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The Constitution: Betrayal Of The American Revolution

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The Constitution—the foundation of the American government—has been quintessential for the lives of the American people for over 200 years. Without this document America today would not have basic human rights, such as those stated in the Bill of Rights, which includes freedom of speech and religion. To some, the Constitution was an embodiment of the American Revolution, yet others believe that it was a betrayal of the Revolution. I personally believe that the Constitution did betray the Revolution because it did not live up to the ideals of the Revolution, and the views of the Anti-Federalists most closely embodied the “Spirit of ‘76.” During the midst of the American Revolution, authors and politicians of important documents, pamphlets, and slogans spread the basis for Revolutionary ideals and defined what is known as the “Spirit of ‘76”. Thomas Jefferson in particular wrote the Declaration of Independence, which stated “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator …show more content…

Usually, rights for people were written by the government, such as the rights of Englishmen, but the idea of the government protecting rights that were already endowed to humans was supported by American colonists who were against the idea of the numerous violations of the Rights of Englishmen, which included taxation without consent. These taxes later popularized the famous slogan, “no taxation without representation,” first said by James Otis; most colonists believed that

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The main purpose of this chapter is to determine the Founding Fathers’ motives for creating the Constitution by analyzing a secondary source by Woody Holton, and several primary sources. Frist, I will begin with the secondary source, “Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution” by Woody Holton. Mr. Holton’s main purpose was to locate the motivation behind the Constitution in developments in the states (page 90). Mr. Holton addressed several grievances for possible motives of the Founding Fathers’. First, the excessive democracy that acerbated many Americans, the runaway inflation caused by the farmers who were allowed to satisfy their debt to creditors with property and good instead of hard currency, and the Revolutionary War that

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The Declaration of Independence includes the statement that all men are created equal. Not all people had the rights and freedoms of everyone else. Source B is a letter from Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams. She declares that the Continental Congress in Philadelphia should be generous and favorable to the women, by letting them have a say in government, and give them more rights. In Source C, the author of this slave petition to the House of Representatives expresses his feelings of not being able to have freedoms as an African American living in America.

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In his book, Garry Wills attempt to tell the story, or stories of the American Declaration of Independence. He begins by talking about the Continental Congress and how they would arrive at a document that would be the base for their revolution. While Jefferson is accredited to writing the final draft, politics prevailed, important things were left out, and the political ideologies of the delegates was considered. Wills then begins to discuss in more detail, Thomas Jefferson’s original intent concerning the Declaration. He discusses how the ideas are rooted in scientific inquiry and then routed through the moral ideas in order to apply them politically.

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When our country’s founding fathers first came together, they disagreed on many things. However, there was one thing they all agreed on. They had to protect against tyranny. Tyranny is when a person or a group of people, deny rights to another group of people. For examples, Britain taxed the colonies without their representation, which took away some key unalienable rights, which are rights that everyone is entitled to.

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In the olden times of mankind there has always been a vast amount of remarkable people who leave an imprint in history, the heart, and in the lives of humanity; such is the case of Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers and author of the principles of the Constitution. The essence of the Declaration of Independence portrays a cry for fair rights and justice among the leaders of the thirteen colonies. However, the words and expressions of the writer of the most significant legacies this country can have let him be heartfelt about the need for better government. It clearly shows values and principles; among them are intelligence to write a paper able to set the standards of the United States of America, and the courage to get rid of Great

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“What was meant by the term ‘created equal’? That in the eyes of nature and of God, every child was born equal. Whatever inequalities came to be after birth could not be blamed upon nature, but on society.” Jefferson believed that all men were created equal even though he owned and sold slaves. He believed that the society was the reason why they were slaves.

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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

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() The declaration of Independence written in 1776 was known to be one Jefferson best work. Why because predominately paved the path for the American people the power to govern for themselves. Jefferson vehemently believed in strong natural proponent of rights of all people. Which he exclaimed and I quote: “ We hold these truth to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, That among these are Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (Textbook).

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The American Revolution was a time of political turmoil and conflict that happened between the British and the thirteen colonies during 1765 to 1763. The colonists rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy because they believed they should be able to govern themselves. The colonists acted out against the British and their rules, ultimately causing the American Revolution. We know the outcome of this; America declaring the freedom of the colonists from British rule. During the American Revolution, the colonists needed ideas and support to clear themselves of British power.

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Then, Thomas Jefferson was chosen to draft The Declaration of Independence because of his extensive knowledge. The Declaration of Independence created one of the most important meanings that, “all men are created equal.” Thomas Jefferson’s work, like the Declaration of Independence, got published in times of war (American Revolution), slavery, freedom issues, and more. There were a lot of conflicts during the eighteenth century like whether slavery was acceptable or not, what rights were given to men, equality, religious issues, and freedom. One of Thomas Jefferson’s goals was to give men inalienable rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).

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A concerning number of citizens of the United States today consider the United States Constitution to be a relic. A memorial to aspirational thought we are to remember with fondness and adapt to our own changing societal needs. This is an unfortunate frame of mind, for this document was not merely a pleasant thought in the minds of U.S. Founders, but a brilliantly conceived legal document at significant personal cost to the men and women who developed it. It is a document that has the ability to withstand the test of time. The principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were not something one would likely find as the foundation of any political doctrine until the United States Constitution was conceived in response to the lack

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Jefferson stated: “...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,”. This was a very bold statement to say in 1776. Jefferson stated that "all men" had the rights to Life, the rights to Liberty, the pursuit of Happiness, and that government exists to protect these rights of the people. Governments receive their power to rule only through agreement of the people. Jefferson presented a “quest for equality and personal independence that, for many Americans, transcended boundaries of class, race, or gender, and challenged the Revolutionary generation and all who later inherited the nation to bring this ideal closer to reality.”

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Some of these rights were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The colonists did not think that the British Parliament were treating them fairly: “ That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,

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The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics video titled “Key Constitutional Concepts” explores the history of the creation of the United States Constitution in addition to key concepts crucial to the document. Two central themes explored in the video include the protection of personal rights and importance of checks and balances. The video strives to explain these concepts through Supreme Court cases Gideon v. Wainwright and Youngstown v. Sawyer. To begin, the video retraces the steps leading up to the Constitutional Convention in Virginia in 1787. It opens by explaining the conflict that led to the Revolutionary War and the fragility of the new nation.

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On June 1766, the congress appointed a five-man committee (Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston) to draft the Declaration of Independence. As a member of the congress, Jefferson was chosen to inscribe the first draft of the declaration. Over the next 17 days, Thomas Jefferson wrote the most powerful testaments on liberty and equality in America. It justified the right for Americans to be self-governed and for all men to be equal, regardless of their age and economical status. After leaving congress in1776, Jefferson goes on another series of expeditions.

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