With the first two presidents, George Washington (1789-1797) and John Adams (1797-1801), the government set the tone of the Federalists, whose works were drafted and adopted the Constitution. Now in front of them had to develop the details of government. Gathered in the spring of 1789, Congress enacted the first customs duties on imported goods, and then proceeded to create and populate the various positions in the executive and the judiciary. The War Department was transferred unchanged from the government of the Confederation and created two new departments - the Department of State and the Ministry of Finance. At the head of the State Department, President George Washington put Thomas Jefferson, who was in 1784 as a special envoy to France. The new head of the Ministry of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was little known in the country, but in the period of the Confederacy he gained some experience in the management of finance, led by financier Robert Morris. In establishing the system of the judiciary having some difficulties, as Antifederalists objected to institute federal courts, considering them unnecessary and pose a threat to the independence of state courts. Nevertheless, the nationalists …show more content…
The first, Congress considered the question of amendments to the recently adopted constitution. Its critics have focused on the lack of guarantees of the rights of citizens, and some even insisted on a significant limitation of the powers of Congress. James Madison, has established itself as a representative of the administration in the lower house, took the trouble to make a list of amendments. Ten of them have been approved by Congress with effect in 1791 after ratification by three-fourths of the states, as required by the Constitution. These ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights, provided the fundamental rights of American citizens: freedom of speech and press, as well as such legal guarantees such as the right to a defense in court and the
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were two important presidents who had an enormous affect on our nation’s stable government and beginning years of our country. Each made their unique contributions to a new government under the Constitution after the failed adoption of the Articles of Confederation. After the war for independence, the Articles of Confederation, began to fail because there was no direct effective way to to collect revenue, to much power was given to the states, and Congress did not have a lot of power. Historical figures, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, helped establish a stable government for their citizens.
The bill of rights, written by James Madison, is the original 10 amendments. These amendments protect our personal freedoms and outlines the responsibility of out government. The people are the “protectors” or enforcers of these amendments. The first amendment is the most important amendment while the 3rd amendment is no longer relevant.
When the original Articles of Confederation was drafted in 1777, a bill of rights was considered unnecessary. The U.S government was not considered a single national government, but an alliance of independent states. Since the national government has no power to restrict people’s rights, there was no need for laws to prevent it from doing so. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787 the Constitution was passed without a bill of rights. When the constitution was sent to the states for ratification, a debate broke out between the Federalists, who supported a strong national government, and the Anti-Federalists, who supported retaining the spirit of the Articles of Confederation . Although the constitution was passed without a bill of rights, some Anti-Federalists felt that that it would be worthwhile to specifically protect through constitutional amendments such individual rights as free speech, religious exercise, and jury trials. Thomas Jefferson who sided with Anti-Federalists on this matter, sent a letter in 1789 to James Madison to pass the bill of rights . Madison submitted a draft of his proposed bill of rights several months later, and Congress passed it modified version by the end of the year. After ratification by the states, the Final Bill of Rights consisted of ten amendments that covered a wide range of topics, guaranteeing citizens individual rights such as freedom of speech and religious liberty and protecting them from excessive bail, unwarranted searches,
The first ten amendments to the constitution make up the Bill of Rights. These amendments were written by James Madison in response to the call for individual liberties. Madison was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He went through the Constitution line by line making changes that he thought they were most needed. Several Representatives, led by Roger Sherman, said that Congress had no authority to make the change to the Constitution. Madison’s changes were added as lists of amendments that would follow Article VII. The Bill of Rights lists the specific liberties that can’t be prohibited by the United States government. This document starts out with the Virginia Declaration of Right, written by George Mason, this document
He did however set the standards on how a president should act and how they should rule for example; he decided upon the nation that the president should only serve two terms in order to make it a fair democracy (now is the law), use of force in order to enforce the law such as in the Whiskey Rebellion, calling to cabinet to offer advice, neutrality in foreign affairs, first to make an inauguration speech, and he came up with the title “president” in addressing him as leader. As the first President he was held up to a higher standard to many people. Therefore everything that he did set a powerful precedent. He supported a strong central government and in support of his idea he helped set up an effective system of taxation. He set a precedent in his use of the presidential veto in which only if he believed a law violated the constitution, not just because of personal disagreements. This precedent lasted over 40 years until Andrew Jackson assumed his position in office. While the current presidential cabinet includes sixteen members, George Washington’s cabinet included just four original members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Washington set the precedents for how these roles would interact with the presidency, establishing the cabinet as the
Nevertheless, Madison created a series of amendments that became foundation for the Bill of Rights. This included the First Amendment, which prohibited Congress from legislating about religion and protecting freedom of the press and assembly. In his Second Amendment, it gave the right to bear arms and organize armies, and other amendments supporting the right to trial by jury and debarring maltreatment such as arrests without warrants and forcing a person accused of a crime to testify against him/her self. The Ninth stated that rights not particularly talked about in the Constitution were “retained by the people,” leading down a new path to establishing new rights that were not provided in the written matter. Also, the Tenth Amendment protected
In 1791, the Bill of Rights, consisting of 10 amendments, was ratified into the constitution. The document’s purpose was to spell out the rights of the people that the government could not infringe upon.
