Term Paper on "Constitution: History of Its Ratification"

Term Paper 3 pages (1047 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Constitution: History Of Its Ratification

The Constitution is such a fixture in American political life and rhetoric it seems as if it has always existed, as if it sprung from the founding father's brains like Athena from the head of Zeus. However, this is not the case -- the concept of an individual's inalienable rights that could not be infringed upon by the government were not simply generated in the minds of Madison, Washington, and Jefferson after the American Revolution's extraction of the colonies from British rule. The idea began with the ideals of an individual's right to life, liberty, and property that the sovereign ruler could not touch, as expressed in the words of the English philosopher John Locke.

Locke proclaimed human liberty, or freedom of choice, to live as one desired could only be impinged upon if it were necessary to protect the liberty of another. The French philosopher Rousseau proclaimed human freedom in a state of nature -- only if one desired governance need one enters into a social contract with a sovereign state. Later, the United States' Bill of Rights guaranteed a citizen's freedom of speech and the right not to have to house soldiers in one's home or property. It was thus revolutionary in its constitutional guarantee of liberties, the embodiment of older, radical philosophies of liberties and rights.

But politically, the American Constitution came into being only with great struggle. It was spawned by the need for a more centralized government than the Articles of Confederation. "With the states retaining considerable power, the central government, he believed, had insufficient power to regulate commerce. It could not tax and was generally impotent in setting commercial policy. It could not effectively support a war effort. It had little power to settle quarrels between states." (NARA, 2004)

Another considerable obstacle was the regional divisions between the white slave owning Southern that feared a loss of white ethnic superiority over slaves. Several plans were proposed to stem regional strife, one featuring strong executive power, called the Virginia Plan, the third a purely federal and states-rights-based system called the New Jersey Plan, and Alexander Hamilton's imposition of a British-style American monarch upon the newly independent nation. (NARA, 2004)

Also crowding into this complicated and divisive discussion over representation was the North-South division over the method by which slaves were to be counted for purposes of taxation and representation. On July 12 Oliver Ellsworth proposed that representation for the lower house be based on the number of free persons and three-fifths of all other persons, a euphemism for slaves." (NARA, 2004) Not until the fourteenth amendment and the 20th century were civil rights, the positive rights of protection of the government, given to American Blacks and many have argued that the first version of the Constitution was thus biased in favor of the Southern states despite the fact it did not delineate a fully federal system. It still tolerated slavery and gave Blacks no constitutional guarantees of freedom and equality under the law.

Of course, the first version of the Constitution was hardly purely democratic, even in its allocation of rights to white… READ MORE

How to Reference "Constitution: History of Its Ratification" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Constitution in America, Research Paper

Constitution

In America, the Constitution is considered to be a sacred document that is the corner stone of daily life. As everyone can enjoy the fact that: they are given… read more

Research Paper 6 pages (1966 words) Sources: 6 Topic: American History / United States

---

Constitution of the United States of America Term Paper

Constitution of the United States of America is perhaps the world's oldest written national constitution. Adopted on September 17, 1787, the Constitution is the result of a significant and heated… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (2713 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA Topic: American History / United States

---

21st Amendment Term Paper

21st Amendment and Its Impact on American Society

Before history began, humankind was already using alcohol for medicinal and recreational purposes. Today, more people consume alcohol than every before, but… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1727 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: American History / United States

---

Modern Day America Had the U.S. Constitution Never Been Ratified Research Paper

America Without the Constitution

Without the ratification of the U.S. Constitution the Articles of Confederation would have been the predominant legal structure of the new Republic of the United States.… read more

Research Paper 9 pages (3372 words) Sources: 4 Topic: American History / United States

---

U.S. Constitution the United States of America Term Paper

U.S. Constitution

The United States of America is the land of the free spirit, a land where the brave and the worthy can lead lives of their choice, free and… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (4248 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: American History / United States

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>