A  constitution  generally  provides  a  framework  for  government. It limits government authority and pro-tects the rights of the people. A government created by a written constitution is known as a constitutional government. Because we have a written constitution, we live under a constitutional government. The  members  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  quickly decided that the new national government, which would replace the Articles of Confederation, should have three branches, or parts: a legislative branch  to  make  the  laws,  an  executive  branch  to  enforce the laws, and a judicial branch to apply the laws.They felt the new national government should also have  a  separation  of  powers  between  these  three  independent branches. This was just what Montes-quieu had recommended. It was also what most of the state constitutions already had.The members of the Constitutional Convention fur-ther  agreed  that  the  new  legislative  branch  (law-making body) should have two houses, similar to the British Parliament: The first house, to be known as the House of Representatives, would represent the people. Its members would be elected directly by the people.The second house, to be known as the Senate, would represent the wisdom, wealth and property of America. As one delegate put it, the Senate should have “the most distinguished characters by rank and property.” Senators would serve for longer terms than members of the House of Representatives. This way they would not be subject to the same popular pressures.The  delegates  equally  recognized  the  need  for  a  national executive branch to provide centrallead-ership  and  to  carry  out  the  laws.  But  should  this  national  executive  be  a  single  person  or  a  small  group? After some debate, the members of the Con-stitutional Convention  decided  that  the  national  executive  should  be  one  individual,  known  as  the  President   of   the   United   States.   They   further   decided  that  the  President  should  be  given  the  power  to  veto  (deny  or  refuse)  new  laws  passed  by  Congress. However, to make sure the President was not  too  powerful,  the  delegates  decided  that  two-thirds of both houses of Congress should be able to override the President’s veto.Finally, they decided on the need for a national judi-cial branch to interpret the laws. Of course, the delegates did not agree on everything. Their most important disagreement was over repre-sentation in the new houses of Congress. Here,  the  larger  states  opposed  the  smaller  ones.  The larger states felt it was unfair for smaller states to  have  an  equal  voice  in  Congress  when  they  had  fewer  people.  The  smaller  states  feared  that  the  larger  states  would  abuse  their  power  if  they  were  given  more  representatives  because  of  their  larger  populations. Virginia—then   the   most   populous   state   in   the   nation—proposed  that  the  representation  of  each  state in Congress should be in proportion to its popu-lation. That is, the number of each state’s representa-tives  should  be  based  on  the  size  of  its  population.  The  delegates  from  Virginia  wished  to  apply  this  principle to both houses of Congress. Since Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania had the largest pop-ulations, they would therefore hold the most seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. New Jersey, one of the smallest states, suggested just the opposite. Its delegates even changed their minds about  having  two  houses.  They  argued  that  repre-sentation in the legislature should remain as it had been  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  Each  state  should  have  an  equal  number  of  representa-tives in just one house. At the heart of this disagree-ment were conflicting views on the role of states in the future national government. Article I of the Constitution created Congress, the legislative  branch—the  part  of  government  that  makes  the  laws.  A  compromise  occurs  when  each  side  in  a  dispute  gives  up  something  in  order  to  reach a solution that both sides can accept. The del-egates  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  made  an  important  compromise  that  still  affects  us  today.  They  decided  that  the  two  houses  of  Congress  should be formed differently.  States were given proportional representation in the House of Representatives. States with larger populations would therefore have more representatives there. This would benefit the larger states by giving them greater influence in the House.Each state would have an equal number of Senators in the Senate, regardless of its size. Each state would have two Senators. This would benefit the smaller states, which would have just as much power in the Senate as the larger states.This  compromise  explains  the  organization  of  the  two houses of Congress that we still have today. Article  II  of  the  Constitution  created  the  execu-tive branch—the part of government that enforces the  laws.  The  absence  of  an  executive  branch  was  one of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confeder-ation. As you know, the new executive branch con-sisted of the President of the United States  and  the Vice President.The delegates had to decide how the new President should  be  chosen.  Many  of  the  delegates  did  not  trust the people enough to permit them to elect the President directly. In an age before radio or televi-sion,  most  citizens  would  have  no  direct  contact  or  even  much  familiarity  with  those  individuals  who  wanted  to  become  President.  The  delegates  eventually decided that the President should be chosen by a group of special “electors,” known together as the Electoral College. To become President, a candidate would need the support of a majority of these elec-tors.  If  no  candidate  won  a  majority,  then  the  election   would   be   decided   by   the   House   of   Representatives. Finally,  the  delegates  at  the  Constitutional  Conven-tion  also  agreed  to  create  a  national  court  system. You will recall that the lack of a national court sys-tem was a weakness of the Articles of Confedera-tion. Article III of the Constitution created the U.S. Supreme  Court  to  decide  disputes  between  the  states   themselves,   and   cases   involving   foreign   countries.  The  Supreme  Court  could  also  hear  appeals from state courts regarding the U.S. Con-stitution or laws passed by Congress. The Consti-tution left it up to Congress to decide later whether or not to create additional federal courts below the Supreme  Court  to  decide  cases  involving  federal  law. Federal judges were to be appointed for life to protect their impartiality.In the next chapter, you will look more closely at the Constitution. You will learn about the organization of  our  national  government  and  about  the  most  important principles of our Constitution. 

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