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democratic republicans vs federalists
The relationship between the states and the federal government
the u.s constitution then and now
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Throughout history, especially when a new country is formed, there are many controversial issues. These issues come up when not everyone agrees on how the country should be run. In the United States, especially in the early years, there were various issues. These issues split the United States into 2 political parties. In the early 1800’s, these 2 parties were the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists. Democratic Republicans believed in a strong state government. The Federalist believed in a strong central government. Some of the issues they disagreed on were ratification of the Constitution and the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Before the Constitution came to be, the United States had a set of laws called the Articles of Confederation, which were approved in 1781. The Articles of Confederation gave a lot of power to the states and not very much to the central government. Very soon after the Articles of Confederation was created, many problems came up. As it states in Document 1, Congress could not tax or pay its bills or debts. It could neither protect its country from mercantilist European empires nor supply the army. They could not even revise the Articles of Confederation in order to be able to levy taxes since it needed the unanimous consent of all thirteen states. The state was much too powerful, leaving the federal government almost powerless. In 1787, 55 delegates from 12 states convened to revise the Articles of Confederation. During the convention, they came up with a plan that created three branches to the Federal government. The constitution created a strong government with lots of power given to the Federal government and stripped the state government of a lot of its power. This created 2 sides, Federalist... ... middle of paper ... ...ew Orleans. Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on an expedition, to scout and map the newly acquired territory, hopefully encouraging settlement there and proving that the land was good. Although now the nation’s territorial expansion has ended, the westward movement of people continues to this day. America had multiple controversial issues to deal with, especially as a newly formed republic. Although these issues create tension within the government, it strengthened the country to bring it to where it stands today. The ratification of the constitution strengthened United States by giving its federal government power. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory strengthened United States by expanding its land, thereby expanding its dominance in world politics. Works Cited Prentice Hall - America – Pathways to the Present-Pages 132, 133, 139, 140, 141, 142, 186, 187
The thirteen states formed a Confederation referred to as the “league of friendship” in order to find a solution for common problems such as foreign affairs.The Articles of Confederation was the nation’s first Constitution. The articles created a loose Confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to the central government. Each state would have one vote in the house of Congress, no matter the size of the population. Members of the one-house Congress, such as Pennsylvania, agreed that the new government should be a unicameral legislature, without an executive branch or a separate judiciary. Under the articles, there wasn’t a strong independent executive. There wasn’t any judicial branch but Congress had the authority to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was responsible for conducting foreign affairs, declaring war or peace, maintaining an army and navy and a variety of other lesser functions. But the articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws. Because of this, the central government had to request donations from the states to finance its operations and raise armed forces.
Before the Constitution was drafted, the United States’ budding government, now independent from Great Britain, acted under a dysfunctional constitution called the Articles of Confederation. Although this constitution kept the new nation running, there were still flaws that needed to be fixed. The Articles of Confederation lacked a developed executive or judicial branch and a method for the main government to collect taxes from state governments, according to the background essay of the DBQ Packet. An assembly of fifty-five men eventually gathered for a Constitutional Convention in order to write a new constitution that would better satisfy the people’s needs. The trouble of creating another constitution lied behind creating a document
After the Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States still had a major task ahead of them. They had to form a new government that would satisfy the demands of the people and ensure the success of their nation. The Articles of Confederation was the first system of government that was proposed and put into effect. This attempt at creating a system that protected the people form a strong central government ultimately failed but was an important step in the development of the current government system. The weaknesses presented by the Articles of Confederation helped lead to reforms that made the Constitution successful. Both the Articles and the Constitution demonstrate the struggles that the colonists went through with the British and their desire to establish a new tyranny free government.
On December 20, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was finalized, which resulted in the transfer of power over the territory from France to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) served as the catalyst for Westward Expansion in American society. Furthermore, it was an examination of conscience for President Thomas Jefferson, as he grappled with the constitutionality of an acquisition of this magnitude. In addition to this, the Louisiana Purchase (1803) transformed America into the industrial and agricultural giant it has become. Had it not been for the Louisiana Purchase (1803), America as we know it today would not exist.
The Articles of Confederation was the first government of the United States. The Articles had created a very weak national government. At the time the Articles were approved, they had served the will of the people. Americans had just fought a war to get freedom from a great national authority--King George III (Patterson 34). But after this government was put to use, it was evident that it was not going to keep peace between the states. The conflicts got so frequent and malicious that George Washington wondered if the “United” States should be called a Union (Patterson 35). Shays’ Rebellion finally made it evident to the public that the government needed a change.
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was held to address problems in governing the United States which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation since it’s independence from Britain. Fifty-five delegates from the states attended the convention to address these issues. The delegates consisted of federalists who wanted a strong central government to maintain order and were mainly wealthier merchants and plantation owners and anti-federalists who were farmers, tradesmen and local politicians who feared losing their power and believed more power should be given to the states. The Constitutional Convention dealt with the issue of the debate between federalists and anti-federalists. The debates, arguments and compromises between those who supported a strong central government and those who favored more power for the states resulted in the creation of the United States Constitution which granted specific powers to the government and later, the Bill of Rights that protected the rights of the states and individuals.
