...us to the government we have now. The different compromises are what lead to the methods that were used and still being used nowadays The Constitutional Convention was a meeting that took place in Philadelphia in 1787. The purpose of that meeting was to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. There were fifty five men who were delegates, their purpose was to have the federal government strengthen. The delegates did not think that rewriting the Articles of Confederation would actually work out. Eventually they wrote the U.S. Constitution. George Washington was chosen to lead the convention. All of the delegates had to agree that every state would get one vote. They did not want anyone to know about what was going on during the convention meetings. The delegates made sure to keep everything a secret, anyone who was not a delegate were not allowed to attend any meetings. We have no written documents because they kept everything a secret of what had occurred during the meetings. The only details we have today is from a notebook that belonged to James Madison. However, James Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution.” He had also helped write the federalist papers. At the Constitutional Convention James Madison had done a very good job. When the delegates had to decided to write the “Bill of Rights” he was against it. James Madison was afraid that the future people would just go by those ten amendments that were listed in the “Bill of Rights”. James Madison had believed...
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...about that happening. The constitution helps protect us from one person/group gaining absolute power. In May of 1787 in Philadelphia, James Madison and his fellow delegates was challenged to make a strong government that served the needs of the nation, but also didn't create any form of tyranny.So how did the U.S constitution prevent all of the power going into one person's hands? Well the goal of the constitution was to hold the states and people together with out letting any one have complete control. Another word for this is tyranny. They are 4 different ways the constitution helps guard against tyranny. These 4 things include federalism, separation of power, checks and balances, and the big states-small states compromise....
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...essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.”(Madison, 1787) The Federalists, writing under the pseudonym Publius, advocated a strong central government in the new nation. They argued against the Anti-Federalist writers like Brutus, whose ideas of an effective government resided with stronger state governments. Both views of the Federalists and the Anti-federalists were justified in unifying the newly emancipated American colonies. While there is much debate on who theoretically won the political battle that resulted in the ratification of the constitution in 1789, it is clear that the modern American government no longer represents James Madison ideals of a balanced federal...
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... | | |England and its people in accordance with the customs of feudal| | | |law. ("History Learning Site ", 2000-2013). | | |Mayflower Compact |Mayflower Compact is one if the first governing document of |The Mayflower Compact called for equality amongst people and the provision of | | |Plymouth Colony. It was religious persecution by king James of |equitable access to rights and resources. The Constitution follows the same | | |England. ("Totally History Mayflower Compact ", 2012). |structures and provides citizens with inalienable rights that...
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...why was it important that a group of wealthy, white men from the thirteen original states, except for Rhode Island, frame a government that would be strong enough to serve the new nation, but not create any form of tyranny? The first constitution, The Articles of Confederation, was an agreement among all thirteen states that was drafted on July 12, 1776 and completed its formal ratification in March of 1781. It allowed thirteen states to set up central organizations to oversee the domestic and foreign affairs, but many believed it was not working and needed to be changed. In the summer of 1787, the group of men, including James Madison, gathered at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia because they were concerned about the future of the nation. The Articles of Confederation was intended to discourage oppression, but failed to accomplish this because it lacked a chief executive, a court system, and the central government could not force a state pay taxes. James Madison was primarily concerned with how they framed the document to assure that tyranny did not have a chance to resurface. They drafted the new constitution in hopes that it would keep the country from falling apart. James Madison and his fellow delegates framed the constitution to protect the country from tyranny by any one individual, group of individuals, branch, or level of government from gaining too much power by including the areas of Federalism, separation of powers, a system of checks and balances,...
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...Convention’s Debates on Slavery took place in 1787 and was reported by James Madison. James Madison was a white male born in Virginia and was the leading delegate for his state of Virginia in the Constitutional Convention’s Debates on Slavery. He also became the chief recorder of information because he took an abundance of detailed notes. The notes that James Madison took during the Debates on Slavery were published right after the convention concluded. It was published for the public to view in the thirteen states, even though Rhode Island did not have a representative at the convention. It was the public who pushed for the delegates to meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles...
