Framers View of the Constitution

Our history has always been about doing this differently. It has been our desire since the infancy of our nation to create the most uniquely successful geographical brotherhood that had ever been witnessed. This began with the “city on a hill”, was fueled by the American Revolution, but was culminated by the United States Constitution. Years in the making, the product of a successful war but a failure known as the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution has been the pride and joy of our nation since its creation. However, America has changed much in 235 years. The Internet has come to not only exist but encompass many aspects of our daily life, muskets have made way to weapons that can be hidden in clothes and disperse over a dozen rounds in seconds, and enemies against our nation have made our government begin to look within to prevent the next big attack. There are even differences in the psychology of those in governmental power. It is enough to make some wonder whether or not some documents, even those that are historic and iconic, can become obsolete. The United States Constitution is being challenged like never before by the post-millennium era of America.

First, a comparison should be made between two vastly different mindsets: the one of the Framers of our Constitution, and the society we live in today. In the late eighteenth century, America was still in its infancy, and it had been a difficult childbirth; the nation was still rebuilding from the Revolutionary War, the nation was trying to begin efforts to build international relations, and the founding fathers had just watched the Articles of Confederation completely collapse upon themselves. Several integral pieces were put together to make the Constitution a who...

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...ainly never designed to be bulletproof. The twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights which has been examined in part here, indicate the government’s responsibility to continue to uphold the spirit of the Constitution, to the point of editing the literal text through amendments to achieve that end. The expansion of the Internet, the development and illegal use of semi-automatic and automatic weapons, and the use of surveillance technology by law enforcement and counterterrorism operatives have put a strain on the Constitution that has not before been seen by most who are alive today. It is the responsibility of our entire government – legislative, executive, and judicial – to protect the Constitution at all costs, even if it means changing it to uphold its intent within a modern world.

Works Cited

Introduction to Political Science