Which of the following concepts was not included in the original constitution?

John Vile is professor of political science and dean of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. He is co-editor of the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment. This article was originally published in 2009.

    Many of the reasons the Articles of Confederation were so weak, was due to the fear of an all-powerful government that might mistreat and oppress the people. The Founding Fathers wished to create a weak government, and in doing so created a government that did not function. As a result the delegates creating the current constitution took into account the need the separation of powers and for checks and balances among different branches of the government. Their goal was to create a government with balanced powers, and specific roles and responsibilities for each branch.

Proposed Articles of Amendment to the Federal Constitution [Bill of Rights], September 14, 1789. [James Madison’s personal copy of printed broadside]. New York: Thomas Greenleaf, 1789. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (035)

Magna Carta exercised a strong influence both on the United States Constitution and on the constitutions of the various states. However, its influence was shaped by what eighteenth-century Americans believed Magna Carta to signify. Magna Carta was widely held to be the people’s reassertion of rights against an oppressive ruler, a legacy that captured American distrust of concentrated political power. In part because of this tradition, most of the state constitutions included declarations of rights intended to guarantee individual citizens a list of protections and immunities from the state government. The United States also adopted the Bill of Rights, in part, due to this political conviction.

Both the state declarations of rights and the United States Bill of Rights incorporated several guarantees that were understood at the time of their ratification to descend from rights protected by Magna Carta. Among these are freedom from unlawful searches and seizures, a right to a speedy trial, a right to a jury trial in both a criminal and a civil case, and protection from loss of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Many broader American constitutional principles have their roots in an eighteenth-century understanding of Magna Carta, such as the theory of representative government, the idea of a supreme law, and judicial review.

Journal of the Continental Congress

State Constitutions

• “North-Carolina” in The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation between the Said States. . . . London: J. Stockdale, 1782. Law Library, Library of Congress (032)

• The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation between the Said States. . . . London: J. Stockdale, 1782. Law Library, Library of Congress (032)

Pennsylvania’s Constitution

Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser (Boston), November 7, 1776 [with reprint of Pennsylvania Constitution from the Pennsylvania Journal, October 9, 1776]. Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (033)

Jefferson’s Copy of the Federalist Papers

[Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804)]. No. 84 in The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, As Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787, Vol. 2. New York: J. and A. M’Lean, 1788. Thomas Jefferson’s Library, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (034)

Madison's Copy of the Proposed “Bill of Rights”

Proposed Articles of Amendment to the Federal Constitution [Bill of Rights]. [James Madison’s personal copy of printed broadside]. New York: Thomas Greenleaf, September 14, 1789. Page 2. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (035)

George Washington’s Draft of the United States Constitution

Draft United States Constitution: Report of the Committee of Style, September 8–12, 1787. Printed document with annotations by George Washington and Convention Secretary William Jackson. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (068, 068.00.01)

The Constitution, which was approved by the delegates to the Convention on September 17, 1787, established a republican form of government, explained the organization of that government, and outlined the federal system. 

Republican form of government

The Constitution established the United States as a republic in which power ultimately is in the hands of the people and is exercised by their elected representatives. The Republic was not a democracy in the modern sense, however. The framers of the Constitution, many reluctantly, accepted slavery. There were property qualifications for voting, and some states denied the right to vote to religious minorities. Women did not get to vote in the national elections until 1920 (Nineteenth Amendment). The original draft of the Constitution did not include protection of basic civil liberties. 

The organization of government

The government's functions are divided among three branches: the legislative branch that makes the laws (Congress), the executive branch that carries out the laws (president), and the judicial branch that interprets the laws (courts). This division is known as the separation of powers. In addition, under the system of checks and balances, the powers of one branch of government are limited by the powers given to another branch. Congress makes laws, but the president can veto legislation. Congress can override a president's veto with a two-thirds vote of both houses (a check on a check). While the president appoints judges to the Supreme Court, the Senate can reject an appointee through its power to give "advice and consent." 

The federal system

Federalism means the division of power between the national government and the states. The Constitution does not clearly define, however, the areas in which these powers are exercised. Keeping in mind that the framers were determined to strengthen the national government, it is not surprising that the powers belonging to the states were left vague. 

Which of the following concepts was not included in the original Constitution as was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788?

What did the founders not include in the original Constitution?

What are the 3 basic concepts of government in our Constitution?

What are the concepts of the U.S. Constitution?