When it came time to create a central government that could govern the country and create the conditions for social and political and economic growth that all knew was necessary, this central government was viewed with suspicion by men who had good reason to distrust the powers of government, having just fought a revolution against one of the most powerful governments on the planet.
Because the colonies were different sized, and because they were as different economically as they might be in religion or national background, each wanted to keep what they saw as the keys of their own power and success. The large states wanted to organize political power on the basis of population, which would confirm their power, while the small states wanted to organize political power on the basis of their own existence as a state. And all wanted to be certain that the government could not go off on its own.
The result was the separation of powers and system of checks and balances. The executive power was vested in the President, who had to be elected in such a way that he would be a national candidate and have a national mandate to govern as a result of his election. Thus there was the creation of the Electoral College, by which the President would be really elected; each state would have a number of votes equal to their representation in the legislative branch: one elector for each senator and congressman. Each elector was to vote twice for different men for the office; this was thought to get rid of the problem of each voting for someone from their state only as a "favorite son," with the candidate of the second vote being everyone's "sec
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