Dbq The Constitution

Over the next few years it became evident that the system of government that had been chosen was not strong enough to completely settle and defend the frontier, regulating trade, currency and commerce, and organizing thirteen states into one union. So in the summer of 1787 delegates from the twelve states convened in Philadelphia to draft a new Constitution. They proposed a strong national government that would assume many of the powers previously imposed upon the states. (1) “No sooner than had the Continental Congress laid the proposed Constitution before the people for ratification, ” Irving Brant writes, “than a cry went up: it contained no Bill of Rights.”(2) People objected because the liberties they had fought for in the Revolution were not being protected by the Constitution, and then could be ignored by the federal government. The Anti-Federalist called for another convention to outline a Bill of Rights before the Constitution was approved.

The fifty-five delegates who met in the Old State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia did more than revise the Articles: they drafted a new document as a replacement. From May 14th through September 17th, they considered plans an... ... middle of paper ... ...between the states. This lead to The Constitutional Convention which was created to a government with enough power to act on a national level, but without so much power that any fundamental rights would be at risk. One way that this was accomplished was to separate the power of government into three branches, which included checks and balances on those powers to assure that no branch of government, gained supremacy. Now some strength the Constitution has are setting our basic human rights (amendments), fairness and equality to all, separation of powers, separation of church and state, the limitation to power in terms of office, separate voting times.

The articles of Confederation were the first attempt at a federal government for the United States. They only lasted for about seven years (1781- 1788) until they were they were thrown out and replaced by the Constitution As a whole, they did not lay out a very strong or effective central government. Some positive things were accomplished, but the biggest accomplishment of the Articles was that they pointed put what would not work for the United States and they paved a was for the writing of the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation started out as a radical plan for a strong central government written by John Dickinson in 1776. By the time there were approved by Congress, the Articles were an extremely watered-down version of Dickinson’s original plan.

It was a long process that joined the best ideals from a democracy system with those of a republic. The Constitution was created on September 17, 1787 but was not ratified until June 1788 due to heated debates about what should or should not be in the constitution. The two groups that emerged during the drafting of the Constitution were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted a strong national government that could protect the states, maintain order across a large nation, regulate trade and protect citizen’s rights. Anti-Federalists desired a weak national government and strong state governments.

For five years after Revolutionary war each state basically governed themselves. Although there was national government in place, it held little power over the states. It soon became apparent that the Articles of Confederation needed to be readdressed to combat the increasing problems that were brewing in the country. The first attempt to redress was dismissed by many of the states. Nevertheless, a second attempt produced results with twelve of the states sending delegates to redress the Articles of Confederation.

Federalist believed that a strong federal government was essential to establish foreign policy a... ... middle of paper ... ...protect the Liberty of all citizens that any State would be able to do alone. Conclusion Of the 55 delegates sent to the Constitutional Convention, only 39 signed the completed document. Some did not even stay through the entire event because they felt it was headed in a direction that they could not support. These men had different reasons for their objections, some of which are discussed in this paper, but most importantly, they felt that the Constitution would threaten Liberty rather than secure it. The ratification of the Constitution was an essential first step to secure and stabilize this new national, but the voices and views of the Anti-Federalist were also very important.

The Constitution and Individual Rights In the 1780s, many people agreed that the Articles of Confederation were not a strong enough plan of government for a newly born nation. Even though The Articles of Confederation won the Revolutionary War, there were many problems with the plan of government. The Articles of Confederation was made to prevent a strong national government and it only gave each state one vote in the Confederation Congress. It could not raise money and it only had one branch, the Legislature. In 1786, delegates from each state went to Philadelphia to draft a new Constitution for the United States.

The Articles of Confederation, as the preliminary constitution was christened, had been the bylaws of the United States for six years. It was intended to govern the nation until 1790. However, it was determined to be simply too ineffective because it lacked the power to levy taxes, required the unanimous approval of all thirteen states to be amended meaning it was virtually impossible for changes to be made, and regulate commerce which caused competition between states. According to the first president of the United States, George Washington, the original constitution was “a half-starved, limping Government, that appears to be always moving upon crutches and tottering at every step” (qtd. in Smith 11).

This convention was to be held to fix the government and stop other occurrences, such as Shays' Rebellion, from ever happening again. When the Founding Fathers went to Philladelphia, they quickly decided that their gov... ... middle of paper ... ...ticles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States. A few years later, the Founding Fathers found out that the Articles weren't working as they had in mind and they then went to Philladelphia to revise it. When they go there, there were many disagreements about slavery and representation. To stop these arguments, the Connecticut and the Three-fifths Compromise was made.

After this period of eight years, the "Critical Period", the light at the end of the tunnel arrived with Thomas Jefferson writing the Constitution. It delegated the power, at the discretion of the people. It was designed to be amended; the great minds who designed it realized that they themselves were not infallible, and could make mistakes. The beauty of the Constitution was that it allowed for these mistakes. Instead of the outrageous unanimous vote of states to change it, two-thirds of Congress and then three-fourths of the states must approve.