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Challenges Addressed At The Constitutional Convention

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Challenges Addressed at the Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 sought to address several pressing challenges facing the newly formed United States, including the weakness of the central government and the conflicts over representation in the legislature. The Constitution, as ratified in 1788 and amended through the Bill of Rights in 1791, addressed many of these issues, though some would persist and evolve during the early decades of the nation's history. Two major challenges addressed at the Convention included the balance of power between the central government and the states, and the nature of representation in the legislature. It can be argued that while the Constitution made significant strides in addressing …show more content…

The Articles of Confederation had left the central government weak and ineffectual, prompting the call for the Constitutional Convention . As James Madison argued in Federalist No. 10, "The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice.” To address this issue, the Constitution established a system of checks and balances between the three branches of government, ensuring that no single branch would dominate . The separation of powers across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, along with checks and balances, made it difficult for any one branch to dominate the others. The Constitution further divided power in the legislature through bicameralism in Congress. These measures helped achieve stability in the early republic. This new framework provided the central government with the necessary authority to make decisions for the nation, while the Tenth Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, reserved powers not delegated to the United States to the states . This balance of power between federal and state authority was crucial in gaining ratification and addressing Anti-Federalist concerns about …show more content…

However, the ongoing debate over the balance of power between the federal government and the states, as well as the slavery issue, demonstrated that the Constitution was not a perfect solution to all of the nation's concerns. The debate over the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States and the Nullification Crisis of the 1830s are examples of the tensions between federal and state powers that would continue to shape the nation's political landscape . While the Constitution achieved a balance of power for a time, events such as these would show it was imperfect and subject to

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In the summer of 1787, the new government of the United States of America realized that there was a problem with their current government. Many parts of the constitution guards against tyranny because the new constitution has checks and balances, the separation of powers and federalism. The original problem that was called to the attention of the old government was the articles of confederation were very weak, and they needed to create a strong central government. According to document A, a quote by James Madison states, “The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will controlled by itself.” The central and state government will work together, which shows federalism.

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It was believed that our central shouldn’t have as much power as it did. The Federalist No. 10 papers were initially written to make sure that no branch has too much power, and thus, our Constitution was created and ratified. There are three types of branches in

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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

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Imran Hossain Christi Daylay Govt 2305 20 Sept. 2017 Various Compromise at the Constitutional Convention The Constitution Convention met and wrote the compromises, which balanced power between the federal government and state governments in 1787. Some issues were emerging at the constitution convention such as the large and small states.

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The federal government does not have full, complete power of the government, due to the fact the federal government has to power to tax, regulate commerce, and put laws into place if and only if laws are so called “necessary and proper.” Another thing was for each branch of government to have their own separation of powers and check and balance other branches of government. Either though, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists did not agree on ideas, the Constitution is a document of the general compromise between the two political parties. The weakness of the Articles of the Confederation was resolved through the compromise of the Federalists and Anti-federalists political

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“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.

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But many problem still challenged this new nation. After the Article of Confederation failing due to the weakness of the central government, the different states had to develop a new a form of government. But the different states did not seem to be agreeing on one single plan, the bigger states want the government to work in their favor, and the smaller states wanted equal representation in the government despite of size, wealth and population. All the delegates from the different states had to work together and make many different compromised to all agree one a well-drafted constitution. However, the ratification of this Constitution still faced many issues, some states wanted more individual state power and rights granted to individual American citizens.

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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

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This let those who opposite a strong of the nation government, the antifederalist to push for a Bill of rights. A key part of the Bill of rights was the ninth and tenth Amendment 4 that left powers not given to the united governments government to the people and the states (medical man

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In the late 1770s, the Constitution caused much controversy and pitted the Federalists and Anti-Federalists against each other even further (“Brief History”). The Constitution created a stronger central government and weaker state governments which Anti-Federalists were not in favor of. (“Brief History”). The Constitution also included three branches of government: executive, judiciary, and legislative and included checks and balances. The new constitution caused many to speak out in opposition and for it and among those people were James Madison and Mercy Otis Warren.

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Throughout United States history there have been numerous issues, constitutional and civic, that Americans have debated. One of these constitutional issues that Americans debated, is the ratification of the Constitution. Federalists and Anti-federalists debated over the Constitution’s ratification for years. As a result of these debates, efforts by individuals, government, and groups, such as the Federalist Party, and James Madison, were made to address this issue. These efforts were very successful.

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The motivations and goal of the Constitutional convention of 1787 was to reform the Articles of Confederation to allow a stronger centralized government, and hopefully to solve issues not yet agreed upon within the government. There was a significant lack of representation for smaller states. Shay’s rebellion showcased an economic class disparity. There was also a lack of balance in the powers and a weak national government made for the states to have conflicting rules with each other as well as too much power. Shay’s Rebellion was the main perpetrator of the revision.

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When developing the US constitution the two most important problems facing the founding fathers was how much power and authority should be given to Congress and having a strong central government along with the Bill of Rights. Alexander Hamilton along with James Madison believed that a strong central government would be necessary for the nation to survive and succeed. Jefferson disagreed and felt that the nation's powers should belong to the states and local governments. Jefferson “opposed a strong centralized Government and championed the rights of states. (1) Finally, a compromise was agreed upon “that in a republican government, power should be divided among three separate branches--legislative, executive, and judicial, a principle enshrined

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During the late 1700s, the United States was now becoming an independent nation that was now free from Britain’s monarchy. However, America was now facing upcoming challenges towards becoming a new nation while politicians were trying to establish a well and stable federal republic. This resulted in hardships for not just only citizens but delegates as well. Therefore, the US Constitution had no extent on creating a fair and equitable government because of the controversy between the smaller and larger states, disregarding women, and discrimination among blacks. For example, larger and smaller states were having conflict and not agreeing on things.

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The Constitutional Convention of 1787 also solved major two internal conflicts within the nation. One was between Federal Government and State Government while the other was among the branches within the federal government. Because the Framers feared the national authority would grow too powerful, they designed it to be divided into three branches, which check and balance the power of each other. The establishment of the Supreme Court was a protection of the minority while two other branches utilized power from the majority population. Therefore, this could reduce the growth in power of the federal government, keeping the state government safe.

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