FREE ESSAY ON FOUNDING OF OUR NATIONS GOVERNMENT

FOUNDING OF OUR NATIONS GOVERNMENT

Aspects of The Founding Of Our Nations Government
The Articles of Confederation were extremely important in the founding of our government
today. The Articles gave us a sort of good base to start from, and was ground breaking in
the shaping of our new nation. 
The Articles of Confederation were written by a Second Continental Congressional
committee during the early part of the American Revolution in 1777. A report of the
proposed articles was presented to the committee by John Dickson (committee head) just
eight days after the signing of the Declaration Of Independence. 
The fear of the 13 colonies was to have a powerful central government, as they did in
Great Britain. The Articles were changed drastically by the Continental Congress before
they were sent in November of 1777 to all the states for ratification. It tool several
years for the ratification to be completed by all the states. The Articles were put into
play March 1, 1781
The colonists effectively created a central government without sufficient power to govern
effectively. Finally a unanimous approval was required to pass Laws at the mercy of the
state, the main problem was the governments inability to regulate trade. The states were
free from government regulation and could set their own taxes. Taxes on the same goods
were different in each state. The inflated taxes, fluctuating from state to state, made
interstate commerce very expensive. From all the fluctuation of Taxes and what not,
Tariff wars started and tax inflation became too high for trade and brought each state
into a hampered economic state.
The colonists had good intentions in drafting the first largely experimental
constitution, but its application proved to be too troublesome for many reasons. However,
as much as the Articles of Confederation were a failure, so also they were a success in
providing a solid base from which all other constitutions have sprung forth, including
the current Constitution that has governed us for over 210 years.
On February 21, 1787, the Continental Congress resolved that: …"it is expedient
that that on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates who shall have been
appointed by the several states be held at Philadelphia for the sole purpose of revising
the articles of Confederation"…The original states except Rhode Island,
collectively appointed 70 individuals to the Constitutional Convention, but a number did
not accept or could not attend. Those who did not attend included Thomas Jefferson,
Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. In all 55
delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions, but only 39 actually signed
the Constitution. The delegates ranged in age from Jonathon Dayton, aged 26, and to
Benjamin Franklin at 81 years of age, who was very sick at the time. 
The plan of the delegates was to remedy the defects in the Articles of Confederation, but
Virginia delegates had a new idea in mid and boldly proposed the Virginia Plan, which
introduced a whole new national government instead of the confederation. The New Jersey
Plan was also presented as an alternative, but it was based mainly on autonomous states
being represented by a single chamber. When bicameral legislation was approved it
effectively made the decision for the Virginia Plan, and allowed for the New Jersey Plan
to be passed over and defeated. 
The principle of separation of powers was a much stronger principle of the new
Constitution, than those of the state constitutions. A single figure was to be elected by
an electoral collage as our Chief Executive. Representation proportional to each states
population in both houses, was proposed by the Virginia Plan. However this was modified
and each state was given equal representation in the Senate.
At the Convention there was some controversy about counting slaves for population
representation. Finally anti -slavery gave way to a 3/5's Compromise, which allowed then
to be partially counted. 
It was thought that the Legislative Branch would be the most powerful in government, but
to even out the system the Executive Branch was given the power to Veto, and the Judicial
Branch was given a power of review. All the basic powers of a modern and sovereign
government were given to Congress. The United States was now a republic and didn't give
any special aristocratic titles of honor. 
With the new Constitution the states kept their jurisdiction on civil matters, but the
Federal government had much more power on the individual himself in that they could act
directly on a citizen regardless of the state authority. We are a new nation under the
"United" States, not under the state we lived in.
The new Constitution had great opposition from the Anti-Federalists who were from
stronger states, in a better economy and then had no need for such extreme measures as a
new Constitution. The Anti- Federalists were sure to point out all the Negative points of
the Constitution. However, the Federalists used every communicative advantage they had
with the press and better organization overall. 
Our founding fathers were of a higher intellectual level and used that to give a very
intensive debate in our favor. The Father of our Country, James Madison along with
Alexander Hamilton produced an argument through very extensive public literature that
appeared in newspapers as The Federalist. The essays they wrote were crafty and well
thought out, attacking every point of the Confederations feebleness, and the never forgot
to include all the benefits and advantages for every aspect of society. Madison reassured
the people greatly and helped them not to believe their interests had been forgotten and
that despite what they may say about the balance of powers, he stated that they would not
counteract each other. 
The delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention were a very distinguished body
of men who represented a cross section of 18th- century American leadership. Nearly all
of the delegates had experience in colonial and state government, and the majority held
county and local offices. 
Our Founding Fathers practiced a wide range of occupations, and many of them had more
than one career at the same time. Thirty-five were lawyers and benefited from legal
training, but not all of them relied on the occupation for a livelihood. Some had also
become Judges.
Almost all the delegates were born in the 13 colonies. Only eight were born else where,
Four in Ireland, Two in England, One in Scotland, and one in the West Indies. The
Founding Fathers educational background was very diverse. Some had obtained instruction
from private tutors or at Academies. While, the others like Benjamin Franklin were mainly
self taught and had received little or no instruction. 
Despite family life and longevity most of the group continued to render outstanding
public service, particularly to the new government they had helped to create. And most of
the delegates contributed in many ways to their cities, communities, and states. Also
many of their sons and other descendants were to occupy high positions in American
political life. 
Some of the delegates still had a going concern about the civil rights of the people and
to make sure that the tyranny of a central government did not overtake them as it did in
Britain. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would clearly state the freedoms of the
individual citizen, the First Congress of the United States proposed to the state
legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that addressed the most frequently brought
up concerns. The first 2 amendments addressed the number of representatives in the House
and Congress, and these were not ratified. Articles 3 -12 however did pass with ?'s
legislation, and they made up the first ten amendments of the Constitution, and also the
Bill of Rights. These amendments gave us more power and freedom as a people and we did
not fear the all-powerful government as we had in the past. Yet these amendments allowed
the common man to rest much easier, and to not worry about not having certain civil
rights. The Bill of Rights gave us a new sigh of relief as a people with the birth of our
new government and nation not more than 20 years old we were anxious to see all the
wonderful things our Founding Fathers had promised us. The incentive of the Bill of
Rights was the greatest thing in that it said the word "Freedom". A word these people had
yet to truly experience and had fought so hard for through the American Revolution.
Finally this gave them a reward of sorts, that was actually more tangible than this big
new government, this was for the people and they saw that these freedoms were
specifically for them.
It all started with the Articles of Confederation, it founded our new government, and
laid the base for all things to come. It truly paved the way , and gave us hope as a new
nation, and was extremely important in the founding of our government today. All of these
aspects I have talked about in my paper helped mold our government, and make it the most
powerful and sought after today. We set the example, people look at our government with
honor and respect, and for them to fully ascertain they must gain a full knowledge of how
it began, to comprehend the greatness as it is today.