Essay On The Constitution Dbq

During the Revolutionary era, the birth of the U.S. Constitution gave way to the political divide between the two polarizing philosophies of Federalists and Anti-Federalists. After the economic pitfalls and decentralization the Articles of Confederation had left behind, action was taken to ameliorate its failures. With the creation of the Federalist party in by founder Alexander Hamilton, its members advocated for a stronger national government and defended the validity of the Constitution’s ratification. Contrarily, the Constitution was met with skepticism on behalf of the Anti-Federalists, who believed it would undermine state sovereignty and infringe upon their human rights. The two parties hailed from different socioeconomic backgrounds,

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists Federalists were mostly merchants, bankers manufacturers, and wealthy farm owners. They basically owned land or some type of property and were well-educated. Most of these people lived in urban areas. Anti-Federalists were mostly artisans, shopkeepers, frontier settlers, and poor farmers. They were mostly uneducated and illiterate and most of them lived in rural areas.

"Most bad government has grown out of too much government"-Thomas Jefferson Jefferson and his fellow Americans experienced this firsthand under British Rule. As a result, the first governing document of the US created a federal government far too weak to function. To rectify this situation, the founding fathers created a new Constitution. However, there were disagreements between differing political parties that led to a compromise.

In 1787 many important people, like Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock, had different views and beliefs on ratifying the Constitution. This lead to two groups forming the federalists and the anti federalists. The federalist believed that the Constitution should be ratified for the sake of a strong government, while the anti federalist believed that the Constitution should not be ratified because of the lack of individual rights. Specifically, the antifederalists point of view was more reasonable towards the public due to the fact the anti federalists wanted power within each state and not the central government. One reason why the anti federalist’s point of view is more sensible than the federalists is because the anti federalist thought

Before the famous Constitution became published on September 17, 1787, there was a huge democracy over it since some people supported it (federalists), while others opposed it (anti-federalists). Basically the main arguments used by the Anti-Federalists in the discussion of the U.S. Constitution was the fact that the Constitution offered too much power to the federal government and that the rights of the people were not promised through a Bill of Rights. In order to get their words out, they had ratified convections for the thirteen states. They choose to go to Pennsylvania first because of its size, influence, and wealth.

Throughout our education careers, we should have learned the importance of both sides of the Constitution debate. However, many have only seen the winning side (Federalist) then the opposing side (Anti-federalist's). The main arguments that arose during the debate concerning the United States Constitution was that the Anti-federalist believed the constitution threatened liberties, failed to protect individuals rights, threatened the sovereignty of the states, and gave to much power to the federal government. Most of the individuals on the opposing side was farmers and workers, which was mainly against anything dealing with a strong national government. They believed that the Bill of Rights would prevent individuals rights from being taken.

US Constitution Longevity The United States Constitution is not just a document. It is an omnipresent artifact of the past and ongoing history for the nation it governs. Passionate arguments were abundant during the drafting of the document on what it should entail and what should be left to interpretation. The Constitution not only served to appease many people at the time of its ratification, but it stays standing as a thriving and dependable document capable of change to serve the people as they see fit.

Since after the American Revolution and the creation of the US federal government, congress instructed the delegates to ratify the Articles of Confederation (Greenberg, p. 49). According to our class discussion, Federalists are those who supported the Constitution, as anti- Federalists are the opponents of the Constitution. So why there were political battles between two parties in the late 18th century?

Limited Government is the most important principle of government out of the seven principles of government because it prevents anyone from having too much power. The powers that rulers have are limited by the constitution, which protects individual rights, and protects private property and lets citizens have more control over their own lives. It also lets citizens participate in politics. Thomas Jefferson says, "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."

A constitution is a set of fundamental and entrenched rules governing the conduct of an organisation or nation, setting up its idea, character and structure. It is typically a short document general in nature embodying the aspirations of values of its scholars and subjects. (Business Dictionary, 2015). A constitution is a definitive power any action, which contradicts the rules of the constitution, will be both unconstitutional and unlawful. It helps to recognise the rights and freedoms of citizens through a bill of rights, which works both to protect citizens and to confine the power of the state.