that isn't right in American politics, as do Republicans in general. Democrats blame Republicans. The Senate political majority blames the United States House of Representatives; and the House majority blames the Senate. It seems as though no one in the National Government will take responsibility, let alone be held accountable for their own words, actions, and deeds. And what of being responsive to the American public?
Well, I have my own thoughts on a resolution to this whole thing.
We need a new Constitutional Convention.
I say change the term of office of President to 6 years with election being in odd numbered years and limited to one term, change the term of office for members of the House of Representatives to 6 years with one-third of its membership elected every 2 years with election being in even numbered years thereby assuring continuity of government and also limited to one term, and totally eliminate the Senate. With no more worries about running for re-election, maybe those elected officials will work at getting things done rather than posturing for the next election.
ADDENDUM
COUNTERPOINT FROM DALE PERCHECK
