David O. Stewart’s The Summer of 1787: the Men Who Wrote the Constitution provides an un-biased historical account on how the constitution came to be. The book begins in post-revolutionary war America under the failed Articles of Confederation to the constitutional convention and through the ratification process of the constitution. It provides the readers with an in depth look at the hard ball the founding fathers played to create a government that could deal with a violent rebellion, mass debt, and the states conflicting goals. The goal of The Summer of 1787 the Men Who Wrote the Constitution is to enlighten readers on how the constitution came to be by illustrating how the founding fathers personalities affected the process by providing a deeper look into these key figures personal life’s and how their experiences shaped their political views. Stewart’s years of practicing law in Washington DC, while often handling constitutional law cases provided a strong foundation to his well-researched, bestselling, and award winning account …show more content…
It does this by establishing a format in the beginning of the novel that stresses the negotiations of the constitution and the mundane processes of its formation. The benefits of reading this book are that it gives you a greater understanding of the actual document and which is one of the main things throughout American history. The book is a recommended read to all Americans due to the fact that it provides an indebt look at the process of writing the constitution form start to finish and also provides unique details about the delegates’ personal lives outside the convention that contributed to each of their effect on the constitution. These details also provide a greater understanding of the men who wrote the constitution while also making the book more interesting for the
The Summer of 1787 was written by David O. Stewart as a historical, non-fiction recount of the events leading to the Constitutions adoption hundreds of years ago. David O. Stewart is extremely qualified to put together such a book. Mr. Stewart is a prolific author in matters of politics and history. In addition, Mr. Stewart studied law at Yale, a highly praised institution. From his studies in modern law to reading all 500 pages of James Madison’s notes from the constitutional convention, Mr. Stewart has the motivation and intelligence to effectively narrate the time before the constitutions implementation.
As seen in the earlier paper, the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation played a significant role in the development and progression of the United States of America. Although the Federalist were involved in the transformation as well, one must also have an insight as what was occurring during the time of the switch. As one knows now, both documents relate to one another, and were intended to service America and protect the people’s freedom by imposing the law. The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation, because it was not stable, it limited the power of Congress, and limited the National government.
The Constitution, written in May 1787 in Philadelphia, was a new constitution that replaced the Articles of Confederation which was not working at that time because it does not have a court system and the central government could not even force a state to pay taxes. 55 delegates from eleven states were called for a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to create a stronger government that can hold the new nation together. They were thinking to write a new constitution to guard against tyranny. Tyranny is defined as one individual who controls all the power which was the thing that the colonists were trying to avoid. The ways that the Constitution guarded against tyranny were by separation of powers, checks and balances, and the equality between large and small states.
“The Framers of the Constitution and the ‘Genius’ of the People” written by Alfred E. Young is an article which was originally written in a newspaper called In These Times. In his article he explains the process the delegates went through at the constitutional convention and how revolutionary this moment in our history was. They were the first to form a totally new form of government and to do it in a way that didn’t involve much dispute. Delegates were originally called to revise the Article of Confederation but instead they decided to frame and entirely new document, the Constitution. The Framers wanted to create something completely unlike the monarchy they came from.
After securing its independence from Britain, America was immediately faced with a crisis of how the budding country should be governed. The Articles of Confederation was the first effort to establish a democratic government in the US; however, this feeble attempt at a creating a stable government failed due to a lack of control over the states. Rather than a functioning authority in the nation, the Articles created a “firm league of friendship” between the states. To remedy this pathetic excuse for a ruling body, a Constitution was drafted, and rival sides emerged quickly on the main issues the new document was supposed to address. Two men that embodied this conflict were Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, both passionate patriots who strongly believed that their proposed forms of government were in the best interests of the country, but they disagreed fundamentally on what that form of government should be.
Eleven scores and ten years ago the Framers of our fine country gave birth to a new documentation system of government which still holds deep roots today. They called it the constitution of the United States. Some of what this document laid out is the framework for divvying up the powers at be in the federal government as well as the state government, it tackled majority ruling, and promoted equality for all citizens. Before this, however, three wise men who were deeply involved in politics and were worried about the future direction that the country was going in decided to come up with eighty-five what they called Federalist papers that would help ratify a new constitution. These three men are Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay more formally known as Publius.
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 signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, The 13 former colonies were undergoing an identity crisis. It was one thing to declare independence, but it was another to realize what you were now that you declared it. The Constitution was eventually written, at an attempt to create a more perfect union between the states. One of the amazing things about the Constitutional Convention was that the people knew most governments would result in either chance or war. They knew that what they were doing was sitting in a room and rationally trying to create a good government.
The Constitution shaped America into who we are today. It started with the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was “the nation’s first constitution and was written to create a firm league of friendship between the thirteen states”(Crouse, Slide 5). Eleven years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, the United States Constitution was created(Weatherman). After the United States finally won their independence from Great Britain, they spent their early years governed by the Articles of Confederation.
In The Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J Ellis, the founders of America-Washington, The Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Burr-are discussed and examined from top to bottom. He goes back in time and goes over the events that took place then, explaining to the reader how the decisions the leaders made created the ripple effect that it had on the current time period. Periods in the timeline such as Washington retiring from The Presidency, The arguing between the North and South side over African slave trade, and the issue of the countries national debt are examples of what he discusses. As the book progresses, the reader is given a chance to view the timeline of events from a modern perspective, and
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
Constitution 1The Constitution of the United States(1787)The development that prompted to the written work of the 1787constitution became out of disappointment with thefunctioning of the Articles of Confederation. Asearly as 1781, there were proposition to amendthe Articles. The key issue was that theCongress had no free saddling power, andwas reliant on the states for commitments itrequested from them. More than once from 1781 to1786 proposition were made for restricted taxingpower, typically a little altered obligation on importedgoods, yet every one foundered on the necessityof getting consistent sanction of all thestates. By 1786, Congress was largelyparalysized.
Each party present during the drafting of the Constitution had their own ideas about what it should accomplish. As a result, it was very difficult to formulate a document that appeased all groups and parties, who often voiced their opinions of how it should be written. The U.S. Constitution was the father of many worries concerning the rights of the people, the role of government, and the balance between the aristocrats and poor, the government and the people. The Federalists, or supporters of the Constitution, were not completely satisfied with the task they were given. They were supposed to revise the old Articles of Confederation, but they felt like it needed to be completely rewritten.
The Journey throughout the Colonies In the novel “Paul Revere's Ride” by David Hackett Fischer runs-through the difficult tasks Revere had to overcome in order create one of the most historic and misunderstood event is America’s history. Numerous of people have the interpretation that Paul Revere made this event happen by himself, but the novel it exposes every significant event and historic figure that he was not acting alone. Thus, these figures include; John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and many other important individuals. Not only does it provide us with the Perspective of the American side, but also the British side which examines British General Thomas Gage creating a better understanding surround the events leading up to the American Revolution.
Why was the Constitution a controversial document even as it was being written? Established in 1787 The Constitution was a controversial document because it was a document that could both solve the nation’s hardships and warped the Republican foundation. The Constitution on one hand would give the people a voice and the other would control the nation through a monarchy system. One of the controversies that arose from the creation of the Constitution was the question of management of commerce.