Over 200 years ago, the foundation of the United States government was established through the Constitution. Some believed this new prospect as valuable and necessary, while others believed it to be irrational and unnecessary. Although the states were called the United States, their views and opinions did not coincide with one another. Recently defeating the powerful British Parliament in 1783, Americans desired a government that guaranteed their liberties and promised freedom. Many states ratified the Constitution almost immediately, but others debated vigorously over accepting it. The new government was established in 1789 and George Washington became president in April of that year. Even though the Constitution was already accepted, it took …show more content…
They believed that the issues were present in every part of the country and every aspect of life. The most prominent “distresses” one supporter, an editor of a newspaper, described included “the complaints of our farmers...the complaints of every class of public creditors...the melancholy faces of our working people...our ships rotting in our harbors...the insults that are offered to the American name and character in every court of Europe.” The editor told his readers to ask themselves if, based on these “distresses” he just listed, they really thought they did not need “a new, a protecting, and efficient federal government” (Document 1). Supporters of the Constitution wanted a government that functioned in a way that was beneficial and accommodating to them. George Washington was a supporter of the Constitution because he believed that the United States had “errors to correct,” and he was convinced there was still time to find a solution to the errors (Document 3). Furthermore, in order to win the approval of the opponents of the Constitution, the addition of the Tenth Amendment was made. Supporters may have believed that by giving individual power to the states would allow the ratification of the Constitution to become more probable. The opinion of the majority was that “certain amendments and alterations in the said Constitution would remove the fears and quiet the apprehensions of many of the good people of the commonwealth” (Document
The writers used pseudonyms to prevent people from judging the arguments based on the writer’s reputation. 13. What philosophical ideas guided the Anti-Federalists’ opposition to a stronger national government? How did those ideas lead them toward specific objections to the Constitution?
The early beginnings of the British colonies as the United States of America led to the passing of laws and the development of precedents that have governed the American people to present day. Despite having declared their independence in 1776, the colonies did not truly get to exercise this freedom until General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown five years later and the British finally recognized their independence as free states. Since the Articles of Confederation and the Continental Congress were deemed ineffective, it was time for a new governing force- starting with the Constitutional Convention. Intellectual powerhouses and future political players such as George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton met and created the famous document we know today as the United States Constitution, which outlined the fundamental rights all citizens deserved and the basic structure of the government. In the following months, the judicial branch was created, Madison’s Bill of Rights was
In the publishment of the Federalist papers James madison states why the constitution is needed in the first place express “If men were angels, no government would be necessary” (F). To the thought the forthcoming two parties, The Federalists and the anti-federalist
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, but there was a grapple for its ratification that went on until about two decades after the ratification. Members of Congress believed that the first government of the United States or the Articles of Confederation, needed to be adjusted while others did not want anything to change. After the Revolutionary War, the people did not want a strong central government, because it reminded them too much of what they were trying to escape from. Under the Articles, each state had their own laws, and the need for a new Constitution was desired by many. The Constitution of 1787 created huge debates, arguments and splits in the nation that lasted for several year after its ratification between people who
After the victory for independence, the United States was formed; however, it still needed to face with another challenge: building its own governance. Making a nation is much easier than sustaining it, so the process of creating the republic by the Framers is worthy to be mentioned. During the years from 1781 to 1789, the United States was ruled under a document called the Articles of Confederations. As the first Constitution of the United States, it led the leaders to gain independence and have a governmental experience for the future powerful nation. Although the Articles created a ruling gate for the Framers, it was barely possible to operate the nation effectively.
How The Crisis of The 1780’s Helped Shaped The United States Constitution In the 1780’s after the American Revolution the United States struggled to establish strong government. The United States won their freedom and independence and was left without a strong constitution. Political, economics and diplomatic crisis during the 1780’s led to the establishment of the United States Constitution.