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...Confederation and the Constitution | | | | | Shortly after Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the delegates at the Second Continental Congress agreed that a new government was necessary to govern the now-independent colonies. After much debate, they drafted and adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777. Although the Articles were not officially ratified until 1781, they served as the actual constitution until that time. Under the authority of the Articles, the states created a national Congress comprised of annually elected delegates from all thirteen states. Each state had one vote in Congress, and, in most cases, decisions were made based on majority rule. The National Congress’ powers over the states were specific and definite: it had the sole power to negotiate treaties, declare war, and make peace. It also reserved the right to maintain an army and navy and regulated interaction with Native Americans in the West. The delegates also granted Congress the power to resolve interstate disputes, grant loans, print money, and operate a national postal system. Eventually, Congress was also authorized to govern western territories until they achieved statehood. All powers not granted to Congress were reserved for state governments. Congress had no power to levy taxes. For example, it could only request that the individual states raise revenue to cover their share of national expenses. Furthermore, any amendments made to the Articles...
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...weakness comes from the congress and its representatives. Representation within the government became an issue because everyone wanted equal voice. The Three-fifth compromise was an agreement between these diverse opinions to create a proper system of representation. It was a temporary fix to the issue for a much larger problem. The Three-Fifths Compromise is the third clause in Article one, Section two. Article one is aimed towards Legislative branch and specifies the job and limits of the branch. Section...
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...Founders and Limited Government After the Revolutionary war with the Great Britain, the nation didn’t have a strong centralized government and the founding fathers had to come together and come up with a different solution. The solution was Limited Government. When the founding fathers were building the U.S. Constitution and building up the country, they only had one fear of giving too much power to the government. They did not want any king or dictator to rule the country but at the same time they didn’t want to give away too much power to the government that could affect one’s civil rights and honor. James Madison, the father of the Constitution played an important role in convincing the colonies how they should adopt the Constitution and how important it is to be a part of it. But again, the constitution was also giving away too many powers to the government, which founders were completely against of. Hence they introduced the Bill of Rights. The Bill of rights is the first ten...
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...terms of the articles (about the national govt.) • Unicameral legislature • No power to tax • No power to raise army • No executive branch (could make laws but not enforce them) • No judicial branch • Unanimous vote needed to change Articles C) General results of the Articles • Weak and incomplete national govt. • Economic chaos o States fund the war by borrowing money from federal govt. o Govt. wants the money back o Economy dries up and leads to a “trade war” with competing interest o States taxes their own citizens since they can’t borrow money o People (mostly farmers) lose their possessions and property since they can’t pay taxes o Damages the economy even more since farm family is out of work • No sufficient national defense o Enemy 1 the British o French and the Spanish also potential threats o Native Indian tribes also potential threat • States are left largely on their own (13 separate states, no unity) D) Shay’s Rebellion 4 Key debates 1. Representation of the states (large population vs. small population) o States might be equal but not for individuals o Creates a Bicameral Legislation (2 houses) 1. Senate 2. House of reps (representation based on population) which is known as “the great compromise” o Defensive compromise; better at not getting stuff done than getting stuff done. 2. Slavery (north vs. south) • In the constitution, Slavery is OK • Importation of slaves is allowed for at least 20 years (1808) • Slaves counted as 3/5 of a...
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...Throughout the chapter, Ellis puts great emphasis on the many things that could have gone wrong during the revolution. He points all these negative events and set backs that he felt could easily have brought the developing America down to show just how great of an accomplishment the revolution was. The Founding Fathers were not completely oblivious to the severity of breaking away from Great Britain. Tom Pain states that, “it is only common sense that an island can not rule a continent (pg.3).” Many assumed that it was only natural that the thirteen colonies govern themselves. They figured that it would be a peaceful break such as the gaining of independence for Ghana or Canada. It was not until later on that the colonies realized that Britain would not easily hand over the land. What I find interesting is that only the Founding Fathers seemed to realize the great events taking place during their time. John Adams even instructed his wife to file and keep all of his records. It is as if he knew that hundreds of years from then, we the future Americans would look back at his notes and recognize his greatness. This makes me wonder why they were so sure of themselves. The Americans were at a disadvantage during the beginning of the war. How was it that they seem so certain that the war would end up in their favor? Ellis backs up my point by stating, “Men make history…, but they can never know the history that they are making (pg.4).” Every event in life can go two ways: really good...
