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Democratic republicans vs federalists
The relationship between the states and the federal government
The u.s constitution then and now
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Throughout history, especially when a new country is formed, there are many controversial issues. These issues come up when not everyone agrees on how the country should be run. In the United States, especially in the early years, there were various issues. These issues split the United States into 2 political parties. In the early 1800’s, these 2 parties were the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists. Democratic Republicans believed in a strong state government. The Federalist believed in a strong central government. Some of the issues they disagreed on were ratification of the Constitution and the purchase of the Louisiana Territory.
Before the Constitution came to be, the United States had a set of laws called the Articles of Confederation, which were approved in 1781. The Articles of Confederation gave a lot of power to the states and not very much to the central government. Very soon after the Articles of Confederation was created, many problems came up. As it states in Document 1, Congress could not tax or pay its bills or debts. It could neither protect its country from mercantilist European empires nor supply the army. They could not even revise the Articles of Confederation in order to be able to levy taxes since it needed the unanimous consent of all thirteen states. The state was much too powerful, leaving the federal government almost powerless. In 1787, 55 delegates from 12 states convened to revise the Articles of Confederation. During the convention, they came up with a plan that created three branches to the Federal government. The constitution created a strong government with lots of power given to the Federal government and stripped the state government of a lot of its power. This created 2 sides, Federalist...
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...ew Orleans. Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on an expedition, to scout and map the newly acquired territory, hopefully encouraging settlement there and proving that the land was good. Although now the nation’s territorial expansion has ended, the westward movement of people continues to this day.
America had multiple controversial issues to deal with, especially as a newly formed republic. Although these issues create tension within the government, it strengthened the country to bring it to where it stands today. The ratification of the constitution strengthened United States by giving its federal government power. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory strengthened United States by expanding its land, thereby expanding its dominance in world politics.
Works Cited
Prentice Hall - America – Pathways to the Present-Pages 132, 133, 139, 140, 141, 142, 186, 187
The thirteen states formed a Confederation referred to as the “league of friendship” in order to find a solution for common problems such as foreign affairs.The Articles of Confederation was the nation’s first Constitution. The articles created a loose Confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to the central government. Each state would have one vote in the house of Congress, no matter the size of the population. Members of the one-house Congress, such as Pennsylvania, agreed that the new government should be a unicameral legislature, without an executive branch or a separate judiciary. Under the articles, there wasn’t a strong independent executive. There wasn’t any judicial branch but Congress had the authority to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was responsible for conducting foreign affairs, declaring war or peace, maintaining an army and navy and a variety of other lesser functions. But the articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws. Because of this, the central government had to request donations from the states to finance its operations and raise armed forces.
Eibling, Harold H., et al., eds. History of Our United States. 2nd edition. River Forest, Ill: Laidlaw Brothers, 1968.
After the Constitution was written, the new born nation was immediately split into two political sides, the federalists and the anti-federalists, over the ratification. Federalists, southern planters or people that tended to hold interest in trade, advocated a strong executive. On the other hand, anti-federalists, back country people or people involved in business but not in the mercantile economy, opposed the ratification of the constitution. The two sides, after much debate, were able to come to a compromise after the Bill of Rights was included into the Constitution.
These parties were the federalists and the republicans. They had very few geographical divisions, and views were mixed on both sides. See the best example of this in the Maysville Road article. There was a dispute over the proposed road, and whether or not it should be built. federal money.
Divine, Robert A. America past and Present. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Longman, 2013. 245. Print.
The differing opinions on how the government in the post-Revolutionary war period should be run ultimately created the first rise in political parties. The Federalist belief in a government run by wealthy men and opposing Republican support for and agrarian society split the nations people in support of a government most beneficial to them. Differing reactions to the French Revolution showed the distinct difference in Federalist and Republican belief of who the government should be run under. The National Bank and the excise tax on liquor revealed differing views on how strictly the Constitution should be interpreted and the Alien and Sedition Acts reveal an attempt of one party to dissolve another. The contrasting views of Hamilton's Federalism and Jefferson's Republicanism were the ultimate contributors to splitting the nation on views and establishing the first political parties.
As the young colonies of America broke away from their mother country and began to grow and develop into an effective democratic nation, many changes occurred. As the democracy began to grow, two main political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. Each party had different views on how the government should be run. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict construction of the Constitution. The Federalists opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Throughout the years, the political parties have grown, developed, and even dispersed into totally new factions. Many of the inconsistencies and changes can be noted throughout the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
A constitution is the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation is governed. Our founding fathers created the US Constitution to set specific standards for our country. We must ask ourselves why our founding fathers created the Constitution in the first place. America revolted against the British due to their monarchy form of government. After the American Revolution, each of the original 13 colonies operated under its own rules of government. Most states were against any form of centralized rule from the government. They feared that what happened in England would happen again. They decided to write the Articles of Confederation, which was ratified in 1781. It was not effective and it led to many problems. The central government could not regulate commerce between states, deal with foreign governments or settle disputes. The country was falling apart at its seams. The central government could not provide assistance to the state because there wasn’t a central army. When they realized that the Articles of Confederation was not up to par, they held a convention, known as the Constitutional Convention of 1787. As a result of t...
With the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the United States more than doubled its size. Now that the U.S. was in control of all of the new territory, Americans were free to roam and explore the newly acquired lands. Not to long after the purchase, President Thomas Jefferson had the U.S. Congress provide $2500, "to send intelligent officers with ten or twelve men, to explore even to the western ocean" (www.wikipedia.org). The main objectives of the crew were to study the western terrain, Indian tribes, geology, botany, and wildlife in the Louisiana territory. Another objective of the crew was to evaluate the interference of British and French trappers who were already well established in the newly
3. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).
Breen, T.H., H.W. Brands, et al. America: Past and Present. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson, Print.
The founding fathers composed the United State 's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, which was put into effect in 1781. Moreover, this constitution was known as the “league of friendship” and had major faults embedded within it. Consequently, these major faults lead to the formulation of a new constitution, the United States Constitution, which was put into effect in 1789, in which we still use today. The constitutions are both similar in retrospect but when one compares them directly the differences out lay the similarities. Regarding both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, many differences lay between them, specifically, the principle of Federalism and the distribution of power between the state and federal
Before the adoption of the United States Constitution, the U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation. These articles stated that almost every function of the government was chartered by the legislature known as Congress. There was no distinction between legislative or executive powers. This was a major shortcoming in how the United States was governed as many leaders became dissatisfied with how the government was structured by the Articles of Confederation. They felt that the government was too weak to effectively deal with the upcoming challenges. In 1787, an agreement was made by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a national judiciary needed to be established. This agreement became known as The Constitution of the United States, which explicitly granted certain powers to each of the three branches of the federal government, while reserving other powers exclusively to the states or to the people as individuals. It is, in its own words, “the supreme Law of the Land” (Shmoop Editorial Team).
... An American History of the World. 4th ed. of the book. W.W. Norton, 2012, 671. 2.)
For most controversial issues one point of view is not enough to satisfy and fully comprehend issues in question. In order to increase and deepen our knowledge of them, we must seek various perspectives on those particular situations. Now, this is easier said than done; usually, it is difficult for us to see issues from the perspective of others, (Chaffee, 2004). In the passage that you considered for your discussion, I notice an important statement issued by the professional society’s ethics committee, and I quote: “it is sometimes acceptable for couples to choose the sex of their children…”, (Chaffee, 2004, p. 61). In order to take a definitely stand, I consider that we must investigate on which circumstances is this practice acceptable.