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  | The 1787 Philadelphia Convention intended to create a federal system of government which would guarantee states' rights and establish a national government with real power.
The preamble (introduction) to the Constitution is well known around the world and contains a summary of what its authors intended to achieve.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
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 | The new Constitution established a strong central government. The document is structured in seven articles. The first three set out the powers of the different branches of the central government:
Article 1 established that the Congress would have exclusive law making power at the national level and that it would be made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate
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 | Article 1 established that the Congress would have exclusive law making power at the national level and that it would be made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate
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 | Article 2 gave the power of executive government to the President of the United States of America
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 | Article 3 established the highest judicial power in the USA in one Supreme Court and allowed Congress to create lower national courts if it decided there was a need to do so. The Supreme Court was also effectively given the permanent responsibility to rule on the meaning of sections of the Constitution that are open to different interpretations.
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 | Article 4 defines, for example, how the states are to be protected, their borders preserved and guaranteed, the equality of individual rights in each state and that a Republican form of government will be the only legal form. States cannot decide, in other words, to have a King or Queen.
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 | Article 5 sets out the procedures for making amendments (changes) to the Constitution. Amendments may be proposed by the United States Congress or by a national convention assembled at the request of the governments of at least two-thirds of the states.
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 | Article 6 ensures America 's continued liability and responsibility for all its debts under the Articles of Confederation and the supremacy in America of all the laws established under the new Constitution. It also includes the requirement of an oath of allegiance to the Constitution in order to serve in any of the three branches of government, at either state or federal level.
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 | Article 7 gives details of how the new Constitution will be ratified by the legislatures (Congresses) of the individual states. The approval of nine states was required.
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