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Actions Taken By The Founding Fathers Essay

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After the American Revolution, the newly formed United States of America was substantially unstable as there was increasing economic and social unrest. The first written documents of constitutional authority were generally weak and ineffective. As a result, there was unrest among the colonists, and this created the urge for a newly reformed government system. The proclaimed Founding Fathers took action and put forward what they thought would be the best remedy to the new nation. Some call the Founding Fathers “democratic reformers”, however, this opinion is overall misguided and uninformed, as the Constitution and the actions taken by the Founding Fathers did not represent the majority of the people in the new nation. Therefore, the Founding …show more content…

Noted by Charles Beard, the Constitution did not reflect the interests of four major groups: slaves, indentured servants, women, and men who did not own property. This virtually left only a small fraction of American citizens who were able to voice their opinions, and since they were usually wealthy, many of the legislative decisions made by them would obviously reflect their own personal interests. Because of this, a revolt broke out in the summer of 1786, coined Shays’ Rebellion. Led by Daniel Shays, a large group of poor farmers who had suffered heavy taxes and resented the new Constitution of 1780 that even further raised the property requirements for voting. No one could hold office without being wealthy. According to Zinn, a man named Plough Jogger stated that, “I have been greatly abused, have been obliged to do more than my part in the war; been loaded with class rates, town rates, province rates, Continental rates and all rates...been pulled and hauled by sheriffs, constables and collectors, and had my cattle sold for less than they were worth...The great men are going to get all we have and I think it is time for us to rise and put a stop to it, and have no more courts, sheriffs, nor collectors nor lawyers,” (Taking Sides 127). Although this is a very radical idea, it exemplifies how harsh the

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