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Ratifying The Constitution Dbq

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The United States Constitution was written in seventeen eighty seven to address governmental weaknesses that existed in the Articles of the Confederation, the first articles written during the Revolutionary War to establish regulations for a unified government. The Constitution not only established law, it incorporated basic rights for citizens and dictated to what extent the government could rule. Albeit an improvement to the Articles of the Confederation, according to “The Great Debate”, in order for the Constitution to go into effect, “ratification from nine states” was required. Gaining full support of nine states for ratification was not an easy feat; the changes to the Articles created a divide amongst delegates, the two sides were …show more content…

In an effort to promote the constitution and gain support of the states, ultimately, to obtain the required ratification, the Federalists submitted essays to several New York papers; these submissions were known as the Federalist Papers. The tenth and most famous essay, out of eighty-five essays printed, Federalist Number Ten, was written by James Madison, not only to explain and defend the Constitution, but to address the concerns of the opposing side – Anti-Federalists believed that the Constitution allowed the government too much power and that the overbearing government would infringe on the liberties or rights of the citizens. Madison asserted in Federalist Number Ten that having a large government ensures the rights and …show more content…

This type of system can sometimes cause confusion on who has the authority to make decisions at local and state levels. Amendment Ten to the Constitution was established to address this issue; basically, the amendment states that unless otherwise delegated by the Constitution, to the United States, that the power lies with the states or the people. Amendment Ten’s incorporation into the Bill of Rights is vital for the preservation of liberty and also key to diffusing the realm of government rule. According to the text, “By the People”, during the Obama administration, “progressive federalism” was introduced and there was a mix of the “Democratic approach (national goals) and Republican values (state innovation)” (95). Additionally, the text, “By the People”, states that “The Constitution’s authority rests, not on the states, but on we the people” (65). It is important to understand the differences between a republic and a democracy; a republic is centered on the people, guaranteeing life, liberty, and freedom, and ensuring individual rights whereas in a democracy, the majority rules and individual rights are not of concern. Another difference between a republic and a democracy is the amount of power the government holds; a republic limits government power while a democracy places no limitations

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857 Words | 4 Pages

Author James Madison wrote several of the Federalist Papers to support the new United States Constitution and explain how it accounted for the most ideal system of government. To gain support from the public, Madison and the other authors explained in these papers the benefits of the government set up by the Constitution and how it would represent the ideals agreed upon by the founding minds of the country. Especially in the Federalist 10 and 51, Madison outlines how the government best protects and secures liberty. Madison explains in the Federalist 10 that extending republics protects liberty by safeguarding the Union against factions; he continues to assert in the Federalist 51 that the government can also protect liberty by implementing checks and balances.

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932 Words | 4 Pages

Long have the arguments on whether or not to ratify the Constitution been going on and it is most certainly right to agree. The Framers decided to give more power to the federal government than to the people for an abundant amount of reasons. The Constitution is completely necessary because there are so many problems with the old system: the Articles of Confederation and we need trained people to do important work for the country. The Anti-Federalists are clearly incorrect for bountiful reasons. There are just so many ways that the Articles of Confederation wasn’t working out for us, so we must move on with our plans for the Constitution.

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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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852 Words | 4 Pages

Three of the nation’s most gifted political thinkers ,James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, also backed the Constitution. They all worked together to write a series of essays explaining and defending the Constitution. These essays, called the Federalist Papers, appeared in newspapers around the country and were widely read. The Federalist Papers were later published as a book and sent to delegates at the remaining ratifying conventions.