The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution make up the bill of rights written by James Madison. He wrote this in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individuals rights. The Bill Of Rights states specific prohibitions on Governmental power. What influenced James Madison to write these Amendments was The Virginia Declaration Of Rights by George Maddison. The Bill Of Rights was inspired by Thomas Jefferson who was Madison 's mentor and created on September 25, 1789 The Bill Of Rights was Ratified on December 15, 1791 in the House Of Representatives. The congress transmitted to the states legislatures and 12 proposed amendments.
In 1789, America’s founding fathers provided the Bill of Rights listing the first ten amendments to the U.S Constitution ensuring protection of all citizens. The Bill of Rights restricted government invasion of innate liberties such as freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion, declaring rights to bare arms, right of due process, fair trial with jury, free of self-incrimination, cruel and unjust punishment, and freedom of being held in jeopardy twice for the same crime
On September 25, 1789, the state legislature’s twelve proposed amendments were transmitted by congress, the first two dealing with congressional representation and congressional pay. The following numbers three through twelve were adopted by the states to become the Bill of Rights in 1791. As defined by our U.S. Constitution, the first amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercises thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the
The Articles of Confederation did not seem to better Washington’s opinion of the Government. Therefore, he did what he could to influence a strong central government, such as hosting conferences at his estate. In doing so, he became part of the Federalist Party. Due to his influence in the Constitutional Convention and his role as a war hero in the Revolutionary War, George Washington became a popular politician. On February fourth, 1789, the Electoral College chose Washington as the first president, and his runner up, John Adams, as his vice president. Washington new this was coming, but he did not like the idea of being president. However, he accepted the role and moved up to New York City (History).
In the first draft of the Constitution, suprisingly few basic rights were included. Thomas Jefferson wrote James Madison, another politician that he was concerned about “the lack of a bill of rights providing clearly for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and protection against threatening armies." Aware of the need of these basic rights, George Washington pushed Congress to propose amendments that offered rights of citizens and the welfare of the public. Motivated by these important Americans, Congress finally proposed Amendments to the Constitution providing for necessary basic human rights. These Amendments were officially proposed on September 25 in 1789. Of the original twelve proposed Amendments, numbers 3-12 were ratified. Later,
The United States Constitution is made up of the twenty seven amendments, the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution is known as the Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments describe the privileges and rights that each person in the United States is entitled to and it also set limits on the governments powers. The other amendments are changes or additions made to the constitution.
They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be offered. On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified.
When James Madison presented his ideas to the Constitution that outlined the three federal branches of government and its citizens,the House of Representatives chose twelve and the States ratified ten. Those ten became the Bill of Rights, which protected U.S citizens' freedoms and liberties. Of those ten amendments the most important amendment is the First, which guarantees five basic rights of individual freedom. The rights included freedom of religion, of press, of speech, of assembly and to petition. These guarantees reflect to all citizens and secure their blessings",unalienable rights, (to enjoy) life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".