In Chapter three of his book, “A Nation Among Nations,” Thomas Bender investigates the Civil War and draws parallels with American history and modern nation making around the world. Chapter three is focused on the Civil War and what led to political thinkers believing in a strong unified nation as the best protection of individual liberties. Documents that help us understand what led to ideas that would promote the citizens individual liberties are the United States Constitution , The Bill of Rights and Simon Bolivar’s A Constitution for Venezuela . To better understand what the nation was founded on we should first acknowledge the dictionary definition of individual liberty: “the liberty of an individual to exercise freely those rights generally accepted as being outside of governmental control.” We should also make it clear that the government’s duty is to provide individuals with the opportunity to utilize their liberty with protection from the government.
America was founded on the principles of establishing and protecting liberty, which is described by The Declaration of Independence. The Constitution of the United States was written to provide a unified and functioning government and also to protect individual rights. The colonists disagreed with the workings of the British government and decided to become an independent state. Once the Constitution was put in place, “the First Congress of the United States proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution.” The
In comparing Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists, The Declaration of Independence, and U.S. Constitution, it is evident that the basis of all three documents is the idea that all human beings possess God-given fundamental rights and that government is created to protect those rights. The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, is the first of the three documents penned. This is important because it defined the rights of liberty and equality of all American citizens as outlined in John Locke’s natural law thesis (Martin, page 113). In addition to providing an itemized account of the grievances colonist’s held against King George III of England, it served to justify the colonist’s quest for independence and separation from British rule. The Declaration of Independence conveyed to the crown that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, which among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Founders’ of the New World understood that their pursuit of liberties and autonomy specified in the Declaration of Independence could not come to fruition without instituting decrees. In 1787, the U.S. Constitution, was written to replace the Articles of Confederation with a better defined series of stringent laws that would legally uphold the freedoms and privileges established in the Declaration of Independence. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in
A myth involving creation is often constructed to explain the coming of life, beliefs, and surroundings. The story, Nation by Terry Pratchett, begins with a creation myth that Mau's people have invested their time in. This tale has been told for generation after generation. In addition, it has also started the structure for a religion and culture. Certain objects that can be identified in the introduction, are objects that the islanders are familiar with. This is due to the fact that the inhabitants of the island needed a simple answer for their existence. The result, was simply to create a being of higher value, named Imo. He was the sound
When America’s founding fathers broke away from England, they weren’t the first colonial Englishmen on the American continent, there were plenty of French, Spanish, Dutch and even Russian colonial outposts established before them. What makes the English colonies along the Eastern seaboard story so important, was the fact that 13 colonies joined together to form what is now known as the United States. Furthermore, this 13 colonies New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors to start a new nation free from Great Britain’s rule. In the mist of declaring independence from the most powerful nation on earth, America’s founding fathers created a governmental system that was unfamiliar during their era. America’s founding fathers created a government designed to protect civil liberties and encourage independence, a complex yet young and evolving system.
The creation of the US constitution was prompted my many different things going on. What established America’s national government and fundamental laws is the U.S constitution. It also guarantees basic rights for its citizens. The U.S constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pa. The first document before the U.S constitution was the Articles of Confederation, with that the government wasn’t very strong and the states didn’t act like they do today. In 1787, at the 1787 convention, delegates made a decision to make a stronger federal government that consisted of the executive, legislative, and the judicial branches. That wasn’t it either, it also had a system of checks and balances because they did not want one branch to be able to overpower another branch. The ten amendments of the Bill of Rights guarantees protections for people like religion and freedom of speech. In total, there are twenty-seven constitutional amendments.
