Articles v Constitution
While the country was just three years old, and was being governed by the weak Articles of Confederation, there were obvious disturbances calling for a new form of government. In 1786, a band of farmers rallied together under the Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shay. The farmers believed that the Constitution of Massachusetts unfairly took away farmer's lands to settle the debts of the farmers. The rebels marched onto Springfield, Massachusetts. The group was turned away by a militia led by General Ben Jackson. This event scared many government officials so a convention at Annapolis was called. The Annapolis Convention, which was held at the capital of Maryland, was poorly attended. Only eight states sent delegates, amassing thirteen delegates in all. The convention, which was called by Virginia, was to discuss the erratic relationships among the states with trade and currency. What was decided was that a meeting would take place in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 that would establish better unity and relationships between the states. The brainchild of this convention came out to be one of the most important documents in history, a document that is always described as living, a document that
There is a reason why our Constitution of the United States of America is considered to be a living breathing document, a document that can be changed for the people and by the people, a document that has influenced may other governments such as Liberia, a document that still applies today, 212 years after it was originally drafted. This reason is that the framers were not only able to see what they wanted or what their state wanted, but they managed to support the majority yet also keep the rights of minorities intact. The Constitution is so great because it is composed of compromises motivated by different political, social, and economical interests. Alexander Hamilton proposed the plan that was most contradictory to the Virginia Plan called the British Plan. The British Plan outlined ideas to have a very powerful leader that is the head of the country. He had absolute power over vetoes, and served a life-term service. The only representation the people had in this plan was to choose electors, part of the lower house, who chose the elected, part of the upper house, who chose the leader, called the Governor. Different social aspects were compromised on as well. In the Great Compromise, it was really a compromise between The Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan "against" Hamilton's British Plan. The issue was really who was going to elect our Senators and our House of Representatives and who would be able to run for these spots. The Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan both aimed at white land owning males running for these spots. Hamilton's Plan was aimed towards the aristocracy to run for the spots. Also, Hamilton's system would allow for more corruption because the lower house voted for the upper house, making it easier for bribery. The upper house would in turn elect the "Governor" which is much like the electoral college. The social compromises of the 3/5th Compromise are quite apparent. The North still strongly felt that if the social standing of slaves in the South is property, then why should they count for population? The North brings up a strong case but are pushed back by the South's census argument. The compromise was made. The social compromises in the Bill of Rights are the most intriguing of them all. Under these arrangements, the Anti-Federalists and the rest of the citizens in the United States are guaranteed basic political and social freedoms. The 8th Amendment about no cruel and unusual punishment is a prime example of this. For the economics, a different compromise is going to be shown. At this time, many northerners began to think about slavery. Most of them started to believe about how immoral and evil it was. Also, every time new slaves came into the United States, the South gained more power. The North wanted this ended. The South believed that slavery was the heart and sole for their economy. The South said an immediate abolishment of external slave trade would crush them and their crops. The North and the South agreed on ending slavery in 1808, twenty years ahead. The economical factors that came into this are high. The slave captors in Africa would be put out of business, the merchants who brought the slaves over on their ships would be put out of business, and so would the auction houses. One of the first plans proposed was by James Madison of Virginia. Madison went to Philadelphia two weeks early so he could help decide what exactly wanted to be accomplished at the Constitutional Convention. James Madison and the rest of the Virginian delegates pounded out the Virginia Plan. Like Montesquie had proposed in his book Leviathan, Madison wanted separation of powers, a rudimentary judiciary branch (wi
Some common words found in the essay are:
Bill Rights, Articles Confederation, Virginia Plan, Rhode Island, Hamilton's Plan, Annapolis Convention, Articles Confederations, United America, North South, British Plan, bill rights, virginia plan, articles confederation, upper house, jersey plan, equal representation, slaves count, social economical, federal government, rhode island, rhode island equal, virginia plan jersey, representation based population, social economical political, political social economical,
Approximate Word count = 2485
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
