Editing Constitutional Convention (section)

== Structure of Government ==

The Constitution created a government of enumerated powers distributed among three branches. The legislative branch, Congress, received authority to tax, regulate commerce, raise armies, declare war, and make laws "necessary and proper" for executing its powers. The executive branch, headed by a president elected through the Electoral College, would enforce laws, command the military, conduct foreign policy, and appoint judges and other officials with Senate consent. The judicial branch, consisting of a Supreme Court and lower courts established by Congress, would interpret laws and resolve disputes arising under the Constitution. The separation of powers, combined with checks and balances allowing each branch to limit the others, aimed to prevent tyranny while enabling effective government.<ref name="wood"/>

The relationship between national and state governments required careful calibration. The Constitution declared itself "the supreme Law of the Land" and prohibited states from coining money, making treaties, or impairing contracts. Yet states retained substantial authority over matters not delegated to the federal government, and the Tenth Amendment would later make this reservation explicit. The federal structure represented a novel solution to the problem of governing a large republic—Montesquieu and other theorists had argued that republics could survive only in small territories, but the Constitution's framers believed that an extended republic with diverse interests could actually protect liberty by preventing any single faction from dominating.<ref name="rakove"/>