Each state had to hold a convention after the delegates wrote the Constitution, so the states could decide if they wanted to approve the Constitution. After nine states ratify the Constitution it would go into effect. Some of the states decided to disagree with the Constitution, and therefore it would not be ratified. There was a group of Federalists, and they were the people who thought the Constitution should be ratified. The Federalists favored the National government or a Strong Federal Government. Also, the Federalists felt that there must be a stronger central government for the Union to last. They wanted the central government to have powers, such as the power to enforce laws, which the articles did not have. Also, there was a group of anti-federalists that had opposite thoughts of what the Federalists wanted. The Anti-Federalists felt that the Constitution made the government too strong. One of the main arguments that the anti-federalists used to argue with was, they felt that the central government would take away state power and individual freedom by weakening the states. Another one of the points they argued with was, there was no Bill of Rights, and many other states had one, and in that case there was no protection of basic freedoms. The Federalists and Antifederalists argued against each other whether
The words spoken by man have the power to shape and ratify everything in its path. These following questions will do just that. Is not the strengthening of our federal government essential to the maintaining of a stable bureaucracy? Must we forego the strong fundamental structure that will ensure that every man will benefit immensely from a nation governed by those of the utmost intelligence and experience? We as a nation must procure a stance that will enforce and implement the necessary laws by any means possible. This can only be obtained only if all parties are on one accord with an understanding that the rights of the people and their protection are our governments’ only concern. The strong structure of a government can only
In May 1787, 55 delegates came from the 13 states to discuss the changes to be made to the Articles of Confederation and how to improve it to prevent and end the problems and issues created by it. They, instead, decided to make a new document called the Constitution. The Constitution was a plan of government designed to fix the problems and issues created by the Articles of Confederation. It was formed by much discussion and debate. Many compromises and plans were made. Not only did it plan for a stronger and more stable government, it also prevented the abuse of power in the government.
The ratification of the US Constitution in 1787 sparked a ferocious and spiteful debate between two large groups of people, those who supported the ratification and those who did not. Both sides were very passionate about their ideas yet they were so divergent, as one believed that the ratification could create a more powerful, unified country, while others worried about the government gaining perhaps too much control. The supporters and opponents equally had various strong reasons in their beliefs regarding the ratification of the US Constitution, the most common for the supporters being that the current government was heading badly, and a ratification would fix all the mistakes made originally and set the course for a successful government. On the other hand, the biggest concern for the opponents was that the ratification would give the government too much power, and there would be no controlling force to keep the government in its place.
Following the creation of the United States of America, a constitution of laws was desperately needed to create firm unity in the young nation. The original constitution that the Congress brought forth was the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation left most of the power with the state governments, which many people approved of. However, many problems were created by this law of the land. A convention was called in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles where they eventually scrapped it and wrote a new, but similar in ideals, document which is now known as the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution was, in fact, very different from the Articles of Confederation. So much so that they do not even appear to be similar in any
In May 1787, the Founding Fathers, who were made up of 55 delegates from one of the 13 states besides Rhode Island, met in Philadelphia for what would come to be called the Constitutional Convention [BRE]. When they met they intended to fix the consitution that was already in place, which was called the Articles of Confederation. This document had many weaknesses which ultimatly led to its downfall: it only had a legislative branch, so it could not hold trials or enforce laws, it could not raise taxes (it was able to raise money, however to do this the legislative branch had to ask the states for funds), it could not draft an army, so the federal government would have to use state militia, it could not control interstate or foreign commmerce,
The Articles of Confederation became the first guiding principles of the original thirteen states. However, the weaknesses embedded in the articles became obvious, outweighing its positive impact and they were ratified in 1781. George Washington sated that the articles were "little more than a shadow without the substance."1 They limited the central government’s ability to work smoothly and adversely affected the economy. Lack of power left the government in dismay and they sought a fix to their problems without becoming a tyrannical monarchy. The founding fathers believed that replacing the articles with The Constitution was the best way to give the central government enough power to carry out its tasks. In 1787 delegates from all 13 states met in Pennsylvania to begin amending the articles. This process revealed many of the similarities and differences that were contained within The Articles of Confederation and The Constitution.
