Constitution

the fundamental law of a country. In American usage, the body of laws that define and limit the powers of government. It is a principle of modern constitutional law that whatever power or authority is not granted expressly to the government by constitution is retained by the people. The older, we may say, for example, the Russian, theory is that all authority or privilege not granted to the people is retained by the sovereign. Sometimes a constitution, as that of Canada or the United States, is written; sometimes it has grown up, largely by general understanding, as in England. It is very important that a country should have a constitution. Until very recently Russia was the most prominent example of a country without a constitution. The laws of that country were such as the emperor, acting under the advice of his intimate friends, might wish to make. They could be changed or suspended at his will. If he or his officers ordered cannon to be discharged into the peasants on the streets of St. Petersburg, there was no law of the land to bring the offenders to account. If the czar was satisfied, no one could interfere by law; while if a nihilist threw a bomb under the carriage of a prince, and blew him into eternity, the czar had full authority to order the wretch executed, with or without trial, and from his decision there was no appeal. Without a constitution, the crimes of a ruler cannot be punished legally by the people. Absolute rulers have it in their power, not only to punish, but to determine whether the acts of the people are legal or illegal.

The Constitution of the United States was drawn up by a convention of fifty-five members, representing twelve of the thirteen states. It met in the city of Philadelphia, and was presided over by George Washington. The convention was called to meet May 14, 1787, but a quorum was not secured until May 25th. Its work was completed September 17th. The legislature of Delaware was the first to ratify the Constitution. The adoption by New Hampshire, in June, 1788, made the Constitution operative.

The states ratified the Constitution on the dates given below:

The first president elected under the Constitution assumed office at the city of New York, on the 30th day of April,1789. This Constitution consisted of fifteen articles. The first ten amendments went into force September 17, 1791. The eleventh became effective in 1798; the twelfth in 1804; the thirteenth in 1865; the fourteenth in 1868; the fifteenth in 1870.

Much has been said as to the sources of the Constitution. Fanciful comparisons have been drawn with the institutions of Greece, Venice, Rome, and Switzerland. No less a speaker than Gladstone has assumed that the Constitutional Convention did original work, and drew up a new constitution without a definite model in mind. The plain facts are that the leaders of the Revolution did the most natural thing in the world. They followed the unwritten constitution of England, to which they had been accustomed, and the constitutions of the several states which had grown out of two centuries of colonial self-government.