Ratifying The Constitution Dbq Research Paper

How do you convince some newly independent citizens of the benefits of ratifying a constitution? According to Alexander Hamilton, through writing, and lots of it. In 1787, Hamilton, along with James Madison and John Jay, published a series of documents, addressing concerns the people might have about the Constitution drafted by the Congressional delegates. The Constitution was being sent to the states for ratification, but in New York, many were opposed to the ideas put forth. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote eighty-five documents which would later be named The Federalist Papers, as they voiced the common opinion of the Federalist party, which was in favor of ratification. Although there is no clear evidence that the writings had a major impact

Ratified in 1781, they outlined the framework for a Congressional government. After a trial period of ten years, the Congress came to the conclusion that the government which had been created by the articles was too weak and needed revision. In May of 1787, delegates from several states convened to begin discussion about a new system. Over the next several months, plans like the Virginia plan, which advocated for a bicameral government, and the New Jersey plan, which advocated for a unicameral government, were put forward. Through a series of compromises, the Connecticut plan, also known as the “Great Compromise,” was adopted. The plan laid out a system by which the members of the House of Representatives were elected in proportion to the number of people in the state they represented, and the members of the Senate were equally distributed, regardless of the state. Although many of the details surrounding this system were debated at length, the core elements were eventually accepted into a structure we still use to this

Hamilton responded to this concern in the essays by saying the unity of the states were at risk of falling apart without a national government to hold everything together, and that by implementing a judicial branch and the Presidential veto, there was a series of checks and balances that would prevent the Congress from becoming too powerful. In addition, the members of the House of Representatives were elected by the people, which would prevent them from acting against the people’s best interests. By taking each section of the document separately the three writers were able to discuss benefits of the Constitution, like improving the economy, supporting a Navy and defense, and just generally what specific powers, and limits on powers, were given to the various branches of the newly proposed government. Hamilton also pointed out that if this new form of government turned out to have hiccups, it was not set in stone, and amendments could be proposed to modify and improve the