"Thank God it
was ratified!" With the Constitution the elite society
protected rights for every American that would secure and
ensure our nation’s existence for hundreds of years. Under
the Articles of Confederation, the United States’ government
was in a state of chaos. To end the existing chaos and build
a stronger democratic society for the future, the government
would need to be more powerful and centralized. Thus, the
elite class established the rules and boundaries that would
protect the rights of all citizens from a suppressive
government. The Articles created a weak, almost
nonexistent national government that was in complete control
by the states. The newly formed government had neither an
executive or judicial branch, which meant that it lacked
enforcement powers. There were three problems that
existed under the Articles of Confederation that would
spawn an act of change. First, under the Articles of
Confederation the government could not protect property
and other rights of the citizens. Second, the society created
under the Articles of Confederation lacked a means of
advancing commerce and interstate trade. Third, government
lacked the money and power to provide an adequate
national defense. Traders and commercial men found their
plans for commerce on a national scale impeded by local
interference with interstate commerce. The currency of the
states and the nation were hopelessly muddled. Creditors
everywhere were angry about the depreciated paper money
which the agrarians had made and were attempting to force
upon those from whom they had borrowed specie. Poor,
small landowning farmers could not sell or trade goods that
they produced on their land to other states. The "muddled
currency" in 1786, led to the loss of land in Massachusetts.
During this time Continental army veterans were unable to
pay their debts with the paper money that they were
supplied with by the Continental Congress. This bankruptcy
led to the loss of land and a great rebellion led by Daniel
Shays. The Shay’s rebellion was ended easily enough but it
was the lack of national government that frightened people.
Had Daniel Shays gathered a larger number of people and
had more fire power the small amount of farmers and
townspeople might not have been able to squash this
rebellion. Anarchy in the States could not be tolerated.
However it was James Madison that stated that the way to
abolish the rule by faction is to abolish liberty but that liberty
is essential to a faction as air is to fire. Madison continues to
state that, "The inference to which we are brought is, that the
causes of faction cannot be removed; and that relief is only
to be sought in the means of controlling its effects." Madison
understood that to take away liberty was to stop a faction
and therefore if a hindrance or boundary on liberty was
established it would control the rule by faction. Madison was
opposed to complete abolishment of liberty and therefore
the most reasonable decision was to place boundaries on it.
Madison and the elite class noticed how the Articles of
Confederation disrupted the majority of the American
people and created a system of government where liberty
was so free that it hindered society. The decision to create a
new system of government was in the best interest of all the
people in America. In creating the Constitution there were
many conflicting views of how the newly created government
should function. Alexander Hamilton, wanted a strong
central government in which a Senate and executive power
were chosen for life by indirect election; therefore creating
an aristocracy. George Mason, an antifederalist, objected to
the final document because of the possibility that this new
government would create an aristocracy. Mason also
proposed that, "there is no declaration of Rights" and the
"Legislature [cannot prohibit] the further Importation of
Slaves," which he felt was destructive of the country’s moral
fiber. On the Bill of Rights issue, the government did not
need regulations that stated what it cannot do because a
government cannot act unless it is stated within the law. If
there was not a law that stated that they could censor the
press then it is illegal for them to do so. Mason and many
other antifederalists were opposed to the Constitution
because it allowed the importation of slaves for at least
another twenty years. Without this clause in the Constitution
it never would have been ratified because the South would
not have voted for ratification denying the Constitution the
three fourths vote that it needed. Although the importation of
slaves in the Constitution was not ideal there was not a way
to ratify the Constitution without the South’s vote on this
issue. Charles A. Beard criticizes the creators of the
Constitution deeming that, "the direct, impelling motive was
the economic advantages which the beneficiaries expected
would accrue to themselves first, from their action." Beard
continues his evaluation on the framers by citing that, "Not
one member represented in his immediate personal
economic interests the small farming or mechanic classes."
Beard cites more of his facts in that, "The overwhelming
majority of members, at least five-sixths, were immediately,
directly, and personally interested in the outcome of their
labors at Philadelphia." In his report Beard seems to cite
numerous facts which prove that his statement is correct in
that the framers had personal concerns that outweighed the
democratic sincerety of the new government. Beard’s
examples are so precise as to say that, "five-sixths were
personally interested in the outcome of their labors," that it is
unbelievable that such a fact could be true. Was a poll taken
during this time on whether the framers had personal intents
in the creation and ratification of the Constitution? Beard’s
thesis seems so ridiculous that it needs to be taken with a
grain of salt and as Robert Brown stated that Beard’s thesis
if accepted is done so on ‘an act of faith’ and not an analysis
of historical method. There were a few problems within the
Constitution of the United States of America, but the effects
that it produced in society were far more positive than that of
the Articles of Confederation. The chaos that was
constructed under the Articles were legally banned under the
Constitution. The slave trade and acts of slavery would last
many more years but finally it was ended very bloodily.
Although the history of the United States has not always
been a happy one the ratification of the Constitution still is
one of America’s best accomplishments.
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