Final Thoughts
When I first started to write about general welfare, I at first thought it might be a two, three maybe four part article, but it eventually morphed into TEN and now eleven parts, and I still did not cover all that I wanted to. I was however was able to cover the various arguments and circumstances surrounding the term “general welfare” in many respects. Throughout the discussion we have covered some of its first origins and uses, how it came to be part of the Constitution, and the debates about it after the Convention finished, and leading up to when the Supreme Court started to hear arguments over it [which is another entire discussion in itself]. The focus here has not been what Supreme Court has thought of the term in Article I Section 8 Clause 1, but how others thought of it before and shortly after it even became law. Why was it used, and what was its pedigree to those who decided to put it in the Constitution, and how it was viewed by those who ratified it.
Throughout all of these discussion from the Articles of Confederation to Thomas Jefferson’s and James Madison’s letters a few things become relatively evident about general welfare.
It’s origin is directly from the Articles of Confederation. In those Articles, the term carried no weight of power at all, but used to describe the purpose of the following powers.
No debate occurred in the Convention of 1787 over this term. This is compared to the lengthy debates on nearly every other power granted in the Constitution. For this term to be a means of a broad general power, and NOT be debated, while other much less significant powers created intense debate is remarkable. This can only imply it was never viewed as a general power.
Even in it most expansiv...
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...d Constitution, though Journals do reflect the fact he submitted one for consideration. The Draft used as his proposal was submitted by Pinckney himself in 1818 years after the Convention, when an attempt was being made to collect and preserve all information from the Convention itself by future President John Quincy Adams. The fact that limited records from the Convention details his proposals does call into question the accuracy of the Draft he submitted as to being the one actually proposed on May 29, 1787, though notes from James Wilson discovered in the early 1900’s tend to show much a what he submitted to be accurate.
3 Encyclopedia Britannica
References:
Articles of Confederation
United States Constitution
Constitutions in effect in 1787 of; Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, New Hampshire
Max Farrands records on the Convention
The whole point of this essay is my way of showing the reader using Grunwald’s cites and examples like the personal experiences, Facts and Statistics, and the repetition Grunwald shows that the word welfare has another meaning, the real and true meaning. So the next time you rethink about should you apply for that benefit program or should you inform your friend or cousin about welfare. Do them or yourself a favor and just do it because after reading what I have to say welfare it will always pop up in the back of your head when a person talks about have a bad life or money problems I guarantee
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
The meeting in Philadelphia was successful, it is known as the Constitutional Conventional. James Madison went to the meeting in Philadelphia it was his idea to create the United States in a republican model. The people would have the power in the form of representatives. Madison and his fellow Virginians came up with the details and a plan for the new government, it was known as the Virginia Plan. And Madison became known as the father of the constitution.
Dolgoff, R. & Feldstein, D. (2003). Understanding social welfare (7th ed). New York, Allen & Bacon
September 17, 1787, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; during the heat of summer, in a stuffy assembly room of Independence Hall, a group of delegates gathered. After four months of closed-door quorums, a four page, hand written document was signed by thirty-nine attendees of the Constitutional Convention. This document, has come to be considered, by many, the framework to the greatest form of government every known; the Constitution of the United States. One of the first of its kind, the Constitution laid out the frame work for the government we know today. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people; constructed of three branches; each branch charged with their own responsibilities. Article one established the Congress or Legislative branch, which would be charged with legislative powers. Article two created the Executive branch, providing chief executive powers to a president, who would act in the capacity of Commander in Chief of the Country’s military forces. The President of the United States also acts as head of state to foreign nations and may establish treaties and foreign policies. Additionally, the President and the departments within the Executive branch were established as the arm of government that is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress. Thirdly, under Article three of the Constitution, the Judicial branch was established, and consequently afforded the duty of interpreting the laws, determining the constitutionality of the laws, and apply it to individual cases. The separation of powers is paramount to the system of checks and balances among the three branches; however, although separate they must support the functions of the others. Because of this, the Legislative an...
In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.
To counter these and a variety of other arguments, statesmen Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay composed a series of articles that would logically and critically address the grievances of those opposed to the...
O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded
...ers. It also defined what power a state has over a legitimate federal institution. For example, a state may not use its power to impede the operation of a federal institution by taxing its activities, but still has the authority to collect property tax from a federal institution.
As you will see in this paper, I will point out many ways that these documents are still in effect today. In the end, you will understand how the United States of America came about. There are many things that I can compare to the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense pamphlet. Paine states “That government's sole purpose is to protect life, liberty and property, and that a government should be judged solely on the basis of the extent to which it accomplishes this goal.”
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).
The history of welfare systems dates back to ancient China and Rome, some of the first institutions known to have established some form of a welfare system. In both of these nations, their governments created projects to provide food and aid to poor, unemployed, or unable families and individuals, however these were based on “moral responsibility.” Later in history, in 1500’s England, parliament passed laws that held the monarchy responsible for providing assistance to needy families by providing jobs and financial aid. These became known as “poor laws” (Issitt).
The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1787 and it established the powers of the federal government. Its intended purpose was to protect individual rights and liberties. It constructed the three branches of government that we know today: Executive, legislative and judicial. These branches created a separation of powers, in addition to check and balances. Originally, the judicial branch did not have much power when the constitution was written. It was not until the case of Marbury v Madison in 1803 that it actually established the judicial review. The judicial review is what gave the federal courts a great deal of power to void acts of Congress that they deemed violates the Constitution. After this case, the Supreme Court Justices
Even the antifederalists recognized that “…a government without the power to raise money is one only in name.” (Brutus, No.5) A political group emerged in favor of a new constitution and wrote of their ideas in the federalist papers. The new constitution would strengthen the central government but allow for its power to be checked while protecting the rights of the people. These papers were written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton and published in the late 1780’s at the same time as the anti-federalist papers published by a somewhat unknown “Brutus.” The federalists supported ratifying the new constitution while the antifederalists were mostly concerned with protecting the rights of the people and preventing the government from abusing power. A protection from abuse of power, established in the Constitution, is “the separation of power” which Madison writes about in Federalist Paper No. 51. Since the powers of the central government are separated into 3 branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial, no one branch can become too powerful without being checked by another. This protection is called “checks and balances.” In addition, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to protect the rights of the people, prevent governmental abuse, and to satisfy the antifederalists. Once both groups agreed, The Constitution was signed in
During the birth of the new nation, the Founding Fathers sought to construct a system of checks and balances which were catalyzed by the common fear of tyrannical government and based upon the ideologies of the Enlightenment. In 1787, while the infant nation was wobbling on the weak footings of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention was adjourned and disputes around power and representation mustered new plans for the future. Although the Convention intended to revise and rework the Articles, James Madison, alongside...