During 1787, there was major controversy over the Articles of Confederation. To fix the controversy, the founding fathers of America came up with the Constitution to help resolve the issues. The Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788; it provided a new central government, laws, and certain basic rights for the American people. Many of the ideas in the Constitution were influenced by French Enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and John Locke. Thomas Hobbes influenced the American Constitution in many ways. He wrote the Social contract, which provided one of the basis’ for America’s government. Thomas Hobbes was alive during the English Civil War, and was against the theory, the Divine Rights of Kings. The …show more content…
He based his beliefs off of the ideas that all men are created good-natured, but society corrupts them. Unlike some other French Enlightenment thinkers, Rousseau believed that the Social contract was not a willing agreement. He also said that no man should be forced to give up their natural rights to a ruler. He came up with the solution that people should “give up” their natural rights to the community for the public’s good. He believed in a democratic government. He stated that the government would protect the people’s life, liberty, and property as long as they followed the laws that were put in place by the government. When the founding fathers came up with the Constitution, they came up with the Bill of rights; it is a series of amendments that protected the peoples’ rights. The most known amendments in the Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments. In the Bill of Rights, Amendment one says that people have freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly. Amendment two says that people have the right to bear arms. Amendment three says that quartering of soldiers is prohibited. Amendment four says that it is legal for the law to issue search and seizures without a warrant. Amendment five states that a person cannot be put in jail until they are trialed by jury. Amendment six states that people have the right to a speedy trial. Amendment seven states that
fter the Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolution and recognized the United States of America as an independent nation, the Founding Fathers were made responsible for creating a government for the United States of America. They initially founded the Articles of Confederation, a weak government, out of fear of a strong, powerful one like Great Britain. Shortly after, however, the Founding Fathers noticed that the Articles of Confederation were failing. An enduring issue that connects to this time period is the enduring issue of conflict because the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were the root cause of many conflicts between and in the states, as shown in Documents 1 and 2. Documents 1 and 2 both summarize the major flaws of the Articles of Confederation and the many conflicts they sparked.
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, but there was a grapple for its ratification that went on until about two decades after the ratification. Members of Congress believed that the first government of the United States or the Articles of Confederation, needed to be adjusted while others did not want anything to change. After the Revolutionary War, the people did not want a strong central government, because it reminded them too much of what they were trying to escape from. Under the Articles, each state had their own laws, and the need for a new Constitution was desired by many. The Constitution of 1787 created huge debates, arguments and splits in the nation that lasted for several year after its ratification between people who
The structure and powers of the federal government changed under the Constitution as compared to the Articles of Confederation. Many people, known as the anti-Federalists, opposed these changes while on the contrary, many people, known as the Federalists, supported them. The framework and function of the federal government changed drastically under the Constitution. The federal government was much stronger under the Constitution because it was given the power to run the states under more unified control.
The Constitution will fix America and is critical to our safety. The Articles of Confederation are faulty and a stronger new national government is needed in order to be strong enough to protect the people. At the moment, National Government has no money or authority. Giving government power to tax helps us prosper and gives us more protection. Britain is still keeping forts on our land and Spanish will not let us use the Mississippi River.
Ratification DBQ The Constitution is a document that still stands as America’s governing body, proving its strength and ability to stand the test of time. Although some aspects of the document are debated and the argument of what is and what is not constitutional is discussed often, it has proven to be right for America and its people. However, in the late 1700s, not everyone saw the Constitution as strong and supported its state-power-heavy predecessor, The Articles of Confederation.
In 1777, the Continental Congress completed the first written American constitution, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was created to form an alliance between the 13 colonies. It was working out well in the beginning until serious problems started to appear. Those were money problems and most importantly, a weak government. One issue the Articles of Confederation had, was the major money issues inflicted upon the union which harmed the coherency of our country.
John Locke was a philosopher, and political scientist. He believed democracy was a considerably better form of government than a monarchy. Thomas Jefferson was the third U.S. president, and was one of America’s founding fathers. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence, and played a key role in the institution of the United States of America. John Locke was a very influential person when it came to Thomas Jefferson and the ideas within the Declaration of Independence.
The Articles of Confederation Introduction The Articles of Confederation is a document that was signed by the thirteen original colonies of the United States and officially ratified in 1781. It served as the first constitution of the United States, and it lays out the organization of the fledgling republic. Along with the Declaration of Independence, it is one of the most important documents in American history. The Articles of Confederation had its flaws, but it is still an important document that set the framework for the government of the United States.
The American government that we know today, had many troubles when it first came together when the Constitution was first ratified in 1788. There had been many failed attempts at creating a new and successful government, such as the Articles of Confederation the first plan for the new American government. This proved to be very unsuccessful because the states held all federal power, while the national government had very little. In order to please both the Federalists and the Anti-Federalist, each party agreed to the Constitution with the addition of the Bill of Rights. Documents like the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the above documents are heavily influenced by the writings of John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu,
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives,” - James Madison. James Madison, the fourth president of the United States of America, known as the ‘father of the Constitution’, and founder of the Democratic Republican party. For all that he accomplished, James Madison deserves an A for the work he did as president. According to the textbook, Madison was a hard worker and had a thirst for learning.
In the late 1700’s, James Madison wrote the first Ten Amendments that are listed in the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights were written to ensure American citizens that they have freedoms and rights that the government can 't infringe. Out of the Ten Amendments, I believe that the First and Eighth Amendment are the most significant. The First Amendment grants us freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and for people to assemble peaceably.
Following the Revolutionary War, America had just gained independance from Great Britain and needed to form a new government. The Articles of Confederation were established as an attempt to create a government that was unlike Britain’s. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had several weaknesses. When in the process of repairing those weaknesses, the Federalists and the Anti-federalists formed. The Articles of Confederation were very weak as well as useless to America and because of this, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists could not agree on a new type of government.
The United States confronted many problems once they gained their independence from Great Britain. One of the biggest problems was their form of government at that time, which was stated in the Articles of Confederation. This presented many problem to the states, as stated in a document about the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, some of the problems of the Articles of Confederation were the poor international trade, poor foreign relations, weak economy, and Shay’s Rebellion. The people, specifically the Federalists, wanted a new government because of the weakness of the government at that moment. According to many history books, the government also faced financial problems and tried to resolve them by taxing the states, because
The Enlightenment was a time period in which people began to embrace individuality and many Enlightenment thinkers arose. The Enlightenment was a movement that was highly based upon reason and logic. It occurred around the mid-1700’s and helped develop a new way of life. John Locke was an influential thinker during this time. John Locke is a french philosopher and writer who developed Natural Rights.
Author's name and Qualifications The Bill of Rights is a formal document that has the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution; so the author of the ninth amendment was James Madison who wrote the Bill of Rights. On June 8, 1789, James Madison went to the U.S. Congress and proposed a series of changes to the new Constitution. He argued that the Constitution wouldn’t be complete unless amendments were added that would only protected an individuals' rights. One of his qualifications was that Madison had gone to preparatory school and then to college at Princeton.