ipl-logo

What Are The Pros And Cons Of The United States Before The Constitution

965 Words4 Pages

Before the constitution, America was governed by the Articles of Confederation. This governing document was somewhat effective, but was very weak and caused many states such as Texas to act as independent countries. America was not unified like it is today, and many saw the need for change. No single person governed our country, there was no judicial branch, and Congress had little authority. A group of delegated saw this need for change, and met at the Pennsylvania State House to determine a better system for our country. George Washington was selected as president of the convention. Many delegates feared that creating the Constitution would give the government too much power, and would diminish the power of individuals and states. Many different …show more content…

James Madison was the fourth president of the United States, and help build a foundation for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was introduced in 1789, and had several different purposes for our country. The first one was to establish liberty and freedom for the citizens of the United States. Many rights we take for granted today, such as freedom of press, freedom to protest peacefully, and the freedom to share your opinions with the government. The right to bear arms and the right to a speedy trial was also introduced. Some of these rights are still debated to this day, but they are key to establishing a dependable relationship between our government and its people. They establish a sense of security for our people, and gives them the confidence to express their opinions with the government. On the contrary, if we didn’t have the Bill of Rights within our Constitution, the fundamental principles that we all share as US citizens would not exist. Many of the immigrants traveling to our country would not come, because many of the immigrants who travel here are trying to gain more freedom. Our government would be more Communistic, and the freedom we all have taken for granted since birth would not …show more content…

These obligations help us as citizens of the United States stay safe, and help us become better people in the long run. Some of these obligations include defending the rights of the Constitution, defend the country if needed by the United States (getting drafted), paying taxes to both your state and federal governments, obeying the laws that our country has established, serving jury duty if you have committed a crime, and serving as a witness at a court trial. We as citizens are obligated to live by these rights, and respect the rules and obligations of the government. These duties and obligations are included within the constitution, and without them, our government would not be able to control many of its citizens. These obligations help show our loyalty to both our country and government. If we all could live by these obligations in our country, crime rates would be little to none, and there would be a system of unified respect between all of the citizens of the

Show More
Related
236 Words | 1 Pages

“How did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny” In 1787, the delegate decided to meet up in Philadelphia to write the Constitution. The Constitution decided to guard against tyranny in many different ways, which was the Federalism, Separation of Powers, Check and Balance, and Small and Large States. The first guard against tyranny was the Federalism, which was the Central and State Government. The reason Federalism is protected from tyranny is because they want to make sure that the state and national governments have power but not too much, where they can come to powerful (Document A)

Read More
867 Words | 4 Pages

This despised action caused a turning point in government at the time because of Shay’s rebellion. Thanks to Daniel Shays, whom was one of many fed up with the weak articles, they finally came to an end during the constitutional convention which was composed of representatives from each state except Rhode Island. The convention, for the most part, was all for giving the power back to the national government so the issues of taxation and foreign commerce could be better handled. This newfound power the government was about to have was going to be based off the newly written fundamental laws called the constitution. First, the convention had to decipher between two ideas about representation, the Virginia Plan or the New Jersey plan.

Read More
1044 Words | 5 Pages

After making the Declaration of Independence, the United States had to make a new form of government. The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution. States were afraid of the government being tyrants, so they decided to make their own rules. Without a proper government, there was total mayhem between the states, and the Articles of Confederation failed. At the constitutional convention in Philadelphia, the delegates meant to

Read More
827 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
2002 Words | 9 Pages

This group of 55 delegates met for four months in Independence Hall in Pennsylvania (Hubbard-Brown 1). Their intent was to revise the Articles of Confederation, but could not do so because Rhode Island was not present, therefore they created a new document that would be known as the US Constitution (Thomas 1 and Hubbard-Brown 1). George Washington led these men until September 17th, which was the date the Constitution was adopted by the convention (Hubbard-Brown 4). This new governing document was meant to construct a strong central government, that took into account the opinions of the people, describe all powers a government can have, and be the supreme law of the people (Genovese 1 and Thomas 1). Overall, the creators meant to have a democratic system because it supported the ideas of the people and did not allow the governing officials to become

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

In May of 1787, 55 delegates came to Philadelphia to have a Constitutional Convention. They had this meeting so they could make the U.S. Constitution. They wanted to make one because the articles of the Confederation were not working. They wanted to make a Constitution that would benefit the U.S. The Constitution also guarded against tyranny in 4 different ways, Federalism, Separation of powers, checks and balances and big State little State, compromise.

Read More
191 Words | 1 Pages

The meeting was to discuss improvements on the Articles of Confederation. It lead to them discarding the first document and creating the U.S. Constitution. Many, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, and John Adams, built the U.S. Constitution. With seven articles in the new document, the following was also put into it. People were

Read More
917 Words | 4 Pages

The Federalists and The Anti-Federalists: Two different ideologies After the American Revolution, the United States had to face the war debt and challenges of constructing a new country. In an effort to create a system that solved these problems, they created the Constitution. In order to institute a new government under the Constitution, the ratification required the approval of nine states conventions. States that did not ratify the Constitution would not be considered as a part of the United States. The creation of the Constitution became a complicated process, especially between two political groups with different ideologies, who fought over the distribution of power.

Read More
658 Words | 3 Pages

Therefore, was established the Bill of Rights, in which it established protection for individual liberties. In order to preserve freedom and form a perfect union by securing the blessings of liberty and posterity, was established the Constitution for the United States of America. This documents, are important in which established and preserved freedom.

Read More
1134 Words | 5 Pages

This led to the creation of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which would be used in building a new constitution that would create a stronger federal government while still

Read More
1172 Words | 5 Pages

Congress soon realized that the Article of Confederation wasn 't as strong of a constitution they hoped for. In fact, James Madison believed the Article was just a "rope of sand" that would hold the nation together. The nation they had passionately fought for was breaking apart due to a flimsy constitution and something had to happen before matters turn to worse. Things had to happen before anything more could become worse. In February of 1787, fifty-five delegates from twelve states of America, came together to create the new Constitution.

Read More
918 Words | 4 Pages

Slavery in the U.S. Constitution After the Unites States declared Independence from Great Britain in 1776, they greatly feared a strong national government that would be like a monarchy like the one Great Britain had. To prevent this tyrannical government from happening in the U.S., a convention of delegates from all thirteen states were brought together to create the U.S.’s first written constitution: the Articles of Confederation. This convention was called the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation focused on having a federal government, or a loose alliance of the states.

Read More
244 Words | 1 Pages

The Bill of Rights was written in 1791 and it has shares common ideas with the Four Freedoms that Roosevelt wrote

Read More
579 Words | 3 Pages

Last, but not least, the right to Limited Government. Without limiting our government they could gain way too much power and leave us with none. “Power to the people!” wouldn’t mean anything, because the people wouldn’t have power if government wasn’t limited. We have these protected rights for a reason. Reason is simply because without them, we’d be just like the slaves who came here on that nasty ship; dirty and

Read More
462 Words | 2 Pages

In the late 1700’s, James Madison wrote the first Ten Amendments that are listed in the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights were written to ensure American citizens that they have freedoms and rights that the government can 't infringe. Out of the Ten Amendments, I believe that the First and Eighth Amendment are the most significant. The First Amendment grants us freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and for people to assemble peaceably.

Read More

More about What Are The Pros And Cons Of The United States Before The Constitution

Related Topics

Open Document