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The Pros And Cons Of The Founding Fathers

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One hundred years after the Constitution was ratified, a political party emerged that threatened to destroy it: the Progressive party. The Progressive party was built upon the idea that the American government is not doing anything to help the country move forward. They believe that there must be moving forward for the “…uplift and betterment of mankind…”(PR pg. 319). They believe that the government of the founding fathers is not keeping up with the rapid changes in society and that it must adapt to the new challenges (PR pg. 333). Although both the progressive party and the founding fathers declare that they want to guard against tyranny and uphold the good of the people, they have different approaches to the issue. The founding fathers …show more content…

The founding fathers equate man’s tendencies to his nature while the fundamentalists equate a man’s desires with his surroundings. One can find evidence in the writings of the founding fathers and the original settlers that point back to this idea. A primary source for the idea of man being ruled by nature is the Declaration of Independence which states that men are bound to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”(PR pg. 73). This statement is based upon the belief that man’s nature determines how he acts. The original settlers spoke of man’s nature in their writings such as “On Liberty” by John Winthrop which spoke of how man is corrupt due to his nature (PR pg. 6). The mindset of the time suggested that the character of man was formed by his nature just as animals who do act out of instinct. Government was formed out of necessity to maintain order among men so that they may pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”(PR pg. 73). They believed that men without government would be mayhem; a society without any order or regulation while these regulations allowed citizens to be

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Constitution 1The Constitution of the United States(1787)The development that prompted to the written work of the 1787constitution became out of disappointment with thefunctioning of the Articles of Confederation. Asearly as 1781, there were proposition to amendthe Articles. The key issue was that theCongress had no free saddling power, andwas reliant on the states for commitments itrequested from them. More than once from 1781 to1786 proposition were made for restricted taxingpower, typically a little altered obligation on importedgoods, yet every one foundered on the necessityof getting consistent sanction of all thestates. By 1786, Congress was largelyparalysized.

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Behind ever great country there is a strong central government. To a country that just took its independence from an empire, there should be a document to allow a strong central government and rule of law. Powers should be divided equally among the branches of government. First, I summarize the main points of the Articles of Confederation. Then I will focus on the cons of the Article of Confederation and was it the right decision that America should have relied on this paper or should they have had a constitution?

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Former US Representative, Ginny Brown-Waite states that the “American government was founded on a belief and a faith in God and in doing what is right and just.” Brown-Waite, sums up what the US was supposed to be when it was originally developed in one sentence. The men who wrote our constitution, knew that it was important to build it with the foundation of doing what is right. At its prime, the American government was one of the best in the world. The constitution was a good idea, it’s a practical government, and it is a feasible government.

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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.

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After reading The Federalist Papers #10, 48, and 51 I believe that James Madison saw human nature as being selfish and self-centered, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" (319). Madison continues on to explicate on his previous thought, "It may be a reflection of human nature that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government" (319). The devices that he talks about are the checks and balances that Madison declares that the government needs. The government needs the checks and balances because Madison believes that trusting one man to govern everything just feeds the selfishness inside the chosen man, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary" (319).

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A mass body of people pointed out what they liked and disliked. Throughout history, one can clearly see change is made through citizen’s inputs that eventually makes an impact on the quality of life. During the Progressive Era, America was portrayed as the “best country” in the world. However, no one bothered to bring up the fact that one out of three people were starving to death or only six out of ten children were attending school due to financial instability in American households. The government was well aware of the poverty issues but they did not make an effort to help the people.

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Around this era of the late 1700’s, the citizens of the newly independent nation of “America” were in the process of ratifying their government from the Articles of Confederation to the current Constitution which allowed for a democratic republic. The people in support of this ratification were the “Federalist” whom often used pamphlet writings known as the “Federalist Papers” to persuade and inform the public of their ideas and Constitution ratification. The most influential paper among the 85, is the Federalist paper #10 that disproves the Antifederalists’ argument that a republic of any kind would fall from the pressure of multiple divisive opinions among its citizens. Given the nature of humans by God, creating factions based on similar

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A Anti-Federalists point of view is extremely different from a Federalists point of view. Anti-Federalists wanted to stay with the British government which at that time in history they were a monarchy. This happened to form a major problem considering the violence already happening between the government and their own people. With a monarchy the people were given no say in what would be happening to their country, while in a Anti-federalists community they were scared that a strong central government would take away their right and freedom. Marcus Junius Brutus shows a bit of dislike for a central government by stating this phrase in article no. 1, section 8, clause 18

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The constitution was a collaboration project where several different people and ideologies worked together to form a fair and just government in the colonies. Due to the large number of different ideas battling for dominance within the formation of this new government, compromise had to be made. This level of compromise allows the modern interpreter to find the existence, both in large and small ways, of the ongoing battle in regard to individual and civil rights in every part of the document. These contributors had very different ideas about the concept of ‘rights’ and more specifically, their ideal level of priority within a society. Locke, Rousseau, Paine, Dickinson, Madison and Blackstone all had varying ideas of what this balance should

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The political groups we see today, mainly the conservative and democratic parties, stem from Democratic-republicans and Federalists who have shaped the nation from the start. The creation of the federal government, which brought upon the bill of rights, lead to the creation of these factional groups and merit debates which discuss the liberties of the common people. Jefferson and Hamilton, both posed differing opinions and ideas which supported one region more than the other in some cases. Jefferson, on one hand, focused on the farmer’s rights and opposed the government from becoming too powerful. On the other hand, Hamilton focused on the government with the elite to support the masses of the changing people with an economy based on manufacturing.

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The founding fathers believed that the government’s purpose was to secure the unalienable rights of American citizens to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by protecting them against violations by foreign enemies. Although, the progressives believed that the purpose of the government was to give people the benefit of the programs the government have, while making the people more socially responsible. The Founding Fathers believed it was for the greater good of everyone to be free and do things on their own. They thought that if people had less rules and were able to do whatever they want there would be and inequality of the wealthiness.

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The State of Nature therefore, is not the same as the state of war. It can, however devolve into a state of war, in particular, a state of war over property disputes. Whereas the State of Nature is the state of liberty where persons recognize the Law of Nature and therefore do not harm one

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