Following the end of the American Revolution marked a new set of problems for the United States. As impending war debts were threatening to crush the new nation, America knew they needed to address the flaws of the Articles of Confederation through a Constitutional Convention. The United States Constitution of 1787 was created in hopes of developing a stronger and more effective governing body while still upholding America’s virtues of freedom. Unfortunately, with change, comes opposition, and many people feared that the Constitution would be oppressive and undermine the autonomy of the individual states through its strong central government. Because of this, the issues that sparked the greatest controversies during the ratification of the
William Bradford indicated that the occasion was that the ships were a day out of harbor in the new world. He indicated that he wanted them to come together as one body in agreement to submit to the government and governors. The agreed to consent together in unison to this. I do feel this is very similar to the motives of the original constitution a document which is still in force today. I have no doubt that the founders of this nation looked at what did work and did not work in the way the original colonies set themselves up and modeled our governing documents based off what they learned.
Under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, Federalists became a popular political party at the end of George Washington’s term. As a proud Federalists in The United Stated under George Washington, a numerous amount of hypocrisy has consumed the population on, “What were Federalists’ views?” A Federalist strongly believed in the power of the national government because the central government would have yielded stability to the country. Instead of a democracy or popular sovereignty, an “aristocratic leadership,” would better lead the nation (History in the Making - Chapter 10).
Name: Jeshuwin Prabakaran Before the Constitution was approved and known as the structure of our government, we had the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was a broken system, with no central government to collect taxes or enforce law we were burying ourselves in massive debt while States taxed each other. There was no National Court System or Supreme Court which made serious cases harder to deal with often having a less just outcome. These are the few of the multiple flaws and reasons it was necessary to replace the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution.
As the first president of the United States, George Washington’s effect on the United States is undeniable, but that does not mean Washington’s presidency was left without controversy and unsolved issues. After the American Revolution, the primary focus of the government was to lay a foundation for the foreseeable future. Because the Articles of Confederation was too simple and made it nearly impossible for the government to tax the people and generate revenue, Washington was left with an intimidating task. Washington established power through the federal government by creating necessities such as a National Army and a National Bank. Unfortunately, due to the short time for the abundance of issues with the country at the time, Washington was
There is always another side to the story. Federalist, these people supported the constitution. Though they knew that the constitution wasn’t perfection yet, According to document 3 George Washington state 's ”We have errors to correct… would to God, that wise measures may be taken in time to avert the consequences we have but too much reason to apprehend”. George was sure that the constitution wasn’t perfect but that in this time of need they need something like it. They need a strong government, to win over the people who won’t support over fear of loss of natural laws, like mentioned in document 1 “Let us look and behold the distress which prevail in every part of our country… View these things, fellow citizens, and then say we do not require a new, a protection, and efficient federal government if you can” this document was quoted from a newspaper in Massachusetts.
Slavery in the U.S. Constitution After the Unites States declared Independence from Great Britain in 1776, they greatly feared a strong national government that would be like a monarchy like the one Great Britain had. To prevent this tyrannical government from happening in the U.S., a convention of delegates from all thirteen states were brought together to create the U.S.’s first written constitution: the Articles of Confederation. This convention was called the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation focused on having a federal government, or a loose alliance of the states.
Following the Revolutionary War, America had just gained independance from Great Britain and needed to form a new government. The Articles of Confederation were established as an attempt to create a government that was unlike Britain’s. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had several weaknesses. When in the process of repairing those weaknesses, the Federalists and the Anti-federalists formed. The Articles of Confederation were very weak as well as useless to America and because of this, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists could not agree on a new type of government.
Both documents from both the Federalist document number one and the Anti-Federalists document number one examine what our nation would be like under one central government. These documents are very generalized introductions for their arguments to either created a new constitution, or ratify our existing one. Before the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the United States didn 't use a large, powerful government as we know it today. The nation put most of the power into individual states which created several issues with the overall standing of the U.S. The governing document during this time, the Articles of Confederation, had multiple weaknesses including that there was no tax authority, no chief executive, and no judicial system.