Constitutional Framers vision and the Washington Community

His own cabinet had parted ways as Thomas Jefferson increasingly pulled away from the economic policies proposed by Alexander Hamilton, Washington in which supported most of them. In all, these controversies at the end of Washington’s public career, remind us of difficulties in his earlier military career in the 1750’s. Things were difficult even for the most outstanding of the Founding Fathers proving that they couldn’t go through life without difficulties. As admirable and essential as Washington was to the creation of the New United States, with qualities of a leader he had remained a person who could not appeal to everyone all of the time. Most fascinating of all, was that some of Washington’s most confidential qualities that made him so effective and efficient are also the ones that make Washington today unpopular. But Washington took a personal reserve and didn’t let the words of the other people cloud his

George Washington himself wanted to avoid a party system in America. Unfortunately, even when saying this he was part of the beginning of one of the first parties in United States politics. There have been many different parties surface since the beginning of the American political system. They all have different thoughts, policies, and motivations. Each party has come and gone, some have made significant contributions and others have not. The first split, and beginning of the party system, came with the differentiation between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two parties were extremely different in thought, design, and status of people involved. This paper, will deal with

It was crucial for the colonists to figure out a way to live and work together. This was their first time making decisions without being commanded by a king or Queen and it was important to formulate and then implement a plan of action. (Schmidt, 2017). The idea of a constitution was thus created for the betterment of those living in America and has served as a rallying cry, a defense mechanism, and a safeguard for all citizens within the United States. This irreplaceable document has survived throughout time not only on paper but also in the hearts of many Americans. The Constitution of the United States officially went into effect on “September 17,1787” (Schmidt,2017, pg.35). The greatness of this constitution is still seen today as it serves as a solid base, with room allowed for re-examination or change if needed. Every now and then an issue may arise and the laws set forth into the constitution are reexamined and an amendment may be set

When the Framers of the Constitution met in Philadelphia, they came together with one common purpose in mind. They needed to form a fair and solid system of government that would stand the test of time; one that was both fair for the people and would not involve a monarchy. Each of these men had their own ideas on what would constitute this system, however, so many compromises had to be made. Together, the men gathered in Philadelphia created a federal system of government and drafted a constitution outlining this government. They took care in developing three branches of federal government with a system of checks and balances so that no one branch would gain too much power, thus avoiding any

In the late 1700s, the United States had began to split into two factions: Federalists and Antifederalists. Factions are groups of citizens united by a common interest. The reasoning behind the differing views of how the government works across the world was best said by Locke “Men are equal in a natural sense, but society establishes many dimensions that are unequal”. (Barbour and Wright, 2017). In the states, Federalists wanted a strong central government while anti-federalists wanted a weak one. “The Georgians, for example, wanted a strong central authority to provide military protection for their huge, underpopulated state against the Creek Confederacy; Jerseymen and Connecticuters wanted to escape from economic bondage to New York; the Virginians hoped to establish a system which would give that great state its rightful place in the councils of the republic” (Roche, 800). The one thing they agreed on was having George Washington as president. George Washington tried to be a neutral leader of the United States and suggested for the states to stay together rather than divide into factions. “Thomas Jefferson is credited as stating: “North and South will hang together if they have you to hang on””(Jamison, 2016).

Nearly the late year of 1787, the U.S. Constitution was established, stating the basal laws and fundamental principles that the United States would be governed by. Many philosophers and political thinkers furnished a great comprehension for the modern day structures that are very active today. Our Founding Fathers created a system which divides different acts of government into the legislature, executive, and judicial branches. Following in the form of the Separation of Powers, the checks and balances system ensures that political power isn’t contributing to any individual or group that enables them to gain an abundant amount of power. For the instance of this, “the Constitution provides a method for change, as the Founders created it this

As our nation’s history has shown we have made mistakes in our past and been forced to learn from those mistakes. We have taken certain ideas and beaten them to death at times. The members of the constitutional convention of 1787 did the same thing as they were trying to decide what should be written in the constitution and how the government should be structured. Many plans were presented and rejected as the members argued until finally a great compromise was made and the structure our government for finally started to take shape.

