The Constitution as A Democratic Document

936 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: grievances of shays rebellion

Upon the opening words of the Constitution, "We the People…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America," one must ask, who are these people? While the American Constitution provided its citizens with individual rights, many members were excluded. Elite framers manipulated the idea of a constitution in order to protect their economic interests and the interests of their fellow ‘white land and slave owning men' by restricting the voices of women, slaves, indentured servants and others. Therefore, the Constitution cannot truly be considered a "democratic document." However, because it is a live document, malleable and controllably changeable according to the interest of congress, it has enabled us to make reforms overtime. Such reforms that have greatly impacted America, making us the free, independent nation that we are today. The elite opted to prevent rebellions which voiced the opinions of disregarded members of society such as women, slaves, indentured servants, and men who didn't own land, by intervening and taking them into their own hands because they wanted to preserve their power. In 1780, Shay's rebellion, led by Daniel Shay, a veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill, allowed farmers who were unable to pay their mortgage, to speak out. Creating chaos amongst the peaceful streets of Springfield, armed farmers were stopped by state militia. Shay's rebellion led way to the Philadelphia Convention in which fifty-five men representing twelve states congregated on 1787, in proposal of drafting a new constitution. Through the occurrence of the American Revolution, they were aware of the power that their people were able to execute and wanted to stabilize the government by creating a new Constitution.... ... middle of paper ... ...his Union a Republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence." Considering the Constitution excludes the four groups which make-up a majority of America during the time; women, slaves, indentured servants, Native Americans and men who have no land, how can one regard the constitution as a democratic document? Although the Constitution excluded a majority of its citizens and was founded by elitist framers, because it is a document that depends solely on the interpretation of its reader, it has progressed overtime. As Madison notes, it is our diversity that unites us as a nation. Without the Constitution, perhaps I wouldn't even have had the opportunity to write this essay and question my country's Constitution.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of How Democratic Is The American Constitution By Robert Dahl

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book, “How Democratic Is the American Constitution”, Robert A. Dahl takes us deeper into the complexities of demonstration of American majority rule government were surrounded. An intriguing part of this book is the examination with different popular governments as far and wide as possible. His tables and graphs in the book are helpful for the situation. The book also given an idea of majority rules system in the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

    Read More

  • Articles Of Confederation Dbq Analysis

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    During and after the turmoil of the American Revolution, the people of America, both the rich and the poor, the powerful and the meek, strove to create a new system of government that would guide them during their unsure beginning. This first structure was called the Articles of Confederation, but it was ineffective, restricted, and weak. It was decided to create a new structure to guide the country. However, before a new constitution could be agreed upon, many aspects of life in America would have to be considered. The foremost apprehensions many Americans had concerning this new federal system included fear of the government limiting or endangering their inalienable rights, concern that the government’s power would be unbalanced, both within

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Miracle At Philadelphia

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    After claiming independence from Great Britain, America had a tremulous start with thirteen states governing themselves using the Articles of Confederation and therefore not united under one whole government that set and regulated tax and commerce. With the states usually arguing and not providing financial support to the government, Shay’s Rebellion had begun in Massachusetts, urged by farmers, in protest of the tax collections and economic chaos. Without the political unrest caused by that one event, the future of America would have turned out differently; it would likely have been that the states would have plunged into massive debt and lost the freedoms achieved after the American Revolution. Afterwards, people had urged the creation of an effective government to support them, thus creating the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, fifty-five delega...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of John P Roche Framing Of The Constitution

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    The U.S government has operated for about 200 years on the basis of Constitution written in 1787 and since then, there have been several debates as to whether the framing of this document was an elitist or democratic process. The framers, collectively were an elite, but the reason for why they wrote the Constitution is not fully known. John P. Roche suggests the Constitution was written upon the idea to establish an effective and controlled national government that would overcome the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and not so much to limit the power of popular majorities and protect their own property interests.

    Read More

  • How Democratic Is the American Constitution?

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Dahl's book How Democratic is the American Constitution, reminds us that the American Constitution wasn't the only possible base for a democratic system in America. In this book Dahl explains some of the democratic and undemocratic aspects of the American constitution. He also explains what should be changed to improve it.

    Read More

  • Democratic and Undemocratic Aspects of the Constitutional Convention

    1373 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Articles of Confederation was the first government of the United States. The Articles had created a very weak national government. At the time the Articles were approved, they had served the will of the people. Americans had just fought a war to get freedom from a great national authority--King George III (Patterson 34). But after this government was put to use, it was evident that it was not going to keep peace between the states. The conflicts got so frequent and malicious that George Washington wondered if the “United” States should be called a Union (Patterson 35). Shays’ Rebellion finally made it evident to the public that the government needed a change.

    Read More

  • The Founding Fathers: An Age Of Realism Summary

    1855 Words  | 4 Pages

    The men who wrote the American constitution agreed with Thomas Hobbes that humans were naturally evil. Therefore, they agreed that in order to prevent a dictatorship or monarchy, the citizens should have influence in the government. The writers wanted a more ideal constitution, but they realized evil human motives would never change. One of the main goals of the constitution was to create a balanced government that would allow the citizens to prevent each other from being corrupt. The writers wanted to give citizens liberty, but they did not want to give people so much liberty that they would have an uncontrollable amount of power. The writers agreed that a citizen’s influence in government would be proportionate to that individual’s property.

