Another purpose for the Federalist Constitution would be in regards to the safety of each individual state. They believed that each state should find a motive to make some sacrifices for the purpose of the general protection. The Anti-Federalist Party, led by Patrick Henry, objected to the constitution. They objected to it for a few simple reasons. Mostly the Anti-Federalists thought that the Constitution created too strong of a central government.
Paine explains the British had too much power and with power comes corruption. The monarchy itself is a complex government and rifled with nepotism. Paine alledges there wasn’t a checks and balance system in place to maintain fair ruling without risking retaliation. “To say the constitution of England is a union of three powers reciprocally, checking each other is farcical, either the words have no meaning, or they are flat contradictions.” A government
Although historians generally regard the Articles of Confederation as a complete failure, they were actually a necessary step in the formation of the Constitution which laid out a balanced government in accordance with the ideals of the American Revolution. Adopted by the Second Continental Congress at the height of the Revolution in 1777, the Articles of Confederation reflected the fears of American citizens, in particular, the fear of tyrannical rule. When the Articles failed, a stronger and more stable government replaced it, the government America has today, defined by the Constitution. Errors made under the weak Articles of Confederation were the catalyst for the ratification of the Constitution. The Articles played an important role by proving a strong central government was not to be feared, it was a necessity.
“The US system of checks and balances is ineffective” Discuss The Founding Fathers feared tyranny and dictatorship so decided to follow the Montesquieu theory of the separation of powers, and extend it to the constitutional system of checks and balances. The USA was a new country throwing off what it saw as the tyranny of the British King and Parliament. It therefore made sure the President was not a king and that Congress was also limited in its powers, with regard to president, states and Constitution. All the branches of government are in theory limited by each other. The Purpose of the constitution was to limit the power of government and give freedom and opportunity to citizens.
The matter of forming the United States constitution is of much debate between; Slavery, state representation, and government configuration. Of all three, I think government configuration is the most important because of these three reasons. First the idea of distribution of powers between national and state governments, second they were the only one making compromises. Many people feared a strong government would become tyrannical and oppress them just as Great Britain had done. That would not be true in a government configuration.
This controversy resulted in massive disputes over boundaries between states, and these arguments were not easily resolved at all, due to the lack of a judicial or an executive branch in the Articles of Confederation. Without a central judicial court to work out national quarrels and determine the boundaries of a state, the central government that consisted solely on Congress, could only plead that states make compromises about their western claims. Unsurprisingly, the suggestions of Congress did little to persuade the states to give up their important lands. John Jay summed up the inefficiency of this system of begging provided by the Articles of Confederation in a letter to George Washington in1786 where he
At the end of the American Revolution the Articles of Confederation established an Anti-Federalist paradise in the United States. A weak league of friendship was formed between each state, angering Federalists who sought a stronger central government and causing political, economic and social problems. Shay’s Rebellion, inability to collect taxes and the worthless state currency were all problems that lead to the formation of a new constitution. After becoming free from the tyrannical rule of the British crown the Anti-Federalists were hesitant to establish a strong central government. This set into motion the forming of the Articles of Confederation which created a weak bond between states and a congress with essentially no power to put any law into motion.
A third problem with the Constitution according to the Anti-Federalist was that the states would have no power. The first issue the Anti-Federalists were concerned with was the national government having too much power. In the Anti-Federalist Paper No. 11 they address this issue about unrestricted power over commerce should not be given to the national government. The Anti-Federalists were worried that if a national government was in charge of commerce, then the states will not all get what they need and will begin to fail.
They did this to “modify and address the failures of the Articles of Confederation” (Callahan 34). Although there were many weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation and they might not have provided the most effective form of government, the articles helped lay the foundation for the new government of America that we have today. The central government was too weak to govern, with no chief executive, no national court system, no power to regulate interstate commerce, no military, no national currency, and it was difficult to pass laws. According to Callahan, the Founding Fathers believed the Articles needed to be replaced by the U.S. Constitution because they needed the nation to function as one united country and not as thirteen small and unorganized nations. The Articles of Confederation was just a start to what made our nation how it is
Faction, a problem could not avoid in American society because of the vast different opinions. In favor of republican, James Madison emphasized that the strong Constitution has the control to deal with violence and aggression caused by faction which those in favor of democracy could not because of its instability government. Furthermore, in the federalist no.51 he stated that the Constitution’s separation of power also helps mitigate the problem of factionalism. Believing in pluralist theory that power is relatively broadly distributed among many more or less organized interest groups in society, and the fear of majoritarian rule, James Madison one more time convinced that the Constitution will mitigate the problem of factionalism by diving