I am James Madison, a delegate from the state of Virginia and one of the youngest revolutionary leaders. During the Philadelphia Convention, I was recognized as the most influential delegate due to studying political theory for preparation. I am loyally committed to freedom of religion, and “persuaded George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, to change the clause that guaranteed ‘toleration’ of religion to one that secured its ‘free exercise’” (Center for Civic Education 69). I have spent nearly four years as a member of the Second Continental Congress, advocating for a strong central government, and had drafted the Virginia Plan (ABC-CLIO 1). As a federalist, I strongly support the ratification of the Constitution. The Constitution should be ratified for a number of reasons. First, “civic virtue can no longer be relied on as the sole support of a government that can protect …show more content…
In our national government, it is unrealistic to expect citizens to give up their interests in favor of the common good. The Constitution creates a national government that will protect the rights of the people without relying heavily on civic virtue, and will avoid the threat that factions have on the common good. This will promote the common welfare of individuals, such as creditors who those in debt owe money to. The organization of the government under the Constitution greatly promotes republicanism. For instance, the rights and welfare of the people are protected by a system of representation, separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism (100). The goals of republicanism are to create a fair, representative form of government, and the Constitution will do so by protecting powers through checks and balances. Although this system is complicated, the difficulty it takes to pass laws will prevent bad laws from being