The Founding Fathers Of The Constitution

In 1798 the U.S Congress and the president John Adams passed the alien and sedition acts. The acts restricted freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The acts also gave the power to deport someone or race out of the country. It gave more power to the federal government taking away state powers. Many people said that the acts were unconstitutional but others did not.I believe that the acts violated the constitution and this is why.

When asked if the Founding Fathers were democratic reformers, the likely response is that yes, they were, because they believed in democracy and strove to create a nation that would be successfully governed by the people. Although this answer may be correct, the debate between historians on this subject shows that the motives of the Founding Fathers cannot be so easily discerned. According to historian Alfred F. Young, the Founding Fathers were not democratic reformers because they were elites and did not represent the interests of the general public, because they admired the British model of a strong national government that protected the wealthy from the people, and because they only included democratic accommodations to ensure that the people

When the first amendment was ratified, citizens were promised the freedom of speech, allowing all humans to give their opinion about the government without punishment. The Alien and Sedition Acts, however, prohibits anybody to speak negatively about the government. Berns, an American constitutional law and political philosophy professor states, “The Bill of Rights, with its cherished guarantee of free speech and press… According to the traditional view, the infamous Alien and Sedition Laws...would have been declared unconstitutional had they ever come before the Supreme Court” (Berns 110). The Bill of Rights ensures that citizens can speak freely and if the Alien and Sedition Acts hinder these rights, the Supreme Court would then deem these act unconstitutional. The Alien and Sedition Acts unjustly deprived citizens from their constitutional right of freedom of speech, leading to the anger of citizens that, eventually, resulted in rebellion. The Alien and Sedition negatively influenced the nation because it took away the rights thatthe Founding Fathers created and ratified in 1791. When the Alien and

The Founding Fathers put their blood, sweat and tears into the making of the Constitution and created a government out of practically nothing, all while having a vision for the future. This future consisted of a government that focused on liberty over security; a government of minimal intervention. To say that the modern version of the United States government is exactly what the Founding Fathers envisioned is a very debatable topic. There are many instances where todays government has followed the Constitution for the most part, but then there are a lot of other areas where the Founders visions have been twisted to the point that they are unrecognizable anymore. To start off, the basic concept of the United States government is one of checks and balances. This was put in place to ensure that the government never became too powerful. One very good example of checks and balances is the media. Even the founding fathers knew the extreme power of the media and its ability to keep the government in check. Two men by the names of William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were even able to create the Spanish American War by the process of yellow journalism, or the crude exaggeration of events. The first amendment states that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” The government today reflects this belief that the media is a watchdog or “fourth estate” as it is so often referred to. Political parties and everything that comes with it, including

In 1787, the Constitution of the United States was just written on September 17th. During this time, the common man was still under the power of the Articles of Confederation, a weak document that loosely connected the 13 former colonies. Although the Articles didn’t give the United States of America the strong centralized power that it needed, opposers to the new Constitution would argue that the Constitution took away the rights of the common man and gave that power, that the individual once had, to the federal government. Although this statement is correct, the federal government’s newly given power was used to protect the fundamental rights and liberties of its citizens and create a powerful government in the hopes that it would benefit

In the summer months of 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts were written and passed by Congress. These acts were a cause of issues in America for three main reasons. They sparked controversy over the formation of parties, the allowance of immigration into the US, and America’s ability to maintain a healthy republic.

The 1790s and 1800s was a time surrounded by partisan tension and increased political participation and discussion in America. This was largely due to development of the Federalist and Republican parties in the 1790s. The establishment of these parties helped fuel expansion of the public sphere, as advocates of both sides wish to air their opinions on the other. This became especially true of Republicans, who became increasingly more critical of Federalists ideas and values. Eventually this led to the Federalist party, under the power of John Adams, to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. These pieces of legislation not only censored American citizens, but made the lives of immigrants harder by threatening dissenters with deportation and

In 1798, John Adams and many other Federalists alongside him help create an idea that changed the way many Americans viewed the U.S. government. Adams and his group of Federalist introduced the Alien and Sedition Acts to Congress during his first term as President. The ideas of these Acts from Adam’s point of view were to be simple; “the first being an Alien Act, which focused on making the United States more secure from alien (foreign) spies and domestic traitors” . Alongside the Alien Act is the Sedition Act, which would make it illegal for anyone to express any false scandals at or against the United States government. Overall, these Acts had a great impact on not only the citizens of the U.S. but also Congress itself. These Acts greatly

