The United States government as we know it today was not made in a day. It took four months to write it, and then an additional nine months to get it ratified. The ratification process was not easy though. The system was approved by the Federalists, who supported the strong, central power bestowed in the national government. However, they were opposed by the Anti-Federalists, who wanted more power to be given to the states. Both groups had papers written by people on each side, under the pseudonym of Publius for the Federalists, and Brutus for the Ant-Federalists. Publius was discovered to be a mix of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, whereas Brutus was never discovered. In the final days of the ratification, the executive and judiciary system were discussed between these papers, finally with the Bill of Rights ending up as the final addition that pushed for the final ratification of the United States Constitution. Executive power was discussed thoroughly between the later Federalist papers. Hamilton knew that the Anti-Federalists fought against the new form of the Presidency. Hamilton said that the Federalists painted the President as “[having] been shown to [the people] with the diadem sparkling on his brown, and the imperial purple flowing in his train.” They had believed that the President would be become a monarch, and revert the country back to Pre-Revolution days. However, Hamilton wrote that there were safeguards put in place to protect from this. A
When Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801, after an intense realignment of the majority of office holders from Federalist to Anti-Federalist in the “Revolution of 1800”, there were many policies headed by former Treasurer Alexander Hamilton that were still in place. Instead of doing what would have been expected of him by his peers, and taking steps
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention, where it was held in Philadelphia. It was written by a group of people known as “Farmers,” or the “Founding Fathers,” and few of the most famous Founding Fathers were George Washington (The first president of the USA), Thomas Jefferson (The first vice president and the third president of the USA) James Madison (The fourth president of the USA), Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. The old government, the Articles of Confederation was not working as it supposed to be, it was vulnerable and cannot secure and defend the new born nation and for that reason the constitution of the united states saw the light.
Establishing an effective system of government has proven to be an obstacle for centuries. Fortunately, the Founding Father recognized the common flaws of governments, as did many common men in the colonies. Consequently, the ratification of the constitution was vital for a healthy governmental system, though it did bring about much debate and persuasion. There were two main positions which people took during the ratification, those being the Anti-Federalist and the Federalist. The Anti-Federalist were a diverse assembly involving prominent men such as George Mason and Patrick Henry, and also the most unlikely of individuals, those being Farmers and shopkeepers. The chief complaint about the Constitution was that it confiscated the power from the sates, thereby robbing the people of their power. Oppositely, the Federalist believed in removing some control from the states and imparting that power to the national government, thus making America partially national. Throughout this debate, many letters were shared between the two sides, and eventually, it led to the federalist winning over the colonies.
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.
In 1787, the Constitution was written and submitted for ratification by the 13 states, but not everyone agreed with it. There were two groups of though. One was the Anti-federalists, who opposed the Constitution and the other group were the Federalists, who supported it. The Anti-federalists were people who supported the Articles of Confederation because they were doing well under them. They were mostly poor people from rural areas and were supported by the big states. They believed that the Constitution did not secure their rights and gave the central government too much power. The Federalists were mostly the wealthy people who lived in or near city areas and were supported by the smaller states. They believed that the separation of
Constitution. When the Constitution was written in 1787, it left out individual rights for citizens which led to the refusal of many states to ratify it. The Constitution of the U.S. was made to embody the fundamental principles of a government but the lack of a Bill of Rights was the main reason why many opposed the ratification of it. As stated in the Article VII, “the vote of nine states shall be sufficient for the establishment of the Constitution as the principal document uniting the states,” but in 1788 only four had states ratified it. At the time of the ratification, there was a debate between those who supported it, the Federalists, and those who opposed it, the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists argued that individuals’ rights were already protected by state constitutions, and that not listing these rights did not mean that they were inexistent as natural rights, which explains why First Amendment rights were initially not included in the Constitution. On the other hand, The Anti-Federalists strongly disagreed and feared that the increased strength of a national government would lead to an abuse of individual rights. These disputes finally initiated the draft of a new charter for the Constitution of the United States that included The First Amendment as the first section under the Bill of Rights. The leading man for this draft was James Madison, of Virginia, who is often considered “the father of the Constitution” because of his
The Constitution has been operative since 1789 after the ratification of nine states (American Vision and Values, Page 52). Today many question the relevancy of a document 222 years old to our society. The Founders created a governmental framework, defining three branches and giving powers to the government and others to the states. It also guarantees the rights of the people. It took two and one-half years for the 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution. This ratification period was one of great debate and produced a series of essays complied into The Federalist. Authored by John Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay during the ratification debate in New York, they tried to get public support for the Constitution. Thus began the first
In the Federalist Papers, Federalist No. 69 was written by Alexander Hamilton outlining the powers that the United States? president should have. The paper compares the powers of the United States? president with the powers of the King of Great Britain (Maggs, 2007). Although the two share some similarities, the powers conferred to the President are inferior to those of the King of Great Britain. This paper will analyze the Federalist Paper No. 69 and the Anti-federalist Paper 69.