The primary source is Federalist paper No. 10, which is a the first of James Madison’s contributions to the series of essays known as the Federalist Papers. This essay is a highly regarded paper among the collection. The Federalist No. 10 is merely rhetoric used to rationalize the benefits of a new system of government, explain how the new union will be constructed and most crucial to the essay, sway public opinion to support the ratification of the new constitution. This particular primary source is imperative to understanding the complexity of the United States government at the time of its birth as well as now. Madison makes an argument that the expansion of the federal government is necessary to protect liberty against the excess of democracy. The document reveals the advantages of a Republic and serves as an explanation as to why the U.S. espouses a Republican form of government and the Constitution.

Washington saw the countries dividing along political lines, and foresaw endangers of partisan affecting national unity. He urged the American people to avoid political parties, believing that it would lead to the “ruins of public liberty (50).” He strongly believed that the political parties had “served to distract… [and] agitate the Community will ill-founded jealousies and false alarms (51).” Washington exposed the intentions of political parties by saying, “The alternate domination” of one party over another will lead to a “frightful despotism (49).” In other words, hyperpartisan, influenced by a revenge seeking spirit, will hand over trust and absolute power to the

Though both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson served as members of President Washington’s cabinet, the two held very different views on the newly founded U.S. government, interpretation of its constitution, and the role of the “masses” in that government. These conflicting views would develop in two political parties, the Federalists led by Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson. Although both political parties presented enticing aspects, Hamilton’s views were much more reasonable and fruitful when compared Jefferson’s views; idealistic and too strict in reference to the constitution.

The founding fathers wanted to create a constitution because many believed that the national government had to be stronger than what it had been with the use of the Articles of Confederation. But at the same time they were fearful of human nature and how often it could be seen in the history of other countries such as Britain, for people in the position of power to infringe on the rights of others, by becoming hungry with power. Taking this into account, they wanted to create a government with another power to keep order and to govern. But also make sure there were sufficient checks put in

The question posed by both Madison and the Framers in the 85 “Federalist Papers” and Dahl in his book How Democratic is the American Constitution? is how effective the Constitution is at promoting the ideals of a democracy. For Dahl, there are several issues surrounding the Constitution, from its drafting, to its ideology, to its relevance. By analyzing Dahl’s critiques of the Constitution in terms of the parallels that exist between factions and the two-party system, the issue of unequal representation, and the necessity for the Framers to compromise on their ideals to ratify the Constitution, Dahl defined a clear argument based in his general disapproval for the Constitution. However, by combining Dahl’s critiques with potential rebuttals from the opinions and perspectives of Madison and his fellow Federalists, it is evident that both Dahl and the Framers believed that if the constitution was completely successful, then the lives of the American people would be enhanced. While Dahl believed that the Constitution, ultimately, has not fully protected the rights of all persons, he, like the Framers, focused on the particulars of government that must be improved such that the American life is bettered.

This fresh, new foundation came in the form a document that outlined the way the government would work. Unlike the way Europe was governed before the Enlightenment period, Americans, since they had recently liberated themselves from the British throne, wanted to establish a government in such a way that would prevent tyrannical monarchy. By this time, they still were faced with the challenge of a republican self government. But again, we see the influence of Locke’s ideas from his Treatise, where he proposed that people had the right to establish their own government for their own protection of their natural rights. As a result of this idea, the preamble to the Constitution was created. This section provided analysis as to what the whole Constitution was about; improvement on the current government (to ensure that they are just) and protection for its citizens.

The major point that Washington heavily address is the eradication of political parties within the US. According to Washington political parties "agitate[s] the community with ill-founded and false alarms;" meaning that political parties cause a disruption within the community's cohesion. Political parties can cause a huge schism between groups of people. Since parties have a certain platform that expresses a groups moral, economical, and social views, it can be easy and often common place for those of opposing parties to be have tension. Washington knew that this would be the case when if political parties continued. Each party would have their own agenda meaning that they would focus on the parties interest and not truly advocate for the countries

Only a few years ago, the Constitution, the basic fundamental framework for the United States of America, was put into effect. The goal of the Constitution was to create “A more perfect Union.” The document was based on the will of the people and met those needs very well. The Preamble, the introduction to the Constitution, lists the goals of the new government. Among these include, forming a more perfect Union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defence, promoting general welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. To make sure the Constitution is based on the will of the people, they included everyone’s opinion and made compromises to satisfy everyone.