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The success of the Revolution gave Americans the opportunity to give legal form to their ideals as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and to remedy some of their grievances through state constitutions. As early as May 10, 1776, Congress had
passed a resolution advising the colonies to form new governments. Some of them had already done so, and within a year after the Declaration of Independence, all but three had drawn up constitutions. The new constitutions showed the impact of democratic ideas. None made any drastic break with the past since all were built on the solid foundation of colonial experience and English practice. But each was also animated by the spirit of republicanism, an ideal that had long been praised by Enlightenment philosophers. Naturally, the first objective of the framers of the state constitutions was to secure those "unusual tenable rights" whose violation had caused the former colonies to repudiate their connection with Britain. Thus, each constitution began with a declaration or bill of rights. Virginia's, which served as a model for all the others, included a declaration of principles, such as popular sovereignty, rotation in office, freedom of elections and an enumeration of fundamental liberties: moderate bail and humane punishment, speedy trial by jury, freedom of the press and of conscience, and the right of the majority to reform or alter the government. Other states enlarged the list of liberties to guarantee freedom of speech, of assembly and of petition, and frequently included such provisions as the right to bear arms, to a writ of habeas corpus, to inviolability of domicile and to equal protection under the law. Moreover, all the constitutions paid allegiance to the three-branch structure of government — executive, legislative and judiciary — each checked and balanced by the others. Pennsylvania's constitution was the most radical.
Constitutions established to guarantee people their natural rights did not secure for everyone the most fundamental natural right — equality. The colonies south of Pennsylvania excluded their slave populations from their inalienable rights as human beings. Women had no political rights. No state went so far as to permit universal male suffrage, and even in those slates that permitted all taxpayers to vote (Delaware, North Carolina and Georgia, in addition to Pennsylvania), officeholders were required to own a certain amount of property. The struggle with England had done much to change colonial attitudes. Local assemblies had rejected the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, refusing to surrender even the smallest part of their autonomy to any other body, even one they themselves had elected. But in the course of the Revolution, mutual aid had proved effective, and the fear of relinquishing individual authority had lessened to a large degree. John Dickinson produced the "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union" in 1781, having been ratified by all the states. The governmental framework established by the Articles had many weaknesses. The national government lacked the authority to set up tariffs when necessary to regulate commerce and to levy taxes. It lacked sole control of international relations: a number of states had begun their own negotiations with foreign countries. Nine states had organized their own armies, and several had their own navies. There was a curious hodgepodge of coins and a bewildering variety of state and national paper bills, all fast depreciating in value.
But this changed with the ratification of the United States Constitution, which also guarded the rights of individuals by limiting the central government. The going assumption at the time of drawing and ratification was that the government had only such powers as were granted in Section В of Article 1. But it wasn't left as an assumption; the 10th Amendment spells out the point. It reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people". The second way the United States government is limited is by specific prohibitions. For example, taxation is limited in various ways in the Constitution. In addition, the Bill of Rights or the first ten amendments to the Constitution, consists of limitations on the United States government. But not only is the United States government limited by the Constitution, but the state governments as well. They are limited, in the first place, by the grant of powers to the United States government, powers, which, ordinarily, states may only exercise, if at all, with the approval of Congress. Second, some powers are absolutely denied to the states, e. g. "No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; coin money; emit Bills of Credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility" [Constitution, 1994:33].
The influence of these democratic policies on the American society was investigated by Alexis de Tocqueville in the middle of the nineteenth century. He argued that for several ages social conditions in America have tended to equality, and in the course of the same period the manners of society have been softened.
The author continued that when all ranks of a community are nearly equal, as all men think and feel in nearly the same manner, each of them may judge in a moment of the sensations of all the others: he casts a rapid glance upon himself and that is enough equality of conditions, while it makes men feel their dependence, shows them their own weakness: they are free, but exposed to a thousand accidents, and experience soon teaches them, that although they do not habitually require the assistance of others, a time always comes when they cannot do without it.
As the western settler began to face the problem of magnitude in the areas he was occupying; as he began to adjust his life to the modern forces of capital and to complex productive processes; as he began to see that, go where he would, the question of credit and currency, of transportation and distribution in general conditioned his success he sought relief by legislation. He began to lose his primitive attitude of individualism, government began to look less like a necessary evil and more like an instrument for the perpetuation of his democratic ideals. He was becoming alarmed over the future of the free democratic ideal and his conception of the right of government to control social process had undergone a change. He was coming to regard legislation as an instrument of social construction.
