The success of the American Revolution is conventionally viewed as the foundation of the American democratic spirit. However, was this really the case or was it actually a betrayal of the goals of the Revolution? The idea that the Constitution embodies the true spirit of 1776 is not very convincing because it rejected many of the most important things for which the American people were fighting. The colonists wished to gain freedom from the near-tyrannical British government and create a nation that was more decentralized where local governments drove key decisions, including tax policy. However, in the Constitution, these goals of the revolution were ignored. The authors of the Constitution did not fully trust the American people to govern …show more content…
Most importantly, it recreated a strong, central government. The aim of the Revolution was to give power to the people rather than having one large body control all the power. However, the Constitution did just the opposite by creating three central bodies of power: the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. Moreover, the writers of the Constitution enacted many other laws that further centralized power such as providing for a standing army. The authors of the Constitution argued that America needed a standing army to ensure the country could defend itself and would otherwise be powerless. However, the colonists detested the notion of an occupying military, which reminded them of the days of the British rule. For instance, the Colonists hated the Quartering Act enacted under British rule and wanted it removed immediately after they gained independence. Instead, the decision to maintain a standing army led the American citizens to fear the federal government rather than feel united by it. The overbearing nature of the Constitution left the rights of the American people as less important than the certainty that the federal government had the necessary power to control the …show more content…
It did not sufficiently acknowledge America’s working class people, embodied in the farmers of Shay’s Rebellion, let alone the country’s African-American slave community. In the late 1780s, American farmers fought against their respective states’ enforcement of taxes and debts in Shay’s Rebellion. These farmers believed they had just won the Revolutionary War to eliminate the overbearing nature of the British government. The farmers believed the higher taxes of the new U.S. government, along with an economic depression and bad harvests, was threatening their well-being. As a result, they decided to rebel against the leaders of America. However, the authors of the Constitution decided to maintain many of the policies that actually contradicted the desires of the American people and the farmers of the Shay’s
After the rebellion was squashed, many americans were alarmed that a mob of farmers were able to take over the Massachusetts government - even for a short time. The “commotions sufficiently shocked (George) Washington to set him on the road to Philadelphia” (Larson, 236 ) to rewrite the Articles of confederation and to make a new constitution. During the constitutional convention, the authors of the document gave lots of power to the central government to prevent another mob from taking over a government again. Because of the constitution, the federal government also received the power to tax all the states and pass laws that could hurt farmers (“Article I:”). This shows that Daniel Shays rebellion was unsuccessful because it went against the goals of the rebellion of getting taxed less and having having pro debtor laws.
Shayś Rebellious Ways Shay and his followers were a group of farmers out to no good. After the American revolution, the US was without money, so they raised taxes. Farmers who couldn 't pay were thrown in jail so a rebellion started. Shay and about 1,500 farmers stole weapons and fought. Some people say that the people in Shay 's Rebellion were freedom fighters, nevertheless Shay and his followers were rebels because they protested violently, caused chaos in the country, and were criminals.
“Let the people take arms. The remedy is to present them with the facts, pardon, and pacify them.” (A letter by Thomas Jefferson, paragraph 2). Shays’ Rebellion was a group of American citizens that were fighting for their rights and were against taxation during the 1780s. Although many people perceive Shays and his followers as rebels, nevertheless Shays’ and his followers were freedom fighters because the government were treating others unfairly, the justice system was full of revenge, hatred, etc., and the wealthy became more rich from taxes.
Shay’s Rebellion “What country before ever existed without a rebellion?” a quote from Jefferson in document C. Throughout the history of the United States many conflicts and protests have occurred. One of these was Shay’s rebellion and it was caused by the government not paying war veterans their money after fighting in the war. This made the protesters threaten the court that they are going to raid the armory and many people consider them rebels for this. Although many people thought the farmers or war veterans were rebels, nevertheless they are truly freedom fighters because they stood up for what was right, kept the government aware of needs, and were not treated fairly.
The Constitution united the states in a more structured and governed body, while allowing the states to have some individually, and protected all rights of people specified in the Bill of Rights. The main fear in the constitution was that the central governing power in federal government would create a tyrant, something the colonists feared from their experience as being part of the British empire. Because of this, the founding fathers divided all the powers in the federal government into branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is in check with the others, and makes it extremely hard for the country to fall into
According to Document 2, the Constitution was not secure enough. The Constitution did not have restrictions put in place in order to prevent a political office from ruling for life. The possibilities of the U.S. government transforming into a monarchy were too high, making it ideal to not ratify the Constitution. Furthermore, the Constitution posed a threat to those less wealthy. Document 5 expressed the concerns of the people, stating, “These lawyers and men of learning, and monied men … make us poor illiterate people swallow down the pill”.
