The Articles Of Confederation And The Framers Of The Constitution

During the years of 1780–1796, commonly referred to as the Founding Era and the Federalist Era, the maturing United States underwent a numerous amount of significant changes socially, politically, and economically with the establishment of the United States Constitution. With the end of the American Revolution in 1783 as a result of signing the Treaty of Paris, a necessity for a new form of government that would reflect the purpose and ideals of the American Revolution (converting from a monarchy to a more liberal government) became the next controversial concern of the public. Consequently, the Articles of Confederation were loosely formed in order to gain control over the growing, restless population and young nation. However, the United

In American society and politics, the news of liberty and freedom made its way to slaves and former slaves. However, Federalists and Antifederalists (Democratic-Republicans), those who supported the ratification of the Constitution and those who did not, as well as northerners and southerners disagreed on the role of slaves in society. James Madison stated that “the institution of slavery and its implications formed the line of discrimination.” The debate over how to represent slaves in government resulted in the Three-Fifths compromise, (also known as the Three-Fifths Clause and Article 1 Section 2 in the Constitution), which

While the Constitution put more power in the hands of a national government, a Bill of Rights consisting of a series of amendments was promised to give rights to individuals and the states. The agreement to add the Bill of Rights in the final Constitution persuaded Antifederalists to accept the ratification of the American Constitution as it gave power to the people and the states, albeit it was limited power, but it was power nonetheless. Amendment 10 in the Bill of Rights states that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people,” meaning any power not given to the federal government in the Constitution nor prohibited by it, is given to the people or states. Additionally, the concept of the separation of powers emerged from the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Separation of powers introduced the idea that the national government would have limited authority. The Constitution further improved American politics because at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the framers of the Constitution created what today we refer to as the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise was a settlement between the larger states that supported the Virginia Plan and the smaller states that supported the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan based the number of representatives each