The Pros And Cons Of Ratifying The Constitution

The Federalists and The Anti-Federalists: Two different ideologies After the American Revolution, the United States had to face the war debt and challenges of constructing a new country. In an effort to create a system that solved these problems, they created the Constitution. In order to institute a new government under the Constitution, the ratification required the approval of nine states conventions. States that did not ratify the Constitution would not be considered as a part of the United States. The creation of the Constitution became a complicated process, especially between two political groups with different ideologies, who fought over the distribution of power.

Magna Carta was when British Barons wanted the King to be more aware of their rights. They felt they weren't treated properly and wanted more say. King John isn't recognizing the Baron's rights. The Barons made it so they would have more say and freedom. “[Britain’s] Magna Carta and bill of rights have long been the boast, as well as the security of that nation….this principle is a fundamental one… [and] such declarations should make a part of [the United States’ frame] of government” (Document B).

Shortly after Maryland, South Carolina and New Hampshire followed. New York and Virginia, two major states with a massive impact, were hesitant to ratify. These states were filled with Anti-Federalist, who feared strong central government, as well as the president becoming dictator or king. In order to persuade the Anti-Federalists, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay created the Federalists Papers. Then finally, enough states had ratified for the Constitution to go in effect, although Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island had not yet ratified.

The state of Massachusetts had to rely on another state’s militia to control the rebellion. Many people believed that this event was caused by the Articles of Confederation being weak. The Articles of Confederation was a government system created in a time of haste and was a temporary solution. They caused more problems for America then they did solving them. This constitution focused too much on giving more power to the people and not enough on giving the right amount of power to the government.

The American Revolution emerged due to increased tensions between the American Colonists and the British government during the colonist’s growing desire for Independence. As a result of the Revolution, documents outlining an independent government were shaped. The first being the Articles of Confederation followed by the Constitution. The second amendment of the Constitution of the United States was of particular importance and necessity during the Revolutionary era due to its significance in the Militia, the people’s need to protect themselves, and as assurance that colonists received the necessary freedoms they fought to achieve. The people of the thirteen colonies during the Revolutionary War, wanted nothing more than freedom from the British crown.

With the victory against England the newly independent Americans earned an official claim to America and needed to establish a written plan of government for the new states. The Americans sought to implement some form of sovereignty without total power or any influences of monarchy. In 1777, the congressmen generated the Articles of Confederation, defining the union as a “loose confederation of states” existing mainly to “foster a common defense” (Roark 190). However, the Articles of Confederation had many flaws and imperfections. Because it provoked too many conflicts, the Articles of Confederation resulted in failure and was ultimately overturned by an improved document of government, the Constitution.

Consequently, a limited government was created in response to these new thoughts. Furthermore, this new type of government was extremely revolutionary because it changed the way that the citizens had thought or viewed about the government. Two Enlightenment philosophers that influenced the creation of the government were John Locke and Montesquieu. John Locke had the belief that everyone had natural rights (life, liberty, property) and that if the government failed to protect these rights, they could be overthrown and replaced. Also, Montesquieu’s idea of the separation of powers helped shape the government.

The U.S. Constitution signed September 1787, not only unified America as one nation, but it also enriched America’s core structure of government on a national scale. One cannot ignore the significant disunion that existed during the time of the Articles of Confederation. Due to the fact that the states were allowed to act like independent countries, Congress had insufficient power to make and enforce laws or collect taxes. Both the national government and individual states had acquired a substantial amount of debt due to the cost of the American Revolution and needed the means to pay for it. The main source of government revenue became tariffs imposed by each state.

When the colonists were still with Great Britain, King George III misused his power. As a result, colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, to the king, to state their separation from Great Britain, to form a new country, the United States of America. After creating a new country, Americans wrote the Articles of Confederation in the year 1777, which they purposely weakened central government, so the abuse of power, wouldn’t exist. This meant the states had all the power. Although this structure of government seemed great, the creators of the Articles quickly realized that with no central government, states weren’t united because they were busy on increasing the growth of only their state.

The Articles of Confederation were written during a time when the American people feared a strong national government. Since the United States was relatively a new nation, it needed some form of organization to hold the states together and keep its government and society stable to build a stronger economy (Knoedl, 2003). The first and foremost inherited weakness of the Articles came from the fact that it replaced sovereign power in the hands of the states. This started after the American Revolution, when the American people feared that the colonists would form a new government that could function similarly to King George III’s monarchy after having dealt with the British Crown for years. Since then these states would start creating their own set of rules and laws and because of some states, creating their own constitutions and each state can rule itself, it gave more power to them than the actual Federal Government.