The greatest fear of the Founding Fathers was to have a government ruled by one person, a tyrant. After the revolutionary war against Great Britain, the Americans wanted to make sure that they would be seen as an independent and strong newly emerged country. Their first shot at a government was with the Articles of Confederation. However, they failed because the central government that had been put in place was weak. Noticing that that was a problem, the founding fathers sought to make a stronger government.
The main purpose of this chapter is to determine the Founding Fathers’ motives for creating the Constitution by analyzing a secondary source by Woody Holton, and several primary sources. Frist, I will begin with the secondary source, “Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution” by Woody Holton. Mr. Holton’s main purpose was to locate the motivation behind the Constitution in developments in the states (page 90). Mr. Holton addressed several grievances for possible motives of the Founding Fathers’. First, the excessive democracy that acerbated many Americans, the runaway inflation caused by the farmers who were allowed to satisfy their debt to creditors with property and good instead of hard currency, and the Revolutionary War that
The term “Revolutionary” is an instantaneous change or shift that promotes equal rights, liberty, and freedom. So, while some may argue that the revolution was a turning point for America, The American revolution in this case is not revolutionary since slavery was still present, minority groups did not gain rights, and British ideals and tactics were still being used in the new government. One of the crucial pieces of evidence that this “revolution” could not be considered revolutionary is because of the slavery still taking place even after the war ended. Throughout the revolt against British rule in the 16th century, the American people fought under the banner of truth, justice, and liberty for all people, However, the only people that indeed
The whiskey rebellion was a protest by many Americans who were against the new law that taxed whiskey. This law was put into place in 1791. The United States government was in debt from the war and they decided that taxing whiskey would slowly start eating away at Americas debt. George Washington was in his second year of presidency during 1791 although he wasn't the mastermind behind the whisky tax. Alexander Hamilton was the man behind this idea because he realized that Americans needed to do something to get out of their nearly eighty million dollars in debt they had accumulated from the war.
In the Federalist Papers 10, Madison argues that the most knowledgeable and virtuous citizens believe that the government is too easily changed and too directly influenced by the people. He wants the government to have more power over the people and for it to be ruled by the minority party, such as himself. This is suspect to suspicion, as many of the people involved in the writing of the Constitution were part of that minority that they believed should possess more power than the common people. Both Howard Zinn and Charles Beard think that one of the main purposes of the Constitution was simply to benefit the wealthy, aristocratic upper class both financially and
American farmers were against the state and local enforcement of tax collections along with judgements for debt. These farmers took up arms in states like New Hampshire to South Carolina. The rebellion was the most serious in Massachusetts, there were bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes, which all threatened farmers. The rebels tried to capture the federal arsenal at Springfield. They harassed leading merchants, lawyers, and supporters of the state government.
DBQ Essay The United States Constitution is a document that or founding fathers made in order to replace the failing Articles of Confederation (A of C). Under the Constitution, the current government and states don’t have the problems they faced when the A of C was in action. The Constitution was created in 1788, and held an idea that the whole nation was nervous about. This idea was a strong national government, and the Federalist assured the people that this new government would work. The framers of the Constitution decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments because the A of C had many problems, there was a need for the layout of new government, rights, and laws, and there was a need for the Federal
The Constitution—the foundation of the American government—has been quintessential for the lives of the American people for over 200 years. Without this document America today would not have basic human rights, such as those stated in the Bill of Rights, which includes freedom of speech and religion. To some, the Constitution was an embodiment of the American Revolution, yet others believe that it was a betrayal of the Revolution. I personally believe that the Constitution did betray the Revolution because it did not live up to the ideals of the Revolution, and the views of the Anti-Federalists most closely embodied the “Spirit of ‘76.” During the midst of the American Revolution, authors and politicians of important documents, pamphlets, and slogans spread the basis for Revolutionary ideals and defined what is known as the “Spirit of ‘76”.
Around the time of these protests Americans were beginning to realize their rights as citizens and what their ideal government looked like. Settlers of the backcountry were rebelling against the federalists, attempting to acquire more representation in the government. The people of the backcountry were becoming more oppressed as Alexander Hamilton began to attempt to improve America’s economy with manufacturing and revenue taxes. The backcountry settlers organized violent protests, three of these rebellions being Shays’ Rebellion, Whiskey Rebellion, and March of the Paxton Boys.