The Law of the American Constitution, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint): Its Origin and Development: Its Origin and Development (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

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Excerpt from The Law of the American Constitution, Vol. 1: Its Origin and Development

§ I. The Constitution and its Framers. Gladstone's contrast of the British Constitution as "the most subtle organism which has proceeded from progressive history" with the Constitution of the United States as "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man," is not altogether satisfactory. It suggests that the American Constitution is a manufacture rather than a growth.

In fact, each of these political organisms is the product of progressive history. It is true that the Convention of 1787 sent out a single document for adoption, while the written parts of Britain's fundamental law are embodied in several documents, which took form at different periods. It would be erroneous, however, to describe the frame of government, signed by Washington and his fellow-delegates at Philadelphia, as their invention. It is not so much a creation of political theorists as a codification by practical statesmen of doctrines which experience showed had worked well, or were needed for the well-working of government in their country.

Moreover, it did not fully satisfy any of its framers, and the discussion connected with its adoption disclosed a strong popular feeling that it ought to be supplemented by a formal bill of rights. Accordingly, various amendments were prepared and ten of these were ratified within two years after the original Constitution went into effect. All of these were suggested by political experience during the revolutionary and colonial periods, while some trace their origin back through English history to Magna Charta.

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