    Read More

  • Audrey Hofstadter Summary: The Founding Fathers: The Age of Realism

    1577 Words  | 4 Pages

    Consistent to eighteenth-century ethos left the Constitution-makers with great faith in universals. They believed in an inexorable view of a self-interested man. Feeling that all me were naturally inclined to be bad they sought a compromising system of checks and balances for government. This was bolstered by the scientific work by Newton, ?in which metaphors sprang as naturally to mens minds as did biological metaphors in the Darwinian atmosphere of the late nineteenth century.? Therefore Madison and others thought to squelch the possibly dangerous majority by setting up a large number and variety of local interests, so that the people will ?be unable to concert and carry into effect their scheme of oppression.? And thus, chief powers went to the propertied.

    Read More

  • Federalists

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    The early years of the Constitution of the United States were full of political strife. The two prominent political ideals were complete opposites. The Jeffersonian Republicans were focused on giving power to the people and maintaining a pastoral economy, while the Federalists supported the control of the government by the elite class, and maintaining “positive” democracy. Both parties feared the influence and effect the other party would have on the public. In Linda K. Kerber's article, “The Fears of the Federalists”, the major concerns Federalists held in the early 19th century are described. Ever since the war with and separation from England, the citizens of America were seen to be continually drive to “patriotic rebellion” as a way to voice their wants. Violence was not an uncommon practice of the era (the use of mob tactics was prevalent), but Federalists feared that if Democratic values were abused and unrestrained, the country would fall into anarchy.

    Read More

  • The Electoral College Should Be Abolished

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Founders built certain protections for individual rights into this country's founding documents. The United States Constitution was one such document. In particular, such protections guard Americans who hold minority viewpoints from those who side with the majority. For example, the First Amendment protects the right of free speech to ensure that people who hold unpopular views have just as much freedom to express those views as do people who tend to agree with the majority. The United States Constitution, therefore, was intended to protect the individual rights of Americans from a tyrannical government and majority. However, today, the Electoral College does not represent the vibrant democracy into which the United States has grown.

    Read More

  • U.S. Constitution: Counter Revolutionary?

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    The beginning of the Constitution provides a basis for one to question the righteousness of the Framers intentions. The Constitution starts by saying, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This was not a true statement. That phrase excluded black people, women, and men who lacked wealth. Government under the British did the same thing; all the power was made accessible to only the rich. The American Revolution was aimed at acquiring equal and fair representation in government for everyone. Next, the Constitution established a Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was a group of selected people who would make major legal decisions for the country. These people were not elected or chosen by the people, they were chosen by the government. This placed a form of power over the people of the United States that had been held by King George. The Supreme Court had the power to ma...

    Read More

  • How Did Zinn Agree With The Economic Interests Of The Upper Class

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zinn goes into detail how proletarian unrest, namely Shays’ Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion, caused unease amongst the wealthy. The solution, according to James Madison in Federalist #10, was a unifying Constitution. Madison believed that it would be easier to quell uprisings and dissent if the government was much larger; instead of unruly residents solely dealing with a state’s governing body, they would have to deal with the entire country (156).

    Read More

  • Tyranny Of The Majority Analysis

    250 Words  | 1 Pages

    Earlier this year, we studied how the Constitution was formed and the interests it sought to protect. The founders identified “tyranny of the majority” as an inherent danger of a “majority rule” democracy. Through a separation of power into three branches, the Constitution attempted to assure that an imperfect majority that ignored the needs of a minority and exercised poor judgment, would not be able to hijack the government. Democracy partially relies on people being well informed, when people blindly listen to misinformation a democracy will not succeed.

    Read More

  • The Role of the Constitution and Constitutional Court in Democratic Societies

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nowadays, the legal order and the rule of law within the state system play a forefront role in the developed democracies. Undoubtedly, the notion of democratic state itself is closely associated with the high standards of legal system in it. However, in order to define what the high standards of legal system actually mean, it is important to answer the question what one would perceive as the real democracy. Although, we used to describe the democracy as the will or voice of majority in general terms, there are many more other factors of the modern democracies such as the separation of power, for instance. Based on this, we may assume that a constitution is a way of organizing all these into a single universal binding document to reach, and subsequently retain, those principles within a society. There is a broad concept that modern democracies cannot operate without a constitution to protect and implement democracy and legal rights of their citizens. On the opposite side, others insists that the constitution is absolutely useless since it is widely adopted in the numerous autocratic states, and used to retain the power and authority in hands of current government. Basically, those debates reflects the controversial nature of statecraft. My paperwork is intended to consider the role of the constitution and constitutional court in democratic society.

    Read More

  • Worst Form Of Inequality

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    A major rebellion took place, in August, the year of 1786, over fifteen hundred farmers started a rebellion because of Massachusetts tax policy, after defeat in January 1787, the state soon freed most of the rebels because many agreed with the rebels and their cause. As many thought the policy would improve the state, in the end, people such as these rebellions showed how many felt. In fact, Shays's rebellion showed weakness in the Confederation government. This is very important because the Constitution will eventually make a law that is the wrong decision in the view of the people and people will fight to prove it. Daniel Shays led hundreds of men in a forced shutdown of the Supreme Court in Springfield, Massachusetts, and this provides evidence that citizens will stand for what they believe.(history book) In conclusion, the Constitution may prohibit certain concepts, but people will still defy and will fight for what they believe

    Read More

More about The Constitution as A Democratic Document

Open Document