Not long after the Declaration of Independence was signed and the thirteen colonies were independent, many of them crafted their own constitutions or documents of rules and regulations. Three of the colonies, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations, simply stuck with their original charters were dated as far back as 1629 and 1663. I believe that the Framers did not guarantee the freedoms to the states so that their governments were still able to rule their own states independently. However, in 1897, the Supreme Court began to allow for the protections on the Bill of Rights to the state and local governments. In order for this to happen, they used the “due process clause” of the 14th amendment. This procedure
The colonies thought they were in a state of nature. Most of the colonies called conventions to draft constitutions, but Massachusetts’ was ultimately submitted to the people for acceptance. Drafted at "a particular moment of time," these state charters created "institutions that would henceforth act under the authority they bestowed" (p.
Limiting the power of the federal government in order to stop corruption by giving states almost total control came from American oppression from the highly centralize form of government practiced in Britain. The principle of protecting individual freedoms came from American unrest of the infringement of their individual rights while being a part of Britain. The idea of every state having actual representation and an equal vote in Congress occurred because of American disgust with not having actual representation in Parliament and no say in what occurred in the entire British Empire. Congress was not able to create a federal tax, and this came from the struggle that the colonists had dealing with the Stamp Act and the Townshend Tea Act. One of the ideas that Americans kept from Britain was the idea of keeping their country unified, which spurred from the common history and goal of all of the colonies during the Revolutionary War. The mindset and ideas that all of the Revolutionary colonists had was to create a country better than Britain ever was, and they believed that to do so the country must be almost completely different from what Britain ever was. Eventually, the Articles of Confederation were seen to give too much power to the people because of the radical sense of change from Britain. Certain instances such as
Representation is without a doubt a major component for a nation. Representation was a major key point in drafting both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution because the colonies wanted to make sure there agenda's were met. When drafting the Declaration of Independence The colonies were infuriated that The British parliament were taxing them without representation, meaning that they didn't have anyone representing them in the British parliament and still were being taxed liked any other citizen in England. With this anger towards the British, the colonies were starting to think that they were capable of governing themselves and wrote the Declaration of Independence to let the British, colonies and the other nations of the
The framers of the constitution walked a thin line to create a government that was strong but not too strong. Did they succeed? Are the powers of the federal government still separated enough?
In 1776, the colonies wrote a Declaration of Independence that made the 13 colonies their own country, because they felt that King George III was a tyrant that abused his power too much and did not give the colonies their rights. The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution that gave the states all of the power. A new constitution was needed because the national government had no power over the states. which were out of control. In May of 1787, 55 delegates from twelve states , excluding Rhode Island, traveled to Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation. When they were all gathered, the delegates decided to write a whole new constitution with a more powerful national government. The Constitution guarded against tyranny
In the summer of 1776, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, the thirteen colonies and Great Britain had a lot of disagreements. The Colonies decided it was time to break away from a tyranny and become their own country based on freedom and democracy. A tyranny is a cruel and oppressive government that abuses its power. The new found country, America, came together to write their first constitution, the Articles Of Confederation. The AOC was created to give the state's power over themselves.
When the United States declared itself a sovereign nation, the Articles of Confederation were drafted to serve as the nations first Constitution.Under these Articles, the states held most of the power; but due to an almost absent centralized government, colonists were ill-equipped to deal with such practices as regulating trade both between states and internationally, levying taxes, solving inter-state disputes, negotiating with foreign nations, and most importantly enforcing laws under the current notion of "Congress". Realizing that there were several deficiencies in the current system of self-government, the states appointed delegates to ratify the situation and come up with a way to attain the aforementioned practices they needed to
By the time the Constitution was put into place, America had a very well understanding and expertise in self-government. Long before independence was declared, the colonies were already functioning as governmental groups that were controlled by the people. After the Revolution had begun between January 1, 1776, and April 20, 1777, most of the thirteen states had their own constitutions already in place. Majority of the states had a governor elected by the state. The legislature itself was elected by popular vote. Every state but Pennsylvania had a bicameral legislature.
It was less of a set of laws and more of a reassurance to the citizens that they have have a say in their government, unlike in the British colonies. Before the colonies became the United States, the British had a colonial government. This meant that “ charters of royal colonies provided for direct rule by the king. A colonial legislature was elected by property holding males. But governors were appointed by the king and had almost complete authority.”
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” (The Declaration of Independence, U.S. 1776, para. 2). The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in American history. The colonists said that Parliament and the king, George III, were violating the people’s natural rights. The colonies were on their own for such a long time that they got used to handling stuff their own way. Out of nowhere, the king and Parliament started giving the colonists taxes. From this taxing we got the saying “No taxation without representation.” Some of the taxes they gave the colonists were the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, and the Quartering Act. The Stamp Act was tax on every piece of paper and book published or used. The Sugar Act was a tax on sugar being imported and any food containing sugar. The Quartering Act was when the colonists were forced to house british soldiers, the soldiers were there to enforce the taxes being placed. All of these problems started the American Revolution.
The British controlled everything they did in the colony.They also thought that states would be small, independent countries like the way the colonies were established. In addition, the states thought they would act on their own on all issues except for war and handling foreign relations. Their experience with the British monarchy rule before the establishment of the Articles made them aware of too much power in a single ruler. The states had established a two-house legislature to divide the power. After the Revolutionary War the states also allowed people to vote who were restricted before. Before this time women, indentured servants, the poor and African Americans were not allowed to vote. Therefore, the writers of the Articles kept all of this in mind when writing the Articles of Confederation.
This was a document that was written to explain why we should break away from Great Britain and become independent from their laws. It explains that all men (and now women too) are created equal and were born with rights that cannot be taken away…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To ensure that these rights remain, the people create a government and laws that will protect these rights. When the government starts to act in such a way that these rights are threatened…then the people have the right to change the government or remove it and replace it with a new one. It then continues to list the reasons why they want to sever ties with Great Britain and list the ways they feel they have
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” - The Declaration of Independence
After the Revolution, the States adopted their own constitutions, many of which contained a Bill of Rights. The Americans still faced the challenge of creating a central government for their new nation. In 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781. Under the Articles, the states retained their “sovereignty, freedom and independence,” while the national government was kept weak and inferior. Over the next few years it became evident that the system of government that had been chosen was not strong enough to completely settle and defend the frontier, regulating trade, currency and commerce, and organizing thirteen states into one union.
A democracy is a system of government controlled by the people, not by one certain group or individual. In the Declaration of Independence it states that “all men are created equal,” an idea which leads to the concept that all citizens should have the same rights, responsibilities, and influence in the governing of their country. In writing the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was trying to break his ties with the harsh and non-democratic rule of the British and begin a new, equal society and government for America.