Flaws Of The Constitution Essay

1713 Words7 Pages

Drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, the Constitution has been a guiding light for the United states. It has been the foundation of our country as it has played major roles in history, beginning immediately after its ratification and continuing to expand its influence on the decisions made by the government today. Although the country we see now has been largely influenced by the Constitution and its values, the Constitution was not always what it is today. Becoming a newly established country in 1776, the United States was still in its period of growth as the founding fathers and citizens were trying to figure out what government system would best suit their aspirations and values. Coming from a hard-fought war, the Second Continental Congress, …show more content…

Although these policies ensured that the American government would not take after the British government, these very laws proved to have serious flaws. For example, the same law that prevented the government from taxing also prevented them from funding projects such as the national militia. Similarly, the states not being required to obey federal laws and the laws of other states, caused disputes between boundaries. Many states realized that the Articles were causing more problems than solutions, and came to the conclusion that a new constitution must be written. Thus, a group of state delegates met in a meeting known as the Constitutional Convention, which included majority of the founding fathers, where they came together to write the Constitution we see today, which defined the rights and principles of the government and its citizens. The most famous line from the Constitution’s Preamble, “We the People of the United States,” has been a largely debated topic. There have been no accounts or records that specifically defined what “We the People” from the Preamble to the Constitution …show more content…

In order to determine what “We the People” meant in the Constitution, one must look back at when the Constitution was first ratified; its meaning was largely selective at the time and excluding minority groups that lived within the United States. There are two different factors from the past that can support that the phrase “We the People” was discriminatory when the Constitution was written: the writers of the document and the people who were considered citizens and had voting rights. When assessing the different demographics that had made up the Constitutional Convention, one can notice that all 55 delegates who had attended and played a role in the drafting of the Constitution were all fairly educated white men, most of which were lawyers who had previous experience writing their own state constitutions. Additionally, according to the article “Who are the ‘People’ in the Preamble to the Constitution” by Morris Forkosch, “The ‘people’ therefore, even if restricted to the minority of voters, thus never acted in any direct