The US Constitution, written in Philadephia in 1787 by the Founding Fathers was the product of the revolutionary war of independence, with it’s foundations strongly influenced by the works of political theorists such as Montesquieu and Locke. The Founding Fathers favoured a government that prevented any individual or particular group becoming tyrannical. Furthermore, they strongly opposed the notion of excessive government power, seen as the potential threat to individual freedom, wanting to protect minorities as well as the population as a whole, from arbitrary or unjust rule. Consequently, the Founding Fathers outlined main provisions within the US constitution in order to avoid tyranny: the separation of powers, a federal structure of
After the United States gained independence from Great Britain, the new country needed to form a strong government in order to prove that it can be successful without being under British rule. In order to do this, the US created the Articles of Confederation in 1781. However, this method failed due to the fact that it supplied the states with more power than the national government. In May 1787, delegates met up in Philadelphia to improve the Articles of Confederation. This meeting was called the Constitutional Convention, and is where the Constitution was born.
The structure of our American Government, was founded in the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was written to be the “supreme law of the land”, and creates a federal democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Governement, n.d). The purpose of our government, is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Our American Government, n.d.). For our country to achieve this purpose our Founding Fathers created three main principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). Government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems there are strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.
The United States of America was founded on a Constitution that was supposed to preserve our freedoms and certain liberties. All Americans at that time wanted to keep America a free an independent nation with rights for its people. However there was two different groups, the Federalists lead by Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson, which thought this could be achieved in very different ways.
The Constitution was established under the disquietude of the colonies in an endeavor to escape the idea of the English monarchy. The Founding fathers no longer wanted an excessive amount of control in the hands of the government. In order to limit the power of the federal government the Founding Fathers created the three branches, checks and balances, and the Bill of Rights.
In 1783, the Americans triumphed in the American Revolution, which granted independence from Great Britain. After their victory, it became evident that the new country would need a secure and central government to thrive. The Constitution is a document formed to aid the new republic and ensure that it would become and remain stable. It gives a complete and thorough outline of the rights that all citizens are entitled to have. However, prior to the ratification of the Constitution there had to be many debates and factors that influenced the idea of such a document that would form the basis for the United States. The creation of the Constitution was a result of America’s perseverance through certain political, economic, and social issues of the 1780s. Even through the unfavorable circumstances, America was able to devise a doctrine that would become to be known as the basis for the greatest country in the world; the US
The first Laws of the land. The foundation on which our country would stand for years to come. Drafted in 1791 by James Madison the Bill of rights which holds the 2ns Amendment was formed during the very first presidency of The Unites States, George Washington. The United States was forming the foundation of our country. In a time where the country wanted to form its Laws but also allow the citizens to feel secure they would not oppress them. Beginning with The American War of Independence the citizens wanted to feel safe. Fighting Great Britain for its Independence America wanted to be firm and strong, with its citizens on board.
In order to create a strong centralized government, the Constitutional Convention proposed and submitted the Constitution to the states for approval. Principles of the Constitution included individual’s rights, natural rights, and sovereignty. Upon writing the draft of the constitution in 1787, the government was able to provide individuals rights, economic growth, and stability for citizens of the United States. The constitution led to the nation’s monetary structure including the preamble, articles, and the ten amendments. As the United States Constitution was passed and approved, it was the creation represented of the American people and not by the government or
Men like George Washington, James Madison Jr., and Benjamin Franklin wanted to make a government that would: defend people homes, national security, law of the land and that individuals have the freedom to make their own choices. The Preamble is the introduction of the Constitution and the first ten amendments are the Bill of Rights. The United States Constitution was written to separate the three forms of government. In the beginning of the constitution, the Preamble states the reason why the thirteen original colonies separated from Great Britain. The separation of powers with checks and balances was given over the others was designed to prevent any branch, from infringing individual liberties safeguarded by the Constitution. The parts
In the 17th century many men and women from Europe came to the new world to practice their faith freely. They created many colonies that eventually became the United States of America in 1776. The American Republic was created so there would be more rules and laws and a formal government. The Constitution was a big part of the American Republic and was written and passed in 1788 and is over 200 years old. The Constitution created a Federal government which is a national Government that shares power with states or smaller Governments. The Government can pass laws, collect taxes and also form and use a military. Residents in states have to follow the main government laws but states can also pass their own laws. The government created three
The Constitution of America was implemented with the following words, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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."