Purpose Of Government In The United States

Jefferson’s idea of the citizen’s natural moral wisdom convinced him that limited government, where power remained in the hands of the people, was the best structure to ensure America’s freedom. He stated, “A wise and frugal Government…shall leave them [men] otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” Jefferson pushed for a government with a strict interpretation of the Constitution in order to limit governmental powers to those that were

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 saw danger in giving unlimited powers to the central government. They argued that if the unlimited powers were issued to the central government, it would make them same as the British Monarchy. Although Jefferson and his followers agreed that a central government was essential, their powers need to be curtailed so as not to conflict with the rights of the state. Jefferson wanted limited powers for the government since he believed that the only proper function of the state was to protect its citizens from coercion. A country’s government is always the biggest threat to liberty and the worst tyrannical reason for

The government played a huge role in the development of a stronger national market. This influence and interaction with the people from the federal government was not a role Thomas Jefferson wanted them to have. Thomas Jefferson believed that the best federal government was the one that had less power than the state governments. He believed that a small federal government with limited powers was most likely to leave the people alone to enjoy the blessings of liberty. Jefferson recognized the value of a strong central government in foreign relations, but he did not want it strong in other respects. In Jefferson’s view, centralized government was simply tyranny waiting to happen again and believed that the states could best govern the domestic matters within its own state. He insisted on a strict construction of the Constitution. That the constitution should mean exactly what it said and any addition to the powers listed was unconstitutional. He feared that a strong national government, much like the British monarchy, created too much centralized power and would deprived citizens in the various states of the ability to make their own decisions. Hamilton on the other hand believed that the country should be ruled by educated and wealthy men like himself. Hamilton feared political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control. He wanted to use the

This is why it is commonly called the supreme law of the land. The purpose of the government is found in the Preamble and for the government to be successful; the Founding Fathers established three main principles on which our Government is based:

He believed that a way to “restrain men from injuring one another” is to limit the power of the government. Which led the belief that government should not be too large or powerful which would lead to too much control over the people. He viewed people as free and should be treated as such. Jefferson knew that to much control from the government would cause the citizens to protest or rebel. He felt that the only way to protect our liberty was to not allow the government to rip us of our nature rights or fill us up with debt. He argued how the whole reason for the declaration of the independence was to place a government to give us our rights not to do everything for us and to control everything we do. Jefferson helped establish a country free from absolute power. Jefferson stated that the “true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management.” Thomas Jefferson believed that the people common and wealthy had all the right to be

Throughout the years of building a new nation, there were many conflicting views upon the constitution of the United States of America. Upon those conflicting ideologies was Thomas Jefferson’s beliefs and philosophy of government. After entering the White House, Jefferson greatly maintained his earlier philosophy of government of believing in the states rights by attempting to reserve state's self-government, expressing the flaws in the Constitution, and gaining critics against himself.

I believe that Jefferson feels that the function of government is to serve the people. Whatever things the people need or demand the government should be able to provide and/or offer its people. The very reason we have man-made governments is to protect our natural rights, not to interfere with them. The power and authority governments have are given with the people's consent and limited to their protection. The people elect the government because the people believe that those in power will be adequate enough to take care of

As stated before, Locke determined that the purpose of government is to protect life, liberty and property. In chapter IX, he gave us the basic concept of government. “First, there wants an established, settled, know law, received and allowed by common consent to be the standard of right and wrong, and the common measure to decide all controversies between them (P. 124). This, as he described later, is the legislative branch. He goes into more detail in chapter XI. “Secondly, there wants a

The role of the government in our country is defined in our Constitution as to, "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the

When looking up the definition of a government it says, “the governing body of a nation, state, or community”(dictionary.com). This helps to understand it a bit more, but what is the purpose of a government. Government has many purposes that keep its people safe and protected, this includes to 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. There are so many ways that the government is use and there are so many sub categories and even those have categories. So when one is faced with a question like this there any number of responses, and but the main purpose of a

Jefferson wanted a separation of powers within the government in order to prevent one person or group having a tyrannical hold over the nation. He believed

What is the government’s purpose? As defined by Bastiat, a French economist and author, it is “the organization of the natural right of lawful defense… for the purpose… of doing what they have a right to do, to secure persons, liberties, and properties, and to maintain each in its right, so as to cause justice to reign over all” (The Law 3). Therefore, if the government is doing something other than acting to protect the lives, liberties, or property of its citizens, it is stepping out of its bounds. In regards to the federal government, it has done this to an extreme. Before discussing the problems with the federal government’s megalomania, it is vital to understand the

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 produces a democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Government, 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 accomplish this purpose our Founding Fathers created three principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). The government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems, there is strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.

He wanted to avoid building a nation based on industrialization and manufacturing; he believed it would most likely lead to immorality. He had profound confidence in America’s potential for a great nation. According to etext.virginia.edu, he believed all men had certain rights, rights that could not be destroyed or created, and stand whether or not government is present. For Jefferson, a suitable government was one that did not limit individual rights, nor did it allow any individual to limit the rights of another.