Constitution 2 Essay, Research Paper
“Thank God it was ratified!” With the Constitution the elite society protected rights for every American that would secure and ensure our nation’s existence for hundreds of years. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States’ government was in a state of chaos. To end the existing chaos and build a stronger democratic society for the future, the government would need to be more powerful and centralized. Thus, the elite class established the rules and boundaries that would protect the rights of all citizens from a suppressive government. The Articles created a weak, almost nonexistent national government that was in complete control by the states. The newly formed government had neither an executive or judicial branch, which meant that it lacked enforcement powers. There were three problems that existed under the Articles of Confederation that would spawn an act of change. First, under the Articles of Confederation the government could not protect property and other rights of the citizens. Second, the society created under the Articles of Confederation lacked a means of advancing commerce and interstate trade. Third, government lacked the money and power to provide an adequate national defense. Traders and commercial men found their plans for commerce on a national scale impeded by local interference with interstate commerce. The currency of the states and the nation were hopelessly muddled. Creditors everywhere were angry about the depreciated paper money which the agrarians had made and were attempting to force upon those from whom they had borrowed specie. Poor, small landowning farmers could not sell or trade goods that they produced on their land to other states. The “muddled currency” in 1786, led to the loss of land in Massachusetts. During this time Continental army veterans were unable to pay their debts with the paper money that they were supplied with by the Continental Congress. This bankruptcy led to the loss of land and a great rebellion led by Daniel Shays. The Shay’s rebellion was ended easily enough but it was the lack of national government that frightened people. Had Daniel Shays gathered a larger number of people and had more fire power the small amount of farmers and townspeople might not have been able to squash this rebellion. Anarchy in the States could not be tolerated. However it was James Madison that stated that the way to abolish the rule by faction is to abolish liberty but that liberty is essential to a faction as air is to fire. Madison continues to state that, “The inference to which we are brought is, that the causes of faction cannot be removed; and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.” Madison understood that to take away liberty was to stop a faction and therefore if a hindrance or boundary on liberty was established it would control the rule by faction. Madison was opposed to complete abolishment of liberty and therefore the most reasonable decision was to place boundaries on it. Madison and the elite class noticed how the Articles of Confederation disrupted the majority of the American people and created a system of government where liberty was so free that it hindered society. The decision to create a new system of government was in the best interest of all the people in America. In creating the Constitution there were many conflicting views of how the newly created government should function. Alexander Hamilton, wanted a strong central government in which a Senate and executive power were chosen for life by indirect election; therefore creating an aristocracy. George Mason, an antifederalist, objected to the final document because of the possibility that this new government would create an aristocracy. Mason also proposed that, “there is no declaration of Rights” and the “Legislature [cannot prohibit] the further Importation of Slaves,” which he felt was destructive of the country’s moral fiber. On the Bill of Rights issue, the government did not need regulations that stated what it cannot do because a government cannot act unless it is stated within the law. If there was not a law that stated that they could censor the press then it is illegal for them to do so. Mason and many other antifederalists were opposed to the Constitution because it allowed the importation of slaves for at least another twenty years. Without this clause in the Constitution it never would have been ratified because the South would not have voted for ratification denying the Constitution the three fourths vote that it needed. Although the importation of slaves in the Constitution was not ideal there was not a way to ratify the Constitution without the South’s vote on this issue. Charles A. Beard criticizes the creators of the Constitution deeming that, “the direct, impelling motive was the economic advantages which the beneficiaries expected would accrue to themselves first, from their action.” Beard continues his evaluation on the framers by citing that, “Not one member represented in his immediate personal economic interests the small farming or mechanic classes.” Beard cites more of his facts in that, “The overwhelming majority of members, at least five-sixths, were immediately, directly, and personally interested in the outcome of their labors at Philadelphia.” In his report Beard seems to cite numerous facts which prove that his statement is correct in that the framers had personal concerns that outweighed the democratic sincerety of the new government. Beard’s examples are so precise as to say that, “five-sixths were personally interested in the outcome of their labors,” that it is unbelievable that such a fact could be true. Was a poll taken during this time on whether the framers had personal intents in the creation and ratification of the Constitution? Beard’s thesis seems so ridiculous that it needs to be taken with a grain of salt and as Robert Brown stated that Beard’s thesis if accepted is done so on ‘an act of faith’ and not an analysis of historical method. There were a few problems within the Constitution of the United States of America, but the effects that it produced in society were far more positive than that of the Articles of Confederation. The chaos that was constructed under the Articles were legally banned under the Constitution. The slave trade and acts of slavery would last many more years but finally it was ended very bloodily. Although the history of the United States has not always been a happy one the ratification of the Constitution still is one of America’s best accomplishments. [an error occurred while processing this directive]