This plan became the focus of debate and the basis for an entirely new government charter. An alternate plan, drafted by the delegates from New Jersey, appealed to the smaller states. A great compromise helped to resolve the stalemate between the two plans. The Constitution articulates four significant political values. Republicanism is a form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.
Federalism is the division of sovereignty between the states and the national government.
The Constitution created a national government. The constitutional system of checks and balances is a means of giving each branch of government some scrutiny over the other branches. The idea of dividing power was to prevent tyranny by a single person or group. The first three articles of the Constitution establish the internal operation and powers of the separate branches of government. The remaining four define the relationships among the states, explain the process of amendment, declare the supremacy of national law, and explain the procedures for ratifying the Constitution.