The government was created by the people and for the people, so the people are the ones who have sovereignty in the US. The Preamble states “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The Declaration of Independence supports this by saying the people are entitled to three basic rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If the government tries to dishonor these basic rights then the people have the power to abolish that government.
4. What was the name of the first constitution of the United States? Name at least two ways in which in it was different from the current constitution and at least two ways in which it was the
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What issue or issues precipitated the Constitutional Convention in 1787? What were the delegates empowered to do? What did they do? In your opinion, is the Constitution of 1787 legitimate? In your opinion, how should the Americans have responded to the proposed constitution in 1788?
The issues that precipitated the Constitutional Convention were the fact that “ … the framers sought to create a new government capable of promoting commerce and protecting property from radical state legislatures and populist forces hostile to the interests of the commercial and propertied classes.” The delegates were empowered to revise the Articles to meet the country’s needs, but they took it into their own hands and created an entirely new constitution. In my opinion, the Constitution of 1787 was legitimate in the social sense but was not legitimate by legal standards. The only reason that this new constitution was accepted was because it was what the United States needed at the time so the majority of the citizens agreed upon keeping it. I feel how the Americans responded to the proposed constitution in 1788 was correct because with any proposal comes people who agree and people who disagree, but they overcame their disagreements by compromising with the Bill of
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Do you see any points of agreement, either implicit or explicit, between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Please explain your answer. If you don’t see points of agreement, then explain how the two documents disagree or create confusion.
The main point of agreement between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is that they both are linked to the theory of natural law. The Declaration of Independence says “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The unalienable rights that this excerpt is talking about are derived from John Locke’s theory of natural law that says no man should have their life, liberty, or property taken from them. The Constitution makes sure the government absolutely protects our natural rights, because if it doesn’t, it will be abolished by the people of the United States if they feel that it’s