Constitution – Sharing History

On September 29, 1789, the First Congress of the United States passed an act that allowed for the establishment of the United States Army. Though the Continental Army had fought during the revolution and was officially established under the Articles of Confederation, it wasn’t until 1789 that the Army of the United States of America as we know it existed.

During the course of the Revolutionary War, it is estimated that approximately 230,000 men served as members of the Continental Army. Once the war ended, the Framers of the Constitution thought it important that the U.S. have a standing army to protect it from any number of outside threats. When these men wrote the Constitution, they said, “The Congress shall have Power . . . To raise and support Armies.” This would be checked by the executive branch as the president would be the Commander in Chief of that army.

By September 29, 1789, the last day of their first session, the First Congress had still not written any legislation regarding the army. President George Washington was insistent that they do so. He wrote a letter to Congress saying, “I am particularly anxious it should receive an early attention as circumstances will admit; because it is now in our power to avail ourselves of the military knowledge disseminated throughout the several States by means of the many well instructed Officers and soldiers of the late Army.” Congress passed the act that day, writing: “An act to recognize and adapt to the Constitution of the United States, the establishment of the troops raised under the resolves of the United States in Congress assembled.”

At the time that the U.S. Army was established in 1789, it is estimated they had about 800 members. Now it is estimated that the U.S. Army has approximately 450,000 personnel. The U.S. Army also has the highest amount of military spending in the world: approximately 800 billion U.S. dollars each year.

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On September 25, 1789, the original draft of the Bill of Rights was proposed and accepted by Congress. The first draft, written by James Madison, contained 12 amendments, though only 10 were ratified by the states in the end. Do you know what the two unratified amendments were?

Bill of Rights, 1791 post treatment 00306_2003_001

The original first amendment stipulated that a congressional district cannot have more than 50,000 residents. While this amendment was passed by the First Congress, it was not ratified by the states nor was it passed in the centuries since. If the amendment was passed today, the House of Representatives would have to have over 6,000 members (1).

The original second amendment outlined when Congress could change their pay. The amendment would require any pay change to happen after the election, essentially allowing citizens to approve or disapprove of any pay changes during the election. While this amendment was not originally ratified by the states, it finally became the 27^th Amendment in 1992.

The ability to make changes to the Constitution was important to founding father Thomas Jefferson. In a letter he wrote to James Madison on September 6, 1789 (who was at the time, in the process of penning the Bill of Rights), Jefferson said, “The question whether one generation of men has a right to bind another, seems never to have been started either on this or our side of the water . . . it may be proved that no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation. They may manage it then, and what proceeds from it, as they please, during their usufruct . . . every constitution then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force, and not of right (4). While Jefferson’s suggestion was not incorporated, the founding fathers did allow Congress to add amendments to the Constitution beginning with the original 10.

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Tag: Constitution

The Birth of the U.S. Army

The Bill of Rights: Two Amendments That Didn’t Make the Cut