The Constitutional Convention

After unfair taxing and regulations placed on the colonies by Great Britain, the colonies wanted nothing more than their independence, which was given to them by the Declaration of Independence and their victory in the Revolutionary War. Since they were now considered free and independent states, they were no longer under the British government and had to establish state governments; a couple of the states used the charters that were given to them by England while the rest wrote constitutions. The first central government and constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was established by the Second Continental Congress during the war so the colonies could develop a government strong enough to defeat the British. Though it did accomplish a …show more content…
A meeting called the Constitutional Convention was held in an attempt to fix the mistakes in the Articles but they ended up creating a new government instead. The Constitution separated the powers of the government between three branches-- the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. In order to make sure the powers between the branches are balanced, they use a system called checks and balances. In addition, balance is shown in the process by which a bill becomes a law; it relies on all three branches.

The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia. It’s purpose was to have delegates propose ways to amend the Articles of Confederation. Edmund Randolph presented the Virginia Plan, which called for creating a new government that would consist of three branches. The convention took a vote and decided to write a new constitution instead of trying to improve the Articles. The problem with this plan, however, is that its legislature would have two houses, with the amount of delegates being divided among the states based on each of their free populations. This was unfair, as the larger states would have an advantage over the smaller ones. The New Jersey Plan was proposed by William Patterson as a solution to this problem. It called for a one-house legislature and each state would only cast one …show more content…
The Supreme Court can also check Congress by declaring laws unconstitutional. Congress has the power to check both the President and the Supreme Court because it has the ability to impeach government officials. The system also applies to the two houses in the legislative branch. In order for a bill to become a law they both have to approve