Strengths And Weaknesses Of The United States Constitution

The United States Constitution is what established America’s national government, America’s fundamental laws, and guaranteed basic rights for American Citizens. The Constitution was signed in Philadelphia, on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention. This historical document addressed complaints in the Declaration of Independence and addressed weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. We will also discuss how representation of states in Congress is determined and what the Great Compromise was.
First we will address how did the Constitution addressed the complaints in the Declaration of Independence. In the Constitution, there are several complaints listed in regards to the Declaration of Independence. One big complaint

The first weakness we will discuss is Congress not having enough power. Congress was unable to collect tax, form an army, regulate trade between states, unable to make states follow laws that they made. The Constitution proved several solutions for this weakness. The Congress gained the General Welfare clause; congress has the power to make laws that provide for the well-being of its citizens. They also gained the Necessary and Proper clause; congress has the power to make laws necessary and proper to enact enumerated powers. Another weakness was that states had more power than national, central, and federal governments. Federalism was one solution provided by the Constitution, dividing power between the state, national, and federal governments. Another solution was the Supremacy Clause; the Constitution is above all laws, laws cannot be made that conflict with the Constitution, states can no longer dismiss laws made by Congress. The last weakness we will discuss is that framers, those who shape concepts, plans, or systems, felt that the National Government would still have too much power. The solution provided by the Constitution was the Separation of Powers; the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of the government now held their own specific powers and jobs. This allowed for all governments to have power

On July 16, 1787, Connecticut’s delegates to the Constitutional Convent, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, proposed a plan to establish a two-house legislature. This event is called the Great Compromise, or the Connecticut Compromise. The Great Compromise allowed a solution to the argument between larger and smaller states over their representation in the Senate. “The larger states believed that representation should be based proportionally on the contribution each state made to the nation’s finances and defense, and the smaller states believed that the only fair plan was one of equal representation” ("The Connecticut Compromise – Today In History: July 16", n.d.). In the House of Representatives each state’s number of seats would be in proportionate to the population. In the Senate, every state would have the same number of