Well, when it comes to politics it leads to divides such as the Federalists and the Republics. We see the first political divide race in the election of 1796 between the Federalist candidate, John Adams, and the Republican candidate, Thomas Jefferson. People like Adams, Washington, and Hamilton believed in broad construction. Broad constructionists believed that the Constitution is a broad framework with many blanks to be filled in along the way. In other words, they thought it was fine to “read between the lines” of the Constitution. While on the other hand people like Jefferson and Madison believed that there is “no read between the lines” the Constitution says what it says and we must follow it by those rules. Federalists also believed in strong/active federal government, faith in government order, pro-tax, and industrial/commercial economy. Conversely, the republicans wanted a weak/inactive federal government, they were fearful of the government, anti-tax, and agrarian economy. Federalists believed the future of our country was in commerce, business, trade, and industry. They thought a strong government was needed for the stability of international commerce. On the other hand, Republicans had a vision for the country that was based on agricultural production. They saw this happening in the rural Southern farmland. Republicans was believed in strict obedience of the Constitution because they thought it
The founding fathers composed the United State 's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, which was put into effect in 1781. Moreover, this constitution was known as the “league of friendship” and had major faults embedded within it. Consequently, these major faults lead to the formulation of a new constitution, the United States Constitution, which was put into effect in 1789, in which we still use today. The constitutions are both similar in retrospect but when one compares them directly the differences out lay the similarities. Regarding both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, many differences lay between them, specifically, the principle of Federalism and the distribution of power between the state and federal government. The distinctions between the two documents are evident in depicting why the Articles of Confederations and the Constitution were written and accepted at the time period.
Around the late 1780s, America realized that the government it was using did not work. The States were divided, not together since the Articles of Confederation only loosely bound them together. Each State had different foreign treaties, different laws, even different money. The Constitution was proposed, which would transform the states into a united nation with a single, republican government. Two parties arose who disagreed over whether it should be ratified or not; the federalists and the anti-federalists. The federalists were in favor of unifying the states into one government. The anti-federalists, on the other hand, wanted to fix the Articles of Confederation instead of throwing them out and creating a new government. The two sides had
The year of 1776 was a time of revolution, independence, and patriotism. American colonists had severed their umbilical cord to the Mother Country and declared themselves “Free and Independent States”.1 The chains of monarchy had been thrown off and a new government was formed. Shying away from a totalitarian government, the Second Continental Congress drafted a document called the Articles of Confederation which established a loose union of the states. It was an attempt at self-government that ended in failure. The Articles of Confederation had many defects which included a weak central government that lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, required equal representation and a unanimous vote to amend the Articles, and had only a legislative branch. As a result the United States lacked respect from foreign countries. These flaws were so severe that a new government had to be drafted and as a result the Constitution was born. This document remedied the weak points of the federal government and created one that was strong and fair, yet still governed by the people.
With the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the United States more than doubled its size. Now that the U.S. was in control of all of the new territory, Americans were free to roam and explore the newly acquired lands. Not to long after the purchase, President Thomas Jefferson had the U.S. Congress provide $2500, "to send intelligent officers with ten or twelve men, to explore even to the western ocean" (www.wikipedia.org). The main objectives of the crew were to study the western terrain, Indian tribes, geology, botany, and wildlife in the Louisiana territory. Another objective of the crew was to evaluate the interference of British and French trappers who were already well established in the newly
After the Declaration of Independence, U.S. became a nation but didn 't have a government to guide the nation. People, the early settlers, suffered by the excessive power of the Monarch so they wanted to incorporate the ideas of ordered government, limited government, and the representative government. Based on these ideas the Article of Confederation was created. Although it was too weak and inadequate to manage all of the states. As the weakness became palpable, the nation required stronger government system and that 's when the Constitution was created as it saved the nation from the crisis. One thing that made the creation of the Constitution possible was the Great Compromise, which was
Before the adoption of the United States Constitution, the U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation. These articles stated that almost every function of the government was chartered by the legislature known as Congress. There was no distinction between legislative or executive powers. This was a major shortcoming in how the United States was governed as many leaders became dissatisfied with how the government was structured by the Articles of Confederation. They felt that the government was too weak to effectively deal with the upcoming challenges. In 1787, an agreement was made by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a national judiciary needed to be established. This agreement became known as The Constitution of the United States, which explicitly granted certain powers to each of the three branches of the federal government, while reserving other powers exclusively to the states or to the people as individuals. It is, in its own words, “the supreme Law of the Land” (Shmoop Editorial Team).
Even before the Constitution was ratified, strong argument were made by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in the Federalist Papers urging the inclusion of a federal form of government to replace the failed confederation. In Federalist Paper No. 9 Hamilton states, “This form of government is a convention by which several smaller states agree to become members of a large one, which they intend to form. It is s kind of assemblage of societies that constitutes a new one, capable of increasing, by means of new associations, until they arrive to such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of a united body” (Usinfo.state.gov). The people of the United States needed a central government that was capable of holding certain powers over the states.
For most controversial issues one point of view is not enough to satisfy and fully comprehend issues in question. In order to increase and deepen our knowledge of them, we must seek various perspectives on those particular situations. Now, this is easier said than done; usually, it is difficult for us to see issues from the perspective of others, (Chaffee, 2004). In the passage that you considered for your discussion, I notice an important statement issued by the professional society’s ethics committee, and I quote: “it is sometimes acceptable for couples to choose the sex of their children…”, (Chaffee, 2004, p. 61). In order to take a definitely stand, I consider that we must investigate on which circumstances is this practice acceptable.