Conditions for the emergence of the American Constitution

Constitution does not exist all the time, it is the product of bourgeois revolution in 17 and 18 centuries. Considering the different cultural traditions of making constitutions, constitutions can be divided into written constitutions and unwritten constitutions. The earliest written constitution in the world is the American Constitution of 1787. The earliest written constitution in the United States is the result of many factors.

The emergence of the constitution in capitalist society is the inevitable result of social development, and the emergence of the constitution has its specific historical conditions:

(1) The establishment of capitalist relations of production is the economic condition of the Constitution;

(2) The bourgeoisie's mastery of state power, the realization of social rule and the initial establishment of capitalist democratic system are the political conditions for the emergence of the Constitution;

(3) The bourgeois ideas such as democracy, freedom, equality and human rights are put forward and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which is the ideological condition for the constitution to come into being;

(4) The increase of legal departments and the perfection of legal system are the legal conditions for the constitution.

Therefore, neither slave society nor feudal society has the conditions for the constitution to come into being.

First of all, the Netherlands and Britain do not fully meet the conditions for the formation of written constitutions.

Before the Dutch revolution, capitalism in the north developed rapidly, especially shipbuilding, which was in a leading position in Europe. The bourgeoisie in the north insisted on overthrowing Spain's autocratic rule, establishing an independent country and developing capitalism. 1566, the world's earliest bourgeois revolution broke out in Holland. 158 1 year, a three-level meeting composed of northern provinces announced that the northern provinces had formally separated from Spain and established a "United Province * * Republic", also known as "Netherlands * *". 1609, Spain was forced to sign an agreement with the Netherlands, which actually recognized the independence of the Netherlands. Therefore, the Netherlands (the Netherlands) initially has the economic and political conditions to form a written constitution.

However, the Netherlands does not have the ideological and legal conditions to form a written constitution. Although the Northern Alliance in the Dutch revolution stipulated a unified military and foreign policy (the convention of this alliance was the blueprint of the later Dutch constitution), it did not formulate a series of written legal documents with the nature of fundamental law, especially after the revolution, it did not produce a series of constitutional concepts such as democracy, human rights and freedom. Therefore, it is impossible for the Netherlands to produce a written constitution.

Britain is the earliest constitutional country in the world, but it has an unwritten constitution. Before the bourgeois revolution, due to the establishment and development of handicraft workshops such as wool spinning, coal mining, ironmaking and shipbuilding, and the rural enclosure movement, new bourgeoisie and bourgeois aristocrats were formed. However, the autocratic rule of Stuart dynasty seriously hindered the development of capitalism and eventually led to the outbreak of the British bourgeois revolution. After nearly half a century of struggle, the British bourgeoisie achieved a relatively stable ruling position through the "glorious revolution" in 1688. Therefore, Britain also has the economic and political conditions to produce a written constitution.

However, the British bourgeoisie was not strong enough economically and politically, while the feudal aristocracy maintained considerable power. The bourgeoisie had to form an alliance with some new noble to oppose the feudal forces. The actual situation and combination of this class power led the bourgeoisie to gradually seize power from the feudal aristocracy on the one hand, and constantly compromise with the feudal aristocracy on the other. At the same time, the Enlightenment is still in its infancy. Although Hobbes, an early British enlightenment thinker, put forward the theory of social contract and denied the divine right of monarchical power, he did not oppose the autocratic monarchy, and even admitted that the autocratic regime had the right to interfere with the property of its subjects. Later, although Locke believed that state power should not interfere with the property of subjects and put forward the theory of separation of powers, he still agreed to implement a constitutional monarchy in Britain, and the monarch still had administrative power and the power to handle foreign affairs. Therefore, Britain lacks a complete and mature constitutional concept, and it is certainly impossible for the concept of democracy and freedom to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The British constitution formed after the British bourgeois revolution fully embodies these characteristics: in content, it establishes a constitutional political system of monarchy, brings the king into the scope that must be bound by law, and at the same time retains some privileges of nobles represented by the king; There is no unified and complete code in form, but it is composed of constitutional documents, constitutional conventions and constitutional precedents that reflect the compromise between the bourgeoisie and feudal nobles in different periods, recording the victory of the bourgeoisie step by step and becoming a typical unwritten constitution.

Second, the United States fully meets the conditions for forming a written constitution.

From 1607, Britain established its first colony in North America, and in 1930s, Britain established 13 colonies in North America. /kloc-In the mid-8th century, the colonial economy of British North America developed very rapidly, and the capitalist industry and commerce in the north developed highly, becoming the mainstream of the colonial economy. Some products can even compete with British products in the international market. Although the south is a slave plantation economy, it is also a capitalist economy. At that time, Britain hoped that North America would always be a British colony. In order to get rid of British colonial rule, the bourgeoisie and planters jointly led the North American War of Independence. After eight years of hard struggle from 1775, the North American people finally forced Britain to recognize the independence of the United States of America in 1783, and established a regime of joint dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and planters. Therefore, the United States has the economic and political conditions to form a written constitution.

The United States is a country founded by immigrants, and it has a multi-cultural structure. Therefore, the enlightenment trend of thought in Europe crossed the ocean and spread rapidly in the North American continent. Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau and other enlightenment thinkers put forward a series of constitutional ideas of democracy, freedom and human rights, such as "natural human rights", "sovereignty belongs to the people", "social contract" and "separation of powers", which were widely publicized and used in the revolution.

During the period of 1787, representatives from three states of the United States/kloc-0 held a constitutional convention in Philadelphia, and formulated the American Constitution. Because North America did not experience long-term feudal autocracy and opposed the colonial rule of British capitalism, the bourgeoisie and planters did not compromise or waver in the revolution, so the revolution was relatively thorough. During the colonial period and the War of Independence, there were precedents for formulating written legal documents of fundamental laws such as the Mayflower Convention, the Constitution of Connecticut, the Declaration of Independence and the Confederacy Regulations. Therefore, the American Constitution has formally formed a precedent, which is manifested as a unified and complete written code, becoming the first written constitution in the world.

As the earliest written constitution in the world, the American Constitution of 1787 has been imitated by many countries in both content and form, laying a basic framework for the development of the world constitution. In addition, the formulation of 179 1 French constitution indicates that the constitution has been formed as an independent legal department and has made great contributions to the development of the world constitutional movement.