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1906 Words | 8 Pages

Federalist Number 10 is conceivably the most significant contribution to the theory of government ever written by an American. Penned by James Madison, Federalist Number 10 was an essay on the dilemma of factions in a republican government. It was one of the Federalist papers. In all 85 papers, the Federalist papers were a collection of essays by Madison, Alexander

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1433 Words | 6 Pages

Constitution guarantees specific basic rights for America’s citizens and it also established America’s national government and fundamental laws (History.com Staff). The document was signed on September 17, 1787, by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The first governing document of the United States was known as the Articles of Confederation; a document that made the national government very weak and American states act independently. The Constitution was published to replace the Articles of Confederation making a much stronger federal government with three different branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, the judicial branch and a system of checks and balances to guarantee no single branch obtained too much power. The Constitution of the United States remains the governing document of the United States, even though many are attempting to alter or even abolish laws within the document, according to History Staff.

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The US Constitution was written by the Founding Fathers 230 years ago. They came together at the Philadelphia Convention to amend the Articles of Confederation, that had been a huge failure. The country was failing, because the states were not bound together and each had their own currency. The US was bankrupt, and there weren’t any other options than overthrowing the government, which led to a new constitution, the US Constitution as we know it today. The Constitution was a radical break from the past.

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The Constitution of United States of America was ratified in 1787. Prior to the Constitution the Articles of Confederation had been the law of the land since the Revolutionary War. They proved weak and inefficient and a new governing document was needed. The drafters of the Constitution studied past texts of philosophy and government in order to create their ideal government. Although, the creators of the Constitution were influenced by many previous documents the most influential documents were the Articles of Confederation, the English Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta.

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The Federalist Papers are some of the most important words that have been written in this history of the United States and were written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison who is responsible for Number 10. Madison focuses Number 10 on factions, their causes, and the result of their existence. Madison beings by stating the capability of the Constitution to control the outcome of factions, such as violence or damage and goes on to state the causes of factions and the solutions to their existence. Madison’s main focus in his paper is factions and their outcomes; a faction is simply a group of people with a common interest, either the “majority or minority of the whole.” Factions originate when people divide themselves over

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607 Words | 3 Pages

The Federalist is a collection of eighty-five essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay between October 1787 and May 1788. They were written to convince New York State to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Each essay was signed “Publius” even though they were written by three different authors, Hamilton wrote fifty-two, Madison’s wrote twenty-eight, and Jay wrote five of the essays. These articles were aimed to modifying public opinion in favor of ratifying the new Constitution. One of the most famous of the Federalist Papers, Number Fifty One, explains the Constitutional the fundamental truth of checks and balances.

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

The Federalist Papers By definition, The Federalist Papers can be referred to as a collection eighty-five essays that appeared in the New York press in 1787-1788 in support of the Constitution; written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published under the pseudonym “Publius”. (Give Me Liberty!) Despite the accuracy in this definition, it does not give these papers the acknowledgement they deserve. The Federalist Papers are considered one of the most important sources for interpreting and understanding the original intent of the Constitution. (loc.gov)

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Federalist No. 10 written in 1787 is an essay composed by James Madison and is the first of his contributions to the series. Madison perceived that if a union was well constructed it would in turn break the control of the violence fraction (“dangerous vice’). This essay defended the republican government as it was expressed by the Constitution as other argued that their federal government that was described was too large and conversely would not be accepted by the people. The essay focused on majority rule versus minority right arguing that the fractions and diversity would aid in

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406 Words | 2 Pages

What arguments were made opposing the ratification of the US Constitution? Ratification—the official way to confirm something, usually by vote. It is the formal validation of a proposed law. US Constitution— the supreme law of the United States of America

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855 Words | 4 Pages

The Federalist essays, numbers 10, 39, and 51 were a predominant part of the Constitution in that the essays were used to persuade the people of New York into ratifying the constitution. The intent of the papers were to insure that powerful factions would not rise up and dominate weaker ones, to determine if the framers had developed a republican government, and to advocate separation of powers. The essays were created as articles designed to go in the newspapers for the people of New York; the papers, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, were originally published under the name of “Publius.” The articles had focused on the botheration that the people were facing at the time, urging them to ratify the constitution since it would help fix all the issues in the past constitution: The Articles of Confederation.

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Key Differences Between Democracy and Republic The major differences between democracy and republic are provided in the points given

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