The Pros And Cons Of The United States Constitution

After America shocked the world by defeating Great Britain in the War for Independence, the new nation needed a document that established their governments- state and national. After failed attempts with the Articles of Confederation, which gave the state governments too much power, the Constitution was eventually drafted. This contract established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for the citizens. The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia, conducted by George Washington. Said authors of the Constitution intended this document to rule our nation for eternity, yet a widely debated topic in the political science world, is whether or not the Constitution is still relevant in today’s

Article 1 of the Constitution is very lengthy, containing 10 individual sections. Despite being so long, the article primarily deals with Congress. Congress is the branch of the government that is able to make laws for the country. Article 1 provides Congress with its powers and limitations. Article 1 also identifies the two sections of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. This article serves to define the Legislative Branch along with its members. The article is a basis of lawmaking and giving the power to specific branches of the government.

The Constitutional Republic by definition is “a state wherever the officers square measure elective as representatives of the folks, and should govern in line with existing constitutional law that limits the government’s power over citizens”.

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.

Summary: Some of the issues were the people that denied to agree or support the constitution. Some states did not favor the way the government limited the power for the federal government because they were scared it would overrule state laws and disliked how citizens were able to control as well. Analysis: There were issues because several of states took quite a while to ratify the constitution. The constitution needed at least 9 out of 13 colonies to ratify, however the states did not support the new system. It took 10 months for 9 colonies to ratify. Although, it took almost an year the constitution was

In modern America, many citizens hold to the notion that the Constitution was adopted unanimously, without debate or disagreement. Not only is this not the case, the debate and disagreement that took place during the institution of the governing articles for the newly formed country are ultimately responsible for the system we have in place today as the concerns and counterpoints raised in the discussion were more crucial to the successful continuance of stability in the nation than any unanimous decision. Given the apparent import of such discussion, it is therefore prudent to examine the original points of contention to determine their merit and to further ensure that the concerns originally raised have been addressed sufficiently.

The Constitutional Convention was the gathering point of the fifty-six delegates from the twelve states where the latest Constitution was written. This historical event took place at the Annapolis Convention in Philadelphia. The Constitutional Convention met between May and September of 1787. They argued on almost everything, some delegates argued over the powers that the president should have, and other argued about the number of representatives each state should have. To settle these problems, compromises were proposed. The most important compromises that led to the creation and ratification of the Constitution of the United States were: The Great Compromise, The Three-Fifths Compromise, The Slave Trade Compromise, and The Massachusetts Compromise.

The 55 delegates sitting down in the hot, steamy and sticky room debating about what to add extra rules or change the Articles of Confederation. For about 4 months, the people debated about how the government should take care of the problems, not giving the states more power than needed, talking about compromises and many more. On September 17, 1787, the constitution was sent to Congress for review. Then it was sent to the states for ratification. It took about two years for the Constitution for ratification. There were obstacles to be avoided too. The Federalist had to face Anti-Federalist, people who opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They believed that because they felt as though it gave too much power to the national government.

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 Bill of Rights, written by James Madison in 1791, was a document to extend the rights of United States citizens. The Bill of Rights contains the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution. These ten amendments provided a backbone for the constitution and guaranteed the people certain individual rights. Each amendment protects a specific right and deals with a variety of issues. The second amendment states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” (United States Constitution). This amendment is one that has dealt with many misunderstandings, miscommunications, and conflicts. Many of the disputes over the second amendment have been brought to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest law of the land, and it consists of nine justices. The Supreme Court always has the final say on whether an issue is constitutional or not. An example of one of the second amendment controversies is that of the District of Colombia v. Heller. Which was a case involving the second amendment that made it to the Supreme Court.

Although the U. S. S. Constitution was originally built as a defense against pirates during the Barbary War, it is most famous for the three major battles that it won during the War of 1812. The first of these battles, which was fought against the British H. M. S. Guerriere, was where the Constitution earned the nickname “Old Ironsides.” The second battle was against the H. M. S. Java, a merchant ship bound for India. In the third battle, the Constitution contended with both the H. M. S. Cyane and the H. M. S Levant. All of these victories are owed, at least in part, to the ingenious manner in which Old Ironsides was built. The building style of the U. S. S. Constitution gave it significant advantages over the English frigates during the War of 1812 that enabled it to emerge victorious from decisive naval battles against such ships as the H. M. S. Guerriere and H. M. S. Java.

At the constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787, building of a stronger national government to strengthen the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation was the focus of some leaders. The solution to this issue brought about the framing of the constitution. The framers of the new plan crafted a startling new approach through a ratifying procedure that went directly to the people. By this method, the Constitution would become law if nine of the thirteen states approved it after holding special conventions to consider the issue (Ratifying the Constitution, 2016). This marks the beginning of what many known as the Great Debate.

The constitution first started to provide protection over tyranny in the summer of 1787 where fifty-five delegates met in Philadelphia to help readjust the national government for the better. The task of each representative was to come together to create ideas without letting one person or any one group be in hold of too much power in order for the central government to grow stronger. The constitution had help led by the Articles of Confederation with their influence on not having a court system to make the state force a pay on taxes. The main challenge was to generate a Constitution that would be strong enough to retain possession of power for each state to a minimum so not a single person was the only one to have power or control. The guard on tyranny was supported in 4 ways federalism,separation of powers, checks and balances and small/large state compromises.

Any nationwide endeavor across the world over is always faced with a myriad of challenges when one factor in, the interest of different individuals or groups. During the early years of the USA, there were many problems that politicians at the time faced when trying to create and strengthen the country’s Constitution. In the early 1780’s the young country was in a deep depression, and this played a key role in influencing the exercise as it ultimately led to a heated debate about the powers of the National and State governments. Most of the conservative politicians at the time preferred a stronger federal government while state radicals believed that states should have more power since it was in a better position to determine what was best for their citizens (Jilson, 2009). More sticking points divided the founding fathers which threatened the stability and establishment of the USA, such as slavery and federalism.

One of the greatest debates in the short history of the United States was over the proposed Constitution and did not solely take place inside the walls of the Constitutional convention. Throughout our great nation many individuals from different class levels and occupations became involved in the question over the new plan of government. Many views were expressed through the distribution of pamphlets, sermons, and the release of newspaper essays to sway citizens on the changes proposed. Authors expressed views ranging from the complete acceptance, conditional acceptance based on particular amendments, to the flat rejection of the Constitution. The ratification of the Constitution became the