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the subsequent ratification of the constitution proved to be a more significant event in American political history than the Declaration of Independence. Many of the american leaders believed we needed to a new, stronger government. They had to persuade the states that stronger government was the right direction to ensure the country’s success.They did that with the constitutional convention but, To sway the states in the right direction documents such as the Federalist papers led the states to ratify the new U.S. Constitution. Which then led to the U.S. Constitution that we still live by to the day.
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.
One of the most important documents written in American history, the Articles of Confederation, was crucial to the foundation of American principles. However, there were many inherent flaws in its making, which were addressed by a few different leaders. The Articles of Confederation paved the way towards a successful country, but some of the problems would have sent the country backwards. One of these problems was that for an amendment to be made to the Articles, every state would have to agree, and Rhode Island never sent delegates to conventions to discuss these amendments. This meant that there could never be flexibility in the amendments even when necessary. This dilemma forced many elites of America to come together and completely rewrite
The Constitutional Convention held in 1787 was a major step in America’s foundation. The compromises reached at this important meeting would end up shaping the country into what it is today. The Constitutional Convention was created in order the correct the Articles of Confederation which were deeply flawed. The meeting included the important founding fathers ranging from George Washington to Benjamin Franklin. After careful thought, the Articles of Confederation were soon scrapped and the delegates at the meeting began to create an entirely new government system. However, some states had their own private agendas. Different regions wanted different things and it reflected their ideals through their plans. This made coming to a compromise
In the initial years of the United States a meeting of delegates appointed by the several states met for the sole purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. The result of this meeting was the creation of the U.S. Constitution that would soon become the ultimate directive for both Federal and State Governments. Since its birth it has been revised, amended, and ratified in order to solidify the allocation of power between the separate branches of government. Although this may be the case, distribution of the powers has been disputed ever since the formation of the Constitution. These political, legal, and quasi-legal constitutional disputes triggered civil unrest and led to explicit acts of opposition involving nullification and
In the beginning, government was created: the beginning of America, that is. Since this beginning, and also considerably long before it, government has been deemed as absolutely necessary to avoid anarchy and destruction. The Founders of the Constitution faced a challenge that had never been dealt with before: they needed a way to create a democracy but also nurture the notion that not every citizen was equipped to decide on issues facing the country. Direct democracy never even crossed the minds of each individual Founder because they immediately recognized its foolishness. They struggled, then, with making sure every citizen’s rights were protected while still having an effective government. From this, the idea of representative democracy was born. Coming up with ideas for the Constitution was difficult, but seeing that the document would be accepted by a majority of the states proved to be even harder. James Madison and others wrote the Federalist Papers to try to convince the states to institute the new Constitution. One paper in particular, the fifty-first, proved to be useful in showing how the rights of the people would be protected in this new representative government. Through the fifty-first Federalist Paper, it can be deduced that James Madison thought of the people as their own branch of government with their own set of governmental characteristics.
In the 1700s when the United States had detached itself from British rule it was then seen as a plutocracy. The U.S established as a democracy; a government of the people and by the people. However, this establishment was in favor of the rich, educated, and powerful and anyone who was categorized or known as elites and it has remained in favor of these people ever since. Yes we can say we have witnessed variations and seen a semi-democratic rise in the past two centuries, but we have remained a plutocracy hidden behind the word that people use to cover its true identity, democracy. Those like the framers, the public opinion role, interest groups, and money all portray our hidden plutocracy.
The Articles of Confederation were approved by all the early American states in 1781, but by 1787, it was apparent that the Articles were insufficient for the young nation to operate on. A convention was formed with the priority job being to revise the Articles of Confederation; however, they only concluded that an entire new structure was needed to fulfill the demands of the growing country. The Constitution was then born. The Constitution provided the structure of government and power that was needed to achieve a strong union. This structure “saved” the American republic from collapse while under the Articles of Confederation.