Pros And Cons Of The Constitution

The Constitution came to fruition as an answer for the issues and numerous shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. Not every person concurred with the Constitution or even the said issues emerging from the Articles of Confederation. These people were called Anti-Federalists and their thoughts would not be as effective as the thoughts of the Federalists, since Anti-Federalist thought's reflected numerous qualities of the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution should have been endorsed with a specific end goal to conjure change and solvethe issues of the Articles of Confederation. The Federalists had the plans to make the country the best is could be, and also sufficiently giving rights to citizens.

New powers were granted to Congress to regulate the economy, currency, and the national defense, but provisions which would give the national government a veto power over new state laws was rejected. At the insistence of delegates from southern states, Congress was denied the power to limit the slave trade for a minimum of twenty years and slaves--although denied the vote and not recognized as citizens by those states--were allowed to be counted as 3/5 persons for the purpose of apportioning representatives and determining electoral votes. Most importantly, perhaps, delegates compromised on the thorny issue of apportioning members of Congress, an issue that had bitterly divided the larger and smaller states. Under a plan put forward by delegate Roger Sherman of Connecticut ("the Connecticut Compromise"), representation in the House of Representatives would be based on population while each state would be guaranteed an equal two senators in the new

In the late 1700’s, it was America’s goal to create a republic that had a representative government that was based upon the approval of the people. Unfortunately, the people feared a strong central government because of the previous trouble the colonies had when they were ruled by Britain. They were always being unfairly taxed and had very few rights. In order to avoid this, a very weak government was developed that seemed to satisfy the people, but would not satisfy the well being of the country. It wasn’t until Shay’s rebellion which brought light to the fact that the Articles of Confederation were not going to cut it, so the Constitutional Convention was created and convened to find an alternative solution which was the creation of the Constitution.

A main concern was a large nation that would entail corruption or absolute power. Madison stressed that a large republic had so many

“The accumulation of all powers..in the same hands, whether of one or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1788) ( Background Essay) This quote explains the reasoning for one of the framers, (B) Separation of Powers. The framers of the constitution were created to prevent tyranny and create a stronger government that would hold the nation together. Tyranny ultimately means harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual-- like a king or dictator. The constitution guarded against tyranny in 4 ways: (A)Federalism, (B)Separation of Powers, (C)Checks & Balances, and (D)Small State-Large State.

The Constitution united the states in a more structured and governed body, while allowing the states to have some individually, and protected all rights of people specified in the Bill of Rights. The main fear in the constitution was that the central governing power in federal government would create a tyrant, something the colonists feared from their experience as being part of the British empire. Because of this, the founding fathers divided all the powers in the federal government into branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is in check with the others, and makes it extremely hard for the country to fall into

After fighting for so long and hard to secure independence from the British rule, the young United States of America needed to come together to form a strong nation. Having literally sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears to free themselves from the tyrannical oppression of an over-powered central government, the people wanted to ensure that they would not be trading one for another. There needed to exist a means to effect a measure of equality and security for the newly founded country. The Constitution aimed to do just that.

Out of this need, the Articles of Confederation were born. They lasted for a short time, but were ultimately too weak to ensure the survival of our nation. We needed a way to keep our nation together, but many people were afraid that a document that gave our federal government too much power would put us in the same position we had just escaped, thus the United States Constitution was born. This document laid out the framework of the government of our nation, laid out the branches of it, its checks and balances, explained its purpose, and very carefully and deliberately named each and every one of its powers. The Constitution did more than that though, it also laid out the basis of the rights of every state of the union, as well as the rights of every citizen of the nation, and stated that our rights are not limited to those listed in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, rather they are too many to name, and that it is the government that is limited based on what is written in the Constitution.

After deciding to write a new constitution, the delegates could not decide what new form the government should take. One of the options was the Virginia Plan created by Edmund Randolph and James Madison. The plan included a strong government with three branches (the legislative branch, The judicial branch, and the executive branch). In the Virginia Plan, the legislator would consist of two houses and seats would be awarded on the basis of the population. Due to the fact that the seats are awarded based on population, larger states would have more representatives than smaller states.

The Constitution, therefore, dictated that there would be three governmental bodies: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. This was the measure that people like James Madison and John Jay took so that the states would not be ruled by one supreme government, they would instead spread the power out into three different sections of government. This is called limits on power, and the Constitution used limits on power to assure the American people that there would be no, one, overarching leader, which kept the democratic society, but with regulations so that the states would not be bound to a trust system. The Constitution instilled a greater sense of protection within the United States because of this. In the Articles of Confederation, the power was held by the heads of states, and moreover, by the central leaders of those states.

Under this constitution nearly all control was given to the states. Nevertheless, while the Articles was weakening due to not having much power over the states, the new and improved Constitution was able to generate something greater. They built a strong central government that united the country as one. The Constitution

The purpose of the constitution was to give America rules but without giving people to much power. First it creates a national government consisting of a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch, with a system of checks and balances among the three branches. It also makes the government system fair and not one sided. The constitution also

After the United States declared independence from Great Britain. The Article of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States. After a year of reflection, it was submitted to the states for ratification in 1777. It was not approved until 1781. After weak years with the Article of Confederation, in 1789 the Constitution was adopted.

These authorities that the national government should have, were all up to the states to decide under the Articles. With the taking away some of the states rights in the Constitution, Anti-federalists feared that this would leave the states too weak, resulting in more problems. Under the new Constitution, many powers that were now in the government 's hands are: the power to levy and collect taxes, the power to regulate interstate commerce, the government set up a national court system consisting of district, circuit, and a supreme court, the government could enforce laws, there was now a house based on population, and a senate based on equal representation (two votes per state), to amend the Constitution, a ⅔ vote of Congress was needed, and a ¾ vote of the states were needed, and a majority rule was needed to pass bills. These new powers and abilities of the national government helped to create a strong, new

“The accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether one, a few, or many… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny. ”-James Madison. Fifty-five delegates, from the thirteen states, met in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to discuss and revise the Articles of Confederation. The chief executive and the representatives worked to create a frame for what is now our Constitution. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in four ways; Federalism that creates a State and Federal government, Separation of Powers that gives equal power to the three branches, Checks and Balances that create balance in the three branches by checking each other and being checked and the Small States vs the Big States ensures an equal voice for all states no matter what their size.