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First Amendment

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Anthony J. D’Angelo once stated that “in order to succeed you must first fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.” This quote resonates greatly with the events that took place in Philadelphia in 1787 since this was when the supreme law of the United States was signed into action. This happening brought about the conclusion of an era in which the federal government was too weak and was replaced with one known driven by The Constitution, a piece of legislation that was adequate and fulfilled the needs of this newly formed country. As a prolonged and arduous war ended against one of the world’s greatest superpowers, the Continental Congress of the United States of America began drafting its first constitution in mid-1776, they became known as the “Articles of Confederation.” Less than a decade later an uprising led by Daniel Shays, a former revolutionary, arose when the people became discontent with the current conditions the country was in and blamed their dissatisfaction on the government. (Curtis) These farmers were in poor and in debt, and although the rebellion was swiftly crushed, it demonstrated how powerless the government really was and proved that imperative action was necessary to rectify the issues that were currently afflicting the young nation. The fact that the Articles of Confederation failed was actually a positive outcome, since it was held in place for 10 years it served as a good guideline for what was needed. It was a big risk since they had no idea if it was going to work out, but the founding fathers then went forward to draft a constitution that has served as the law for the last 200 years. This new constitution made the federal government much more powerful yet still promised to uphold the rights of the people to prevent exploitation by their government. In this constitution is included a “Bill of Rights,” ten amendments that

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