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...Power of Government 3. Strengthening the Union B. The Powers of the Nation 1. Enumerated Powers 2. Implied Powers C. The Powers of the States II. Federalism in Historical Perspective A. An Indestructible Union (1789–1865) 1. The Nationalist View: McCulloch v. Maryland 2. The States’ Rights View: The Dred Scott Decision B. Dual Federalism and Laissez-Faire Capitalism (1865–1937) 1. The Fourteenth Amendment and State Discretion 2. Judicial Protection of Business 3. National Authority Prevails C. Toward National Citizenship III. Federalism Today A. Interdependency and Intergovernmental Relations B. Government Revenues and Intergovernmental Relations 1. Fiscal Federalism 2. Categorical and Block Grants C. Devolution 1. The Republican Revolution 2. Devolution, Judicial Style IV. The Public’s Influence: Setting the Boundaries of Federal-State Power Chapter Summary The foremost characteristic of the American political system is its division of authority between a national government and the states. The first U.S. government, established...
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...Historical Essay: Confederation and Constitution By History 405 Professor Aimee James January 26th, 2015 Historical Essay: Confederation and Constitution Confederation and Constitution As Colonial America moved from civil disobedience to open war with Britain, the States, at the behest of the Colonial Congress, started drafting constitutions and in the process “became laboratories for constitutional experimentation” ( Keene 120). The need to ensure a strong union and to ensure that it was strong enough to deal with both internal and external issues drove the colonies to send delegates to Albany to draft the Articles of Confederation. Ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation framed a new United States of America. The Articles of Confederation did not create a national government, “but rather a firm league of friendship” (Keene 121). Ultimately a fear of recreating the issues that were driving them from British rule shaped the Articles of Confederation and created a weak government with little power. It setup a national legislature called Congress where each state had one vote. It had no power to levy taxes, regulate commerce or otherwise interfere with the States. It could create money and declare war or peace. Notably any changes or amendments required a unanimous vote of Congress and “because of its weaknesses, Alexander Hamilton and other delegates called for a convention to be held in Philadelphia to improve and amend the Articles” (Articles of confederation...
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...Northwestern University – School of Law Public law & Legal Theory Research Paper Series Paper No. 09-12 ~and~ University of San Diego – School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series Paper No. 09-008 Reconciling Originalism and Precedent John O. McGinnis Northwestern University – School of Law Michael B. Rappaport University of San Diego – School of Law Northwestern University Law Review, Vol. 103, No. 2, 2009 Copyright 2009 by Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Law Review Printed in U.S.A. Vol. 103, No. 2 RECONCILING ORIGINALISM AND PRECEDENT John O. McGinnis∗ & Michael B. Rappaport** INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 I. PRECEDENT, ORIGINALISM, AND THE CONSTITUTION ................................................... 4 A. B. C. II. A. B. C. D. E. F. The Supposed Conflict Between Originalism and Precedent ............................ 5 A Short History of Precedent ............................................................................... 7 The Consistency of Originalism and Precedent ............................................... 21 The Supermajoritarian Theory of Constitutional Originalism........................ 28 The Relative Benefits of Original Meaning and Precedent ............................. 29 Precedent Rules .................................................................................................. 34 Factors...
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...most importantly National Spirit through the U.S. After the win of James Monroe a Virginian Republican president nationalism was looked at through that of a great perspective wherein Monroe won 231 of the electoral vote verses Adams who only won 1 of the electoral vote.(Doc I-Presidential Election, 1820) Also as the war between American and Britain came to a halt there were some minor issues that took place however, both countries settled the disputes between each other rather than going to war. This is because the British had taken note to U.S. sovereignty, therefore the U.S. was able to put forth Nationalistic ideals seeing that one of the strongest European nations had now respected the sovereignty that we a young country had established. This was followed by a letter that Madison wrote to congress in 1815 which represented once again the spirit of National Pride. With such aspects of National ideals in place National Spirit could take place wherein flags, words, prominent symbols and slogans were used to increase Nationalism. There were many things done by two main people such as Henry Clay and John Sea Calhoun who promoted nationalism in that they wanted to work on projects which would benefit that of the county and not just one region. This would be profitable for everyone thus being profitable for the nation at large. Calhoun showed this by introducing the Bonus Bill which would build roads, canals and create internal improvement. Calhoun saw this as a necessity because he...
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