constitution still needed to be ratified in order to be set in place. Nine of the twelve states would have to approve for the U.S. constitution to be ratified. The were still several states that opposed. American leaders such as james madison, alexander hamilton, and many others wrote the Federalist papers 3. Eighty-five essays aimed at convincing the anti-federalist to ratify the new constitution. The federalist papers were a significant part of the U.S. political history and played a key role in getting the U.S. Constitution ratified. The basis of the federalist papers was strong government to hold states accountable to the people or “mob”. The federalist papers basis was to also face many of the problems the articles of confederation could not solve. The articles of confederation mainly could not do important functions such as regulating commerce and the ability to
55 delegates of twelve states wrote the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 and in 1788 the states ratified it. That gathering at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall brought nearly all of the nation’s most prominent men together, including Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and George Washington. Several of the men appointed had records of service in the army and in the courts and others were experienced in colonial and state government. When Thomas Jefferson found out who had been appointed he wrote “It is really an assembly of demigods” to John Adams. That summer in Philadelphia, the men, drew out a document defining the distinct powers for the the president, the federal courts and the Congress. This division of authority that was established is known as the principle of separation of powers, and it ensures that none of the branches of government can overstep their boundaries.
Between the years 1787 and 1788 John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison wrote a series of eighty-five papers in order to convince people to ratify the United States Constitution. During this time period there were two different sides. The Federalist, who wanted a more centralized government and to achieve ratification of the constitution to help manage the debt and tensions following the American Revolution. The support of this group was strongly centralized
During this convention, delegates fought long and hard over whether the national government must have direct authority over the people rather than governing the state governments, or if the national government must derive its legitimacy from the people rather than from the states legislatures (Tindall pg. 209). Keeping in mind of the sovereignty of “the people”, the Constitution would be declared as the voice of “the people” and the founders authorized the federal government to set limitations of the state government powers of printing paper money, making treaties, wagging war, and levy tariffs on imported goods. Additionally, the Constitution provided a two-house legislature that included a House of Representatives and a Senate. Representation in the House was based on population which satisfied the large states. Meanwhile, all states had equal representation in the Senate, thus pleasing the small states. Before adopting the Constitution, ratification was needed by nine states. There was a fierce debate over the ratification of the Constitution between the Federalists, the advocates, and the Anti-Federalists, opposers. Anti-Federalist, whose prominent figure and leader was Thomas Jefferson, cautioned that a new national government would become corrupt and tyrannical and emphasized the absence of a
The Constitution, when first introduced, set the stage for much controversy in the United States. The two major parties in this battle were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists, such as James Madison, were in favor of ratifying the Constitution. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists, such as Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, were against ratification. Each party has their own beliefs on why or why not this document should or should not be passed. These beliefs are displayed in the following articles: Patrick Henry's "Virginia Should Reject the Constitution," Richard Henry Lee's "The Constitution Will Encourage Aristocracy," James Madison's "Federalist Paper No. 10," and "The Letters to Brutus." In these
Though both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson served as members of President Washington’s cabinet, the two held very different views on the newly founded U.S. government, interpretation of its constitution, and the role of the “masses” in that government. These conflicting views would develop in two political parties, the Federalists led by Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson. Although both political parties presented enticing aspects, Hamilton’s views were much more reasonable and fruitful when compared Jefferson’s views; idealistic and too strict in reference to the constitution.
Along with an economic system, Federalist believed in a powerful national government and army. Hamilton wanted the government to be centralized and