constitution and popular sovereignty Essay

A constitution is a written document that sets forth the fundamental rules by which a society is governed. Throughout the course of history the United States has lived under two Constitutions since the British-American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. First in line was the Articles of Confederation (1789-1789) followed by the Constitution of United States of America (1789-present). The Articles of Confederation was the first formal written Constitution of America that specified how the national government was to operate. Unfortunately, the Articles did not last long. Under the words of the Article’s power was limited; Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. Also the articles stated

Between 1787 and 1791 the Framers of the US Constitution established a system of government upon principles that had been discussed and partially implemented in many countries over the course of several centuries, but never before in such a pure and complete design, which we call a constitutional republic. Since then, the design has often been imitated, but important principles have often been ignored in those imitations, with the result that their governments fall short of being true republics or truly constitutional. The Framers of the Constitution tried very hard to design a system that would not allow any one person or group within the government to gain too much power. Personally, I think they

The Constitution of the United States was made through compromises that not everyone agreed on but they came to an agreement on what they thought it should be. Before all of the fifty states were founded there was not a Bill of Rights, it was not until the new government was up and running before the Bill of Rights was added. The reason for this was that the framers of the constitution did not realize that the Bill of Rights was necessary to have at the time. A certainly important choice that was made was how our government was to be

The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, yet there was a struggle to ratify it that went on until 1790. This Constitution was created in order to replace the Articles of Confederation, because many people agreed that the articles were not right in keeping the United States in order. The Constitution is made of many rules that have helped the country to stay in order, but on the other hand some of these rules have

The Constitution was the reason why tyranny was avoided. Separation of powers makes sure the power is equally divided between the branches. Federalism makes sure not one government can accumulate. Checks and balances makes sure each branch has control over each other. The Constitution had been governing our country for 230 years. It is a model for other

“In November 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the United States first written constitution.”(Ginsberg, et. al. 2014: 35). The Articles of Confederation played a big role in the drafting of the United States’ new constitution. The articles were our United States’ first written governing document. The Articles of Confederation solved some problems by creating at least a minimal amount of government at the time, but it also created some problem for our country because we did not have enough government. As time went on, the Founding Fathers found the issues with the Articles of Confederation, sought ways to solve those issues, and created the Constitution as a lasting governing document.

The Articles of Confederation created many problems to the new government, after the Revolutionary War. It contained a weak national government and a strong state government. After the Revolutionary War, many colonists still feared Parliament and the monarchy they were once ruled by. Therefore, they created the Articles of Confederation with a weak national government and gave all the power to the states. But, many individuals did not favor the Articles of Confederation because it gave the states equal representations, no matter how big the state, and did not give the national government the ability to tax. Therefore, the ratifying of the Constitution took place. In this new Constitution, Framers wanted to create a new nation. With a separation of powers, and a new system of checks and balances between each branch. The new Constitution, expelled all of the problems within the Articles of Confederation. But, it did not include the secure liberties that the colonists had fought for. Therefore, the Bill of Rights was proposed in order to secure our blessings of liberty and to ensure that the colonists will never chant, “no taxation without representation,” ever again.

The great men the Ratified the country, new how to face these problems with a right of mind and dignity. The American people need the Bill of Rights to help them overcome problems being thrown at them by both partie of the government. The founding fathers realized that an equal balance of powers would be needed to control the power of the different areas of the government. Representation was a major concern of the states. The Constitution solved that problem by making an agreeable compromise that would satisfy the demands of all the states. The writers of the Constitution used their knowledge of the concerns of the people to create a document that would satisfy the new

After so many years of imposing taxes, differing views, and bloodshed the United States Constitution was finally able to make its way in 1788. The U.S Constitution called for a revision of the Articles of Confederation, establishing a new form government. In the end, it completely threw out the out the Articles of Confederation. The ratification of the U.S Constitution caused much criticism and separated Americans into two groups Federalists and Ant-Federalists. Although there was much objection, with George Washington as the leading figure behind this new central government, more people were less hesitant towards it.

The Bill of Rights—which is listed in the U.S. Constitution as the first ten amendments—did not exist prior to the Revolution. The Federalists (those who crafted and created the U.S. Constitution) created the Bill of Rights to accommodate the wants of the Democratic-Republicans, who feared that the new strong central government in America would impose upon the rights of all Americans to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, a phrase found in the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. This gave many Americans numerous rights, besides the right to “life, liberty, and property” (the Constitution substituted “pursuit of happiness” with “property”, which will be discussed later): freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the right to petition, and many more freedoms that Americans didn’t have before the Revolution, or even with the government prior to the Constitution—the Articles of Confederation. The creation of a Bill of Rights was a major turning point in American history because it’s still used even to this day, and is a part of everyday life in America. Without the Bill of Rights, first of all, people in America would’ve eventually rebelled against the nation, possibly in another civil war.

Anti-Federalist concerns raised during the ratification process lead to the creation of the Bill of Rights. Without everyone on his side, Madison could not ratify the constitution. So in order to gain support from the Anti-Federalists he promised them that he would enact a Bill of Rights that would eventually give them their freedom.

After the United States gained Independence on July 4th 1776, there was a need for a new rule on law and basic rights. The foundation of our country needed an official document to be established and written for future generations and for concrete reference. The original idea regarding the document, was thought necessary to be drafted from the Articles of Confederation, but later this idea was deterred. The Constitution was created on new precedent and adopted on September 17th, 1787. Our Constitution was written to be the backbone of our established government “for the people by the people”. According to the Independence Hall Association’s

Throughout the history of the United States there is no question that freedom from not only Britain, but themselves was of the utmost importance to many of the colonists. This was proven with numerous occurrences most notably, the Revolutionary War. However, in the aftermath of all of this was the question of government, and with the failing Articles of Confederation a convention was called, during which a debate over the rights of the citizens ensued. Federalists claimed all the powers of the new government were clearly listed. On the contrary the anti-federalists argued that this wasn’t the case and that it clearly be stated so the government could not violate them. Without the Bill of Rights the constitution offered no protection the citizens rights, this was a concern to not only the anti-federalists but many others. The Bill of Rights was specifically written as a check to the newly formed federal government, as previous experiences with Britain, and tyranny created concern in all of the colonists.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers…”. This is the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. The Declaration was passed unanimously by the thirteen colonies to free them from a repressive government. Subsequently to their freedom, a new government was needed after the 13 Colonies disbanded any official affiliation with the centralized government and monarchy-orientated Great Britain. The Constitution created by Jay, Madison, and Hamilton is an American form of government that has last 200 years due to its organization and attention to detail. It bested the Articles of Confederation in 1787 by having more of an impact on the states than the Articles ever did. There were countless reasons as to why the Articles failed; the central government did not have the power to tax, and also because under the Articles there was a unicameral legislature, making it so that there is no separation of powers, and tyranny was a lot more likely to occur. Since the Articles of Confederation failed, which were the fundamental principles concerning government and authority prior to the Constitution, they needed to be “revised”, however, the Framers basically threw the Articles in the trash and wrote a whole new plan of government; one which focused more on the central government rather than the state government.

The American population has been ruled by different documents over time. When a document did not work, the Americans moved on to a different one, such as the Articles of Confederation to the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights was added for the benefit of Americans, it was a good compromise between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and that it is still relevant today.