英语国家概况-L19的.doc

Chapter 1 9 Political Institutions The U. S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the basic instrument of American government and the supreme law of the land. For two centuries and more, it has guided the evolution of governmental institutions and has provided the basis for political stability, economic growth and social progress. The American Constitution is the oldest written constitution in the world. It was drawn up in 1787 and went into effect in 1789. When the War of Independence was won, the thirteen former colonies were like thirteen independent nations. Since the colonies had just thrown off British rule, they did not want to give up their independence to a strong central government. But they also knew that they needed each other, so they chose to set up a loosely knit organization of states. In 1781, the Second Continental Congress adopted a constitution, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation provided that each state had one vote in Congress, a lawmaking body set up according to the Articles. But Congress had no power to tax, could not control trade between the states and had no way of enforcing its laws. There was no national executive, or law-enforcing branch, neither was there a national court system. The Articles of Confederation did one important thing: they formed a new nation—the United States of America. People began to think of themselves as citizens of the United States. The weakness of the Articles became more and more evident and by 1787 many people agreed that something had to be done to overcome the weakness. In 1787, Congress called for a meeting of delegates from all the states to revise the Articles of Confederation. They met at Philadelphia from May to September-55 delegates from all the states, except Rhode Island. Although the delegates had been authorized only to amend the Articles of Confederation, they produced in the end a new constitution that had little in common with the Articles of Confede