When written, the United States Constitution did not provide for the development of a two-party system. Yet we, as the rebellious Americans that we are, managed to find a way around the Constitution. The two parties that emerged during the 1790s were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The Federalists, so aptly named, favored a strong centralized government as outlined in the Constitution. The Democratic-Republicans sought to limit federal control and preferred local power as the dominant force.
How about the U.S constitution, what factors were held to point out? What went on with the Articles of Confederation? Both classes had disagreements with the Articles of Confederation. Federalists say that the articles were weak and ineffective because the state governments was too weak to apply laws and ordered for a national government instead. We Anti-federalists however believed that the Articles of Confederation was a good plan and that there should not be a government more powerful than the state governments.
Professor of history Gordon S. Wood views the struggle for a new constitution in 1787-1788 as a social conflict between upper-class Federalists who desired a stronger central government and the “humbler” Anti-Federalists who controlled the state assemblies. He says that the writers and supporters of the Constitution were Federalists and they believed that the Constitution was a fulfillment. Which basically means, that those Federalists didn’t see anything wrong with the Constitution. Antifederalists said the Constitution was a denial of the principles of 1776. They were saying that the Constitution was didn’t honor the liberty nor the self-government.
The Federalist Papers written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay were influential in spurring the American people on to the idea of a stronger central government. The major Anti-Federalists were Patrick Henry and Sam Adams, who vehemently opposed a new Constitution being ratified until the Bill of Rights was introduced. All in all the Anti-Federalist argument was weakly put together and failed to convince the public to stick with a revised version of the Articles of Confederation. All of these various factors contributed to the new Constitution because of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation the strengths of the new Constitution and the Federalists versus Anti-Federalists debate. Though we no longer go by the Articles of Confederation in today’s government this essay shows the many ways it was a major building block in today’s
Branches of Government Jefferson said it best, “My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government” (The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., 1996-2012, para. 1). After the ultimate control while under rule of the crown, the founding fathers sought to create not only a government that provided for rights and liberties of the people, but also to ensure that government interaction and authority was spread amongst various branches. This distribution of power would provide checks and balances to guarantee reduced influence, while allowing each section to operate independently. However, agreement of each party would be problematic to achieve when needing to enact new laws and regulations.
So the tug-of-war between the president and Congress is a special part (271). The framers had never envisioned that the presidency of the United States of America would become such a democratic office. They were afraid of tyranny and the pressure of the public opinion and made the Electoral College in a way that its members would be chosen in a manner decided by the state legislatures (270). They realized that the instead of letting the people elect the members, the state legislatures would elect the members by themselves. The electors from the states would than elect the country’s president from the leading citizens.
In a way we could see the Articles of Confederation as a stepping stone to something greater, the United States Constitution. The United States Constitution addressed many of the issues the Articles did not such as regulating currency, collecting taxes, controlling trade, effective voting laws, and a strong executive branch. The failures of the Articles of Confederation led to the Constitution which eventually led to the ultimate success of our nation. The Articles of Confederation was not designed to be the perfect document to lead a nation. Despite its imperfections, the Articles were able to provide the Colonies ability to conduct diplomacy and a sense of colonial unity.
Many resented the pretentiousness of the order, viewing it as a vestige of pre-Revolutionary traditions. (174) The Federalist (1788) Collection of essays written by John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton and published during the ratification debate in New York to lay out the Federalists’ arguments in favor of the new Constitution. Since their publication, these influential essays have served as an important source for constitutional interpretation. (193) three-fifths compromise (1787) Determined that each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of apportioning taxes and representation. The compromise granted disproportionate political power to Southern slave states.
Sparta put a military attitude in its society and made it the first priority to have a powerful army. The Athenians type of government, might have given the society More freedom, but in my opinion I think this was not the best form of government at this time. The democratic system in Athens cannot really be called a true democracy since it had several flaws in the government and the way it worked. For the way the voting worked
Issue paper Marlene A-Schultz Congress With the creation of the constitution came the creation of our government; it was created by men how feared and distrusted a government that had too much power. They set out to create a government that was fair and controlled by the people. They wanted to create a government where the people were represented and had a say in the laws; they sought to move away from dictatorships and monarchies. To do this they separated the powers into three branches: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. The first article in the constitution is dedicated to the role and powers of the legislative branch or congress.