The Sedition Act was a bill written by Alexander Hamilton and other Federalists. It was signed into law by President John Adams. Hamilton was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was also influential in the writing of the U.S. Constitution, acted as the first Secretary of the Treasure, and founded the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, and the The New York Post newspaper. The authors’ (Alexander Hamilton and other Federalists) point of view was to try to prevent the press from making critical statements against the government.

In order to understand the motivation of the Framers of the U.S. Constitution one must review the event leading up to it. When the war with Great Britain finally came to a close, the Colonialist of America became weary of what was to come. Many who were well versed in Tomas Hobbes and John Locke feared, without proper action and if not too long delayed, the that states would find themselves in a State of Nature.

During this year Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had decided to bring forth resolutions. Arguing that the alien and sedition acts violated the constitution’s first amendment and was therefore unconstitutional and unlawful. The Alien and Sedition acts had been passed with the sight of a war with the French approaching. It was thought that this act that would strictly constrict any punitive harmful speech towards the government and that it would further prevent problems, thus providing internal security. It was by limiting the right of the press to the first amendment that this instantly angered some. The Alien and Sedition acts did however heavily target the press. Also limiting what they could report impairing thus becoming unconstitutional again for impairing their freedom of speech. It was during this time that Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison whom had played a major role in drafting the constitution, came forward with their opinions about the Alien and Sedition acts. James Madison had his draft presented to the Virginia legislature, whereas Thomas Jefferson had his draft presented to Kentucky

The Constitutional framers would never have believed how much power the President of the United States has obtained to this present day. Based off their work, it seems as if the framers expected Congress to have the vast majority of power. It is true that Congress still has maintained some of their power; yet, as a collective society we tend to place our sole interest on the president and magnify on all his accomplishments and especially on all his losses (sometimes even blaming him for events that are out of his jurisdiction). Nonetheless, the president has gained quite a remarkable amount of power over the years and it is highly noticeable when analyzing differences in the institutions, the policies, and culturally.

Alan Taylor writes, “The Founding Fathers-the politicians who led colonial assemblies and congresses-did not distinguish themselves with self-discipline. [During the boycott of English goods to protest colonial restriction], Thomas Jefferson imported British glass windows for his mansion at Monticello.”(Taylor 53) This is one example of the contradicting era of cultural development in 18th century America: the continuation of closeness to England, and the steady distancing of the American colonists from the British. For the majority of the 18th century, colonial America sprouted shocking ideas of the power of the individual through events like the Great Awakening and Enlightenment, and the emergence of parties such as the Whigs. Meanwhile, they continued to hold close ties to their mother country through imitative actions caused by the mercantilist policies controlling trade and taxes. Although mercantilism imposed by the British brought the colonies and England closer, the ideas of individual liberty and choice that arose in pre-Revolutionary America including the Great Awakening, Enlightenment, and Whig ideologies divided them. These conflicting movements led to an era of dynamic cultural growth in which the colonies both grew closer and further apart from Britain.

The Founding Fathers are like the A-team. In most eyes, some of the things they have done is considered heroic. They put themselves on the line and shape what america is today. Some say that the Founding Fathers were only in it for power and money, however they still put themselves on the chop and block by fighting in this war and being the faces of this war. George Washington fought in the battle of trenton, the founding fathers fought in some way. They did the olive branch petition and did all the planning on this war. Who do you think the british would kill first the colonists or the Founding Fathers?

The Sedition Act restricted the people and showed how the implied powers can be taken too far in the hands of the government. !! Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton’s biggest rival was an anti-federalist and believed the strict ruling of the Constitution, that Jefferson believed in, should “ possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.” ( Doc A) Jefferson connected more with the people and wanted anyone to take office, not just the higher society of people, but the average people. Jefferson did not share the same beliefs and concerns about the Bank as Hamilton. Jefferson knew it would treat the poor man unfairly and it would never level up to the northeastern manufacturing industry.