King And The Constitution example essay topic

In the years after the Revolution, the Articles of Confederation were put into power as an attempt of a republic government. The Confederation failed miserably and a Constitutional Convention was held in Annapolis and then in Philadelphia. They drew up a Constitution that was not supported by a group called the Anti- Federalists. Even with this opposition, the Constitution became the backbone of the first government of the United States of America and one of the best pieces of writing in America and the world. The Federalists of the time included upper classes, merchants, and many people who knew the country would be stronger when it could control and adjust power. Some important people affiliated with the Federalists include George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Samuel Adams and John Hay.

Alexander Hamilton helped ratify the Constitution more than any one and believed that the president should have rule for life. Federalists wanted a strong central government. They made it so that the power between the states and Federal government. They made a system of checks and balances that would not allow any one branch of government to get too much power. Anti- federalists did not trust this. The Anti- Federalist were made up by small shopkeepers, debtors, farmers, down struck people.

Some prominent figures were Richard Henry Lee, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and George Clinton of New York. The people also saw themselves of a particular state rather than the country as a whole. They did not like the fact that the Bill of Rights had to be added, power to tax, and how the president was elected; by the Electoral College. The major fear of the Anti- Feds was the power of the president. The power was so indeterminate and likely to develop.

The president could become a king, resulting in loss of rights for states and rule of only the wealthy. There was a lack of guaranteed individual rights. Debate over ratification followed regional economic interests. Saying the Articles of Confederation was not successful is an understatement.

The Articles failed horribly. In the Articles, Congress could not gather taxes; regulate interstate trade or foreign trade. Each state had only one vote in Congress, regardless of population and nine out of thirteen states had to agree to pass law. The Articles could only be amended by a unanimous approval of all states. No executive branch was set up and there was no national court system to settle legal disputes that led to a lack of national unity. Some events leading to overhaul were that the British still had forts in Great Lakes and French were building more forts in the north.

Also, inflation put country in financial despair. The straw that broke the camel's back was Shay's rebellion on Springfield. It showed clash between local and national interests. The Constitution had so much opposition with the Anti-Federalists, but the fact that it could be understood in different ways helped it succeed. The Constitution got out of the Convention when the inner conflicts were solved through three compromises.

In Virginia, the people wanted a Congress made up of more representatives for more people, while the people in New Jersey wanted one rep. per state. In the Great Compromise, two houses were setup for the legislative branch. The House of Reps. Having votes per population and the Senate, having 2 Senators per State (this protects small states). The conflict between the North and South was that the North felt that representation in Congress should be based on the number of total people and South felt that it should be based on number of whites.

The Three Fifths Compromise settled this when it was said a slave will count as 3/5 of a free person of representatives and taxation. The Constitution was helped to be ratified later, by the writing of The Federalists Papers, which were 85 articles supporting the ratification appearing throughout the country, but most importantly in New York and Virginia. It was fortunate that the ratification convention in New York and Virginia, the most important were later on the schedule and pressure was rising for them to approve because seven states already had done so. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are similar because D of I stated the grievances the people had against the king and the Constitution created laws to protect the rights of people that were not protected by the king. The Declaration was the promise, the Constitution was the fulfillment.

For example, the grievance "He has kept soldiers quartered during times of peace" goes with Amendment 3, and "He has deprived us in many cases of a Trial by Jury" goes with Amendment 6. The comparisons of the documents are connected to our discussions of historical repetition and legacy. Like the Magna Carta, the Declaration was written to control the power of a ruler, in this case, a king. The English Bill of Rights was also used to construct our Bill of Rights. All in all, the framers of the Constitution were intelligent people who used other masterful works of writing to write this masterpiece. They went against the opposing anti- feds and conflicts within themselves by using compromises.

The Constitution turned out to be a great piece of writing that brought equality and balance to the new country.