Response To The Constitution Dbq

The document known as the Constitution acts as the binding fabric of our nation, an embodiment of national identity and a testament to our desire to work together, as one nation, for the pursuit of the values and ideals fought for during the American War of Independence and throughout our history. The Constitution of the United States receives esteem from all corners of the country, both geographically and ideologically, and is considered by most as the document that ensures and exudes the freedom enjoyed in our country based in republican democracy. However, our country was not always united behind such a document. Prior to constitution being made law in 1789, our country was governed by a weak set of documents known as the Articles of Confederation,

which had been born out of the original Continental Congress. While most would have agreed that the Articles of Confederation allowed for the copious civil liberties that the colonists had fought for, many ended up coming to the realization that they did not allow for an efficiently operating central government, and needed to be reformed into a constitution that gave the federal government more power and more legitimacy over the affairs of the nation. The Constitution was established due to the fact that, while it allowed for more civil liberties directly, most Americans during the late 1780s saw that the spirit of the revolution was not present in the Confederation government and that a more efficient and more organized central government, controlled through representatives chosen by the people, would embody and protect the ideals fought for in the War of Independence.
During the heat of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress needed documentation to prove its legitimacy as the government of the newly independent country, as well as documents giving it the jurisdiction over the Continental Army. While the document worked for an infant government fighting a war for survival, it did not help to grow the nation after the war had ended. The Confederation that was written was very terse, and laid out very few provisions for what the central government could actually do, as most actions were left to the state governments. The Articles of Confederation mandated a unicameral legislature, where each state had equal power, and measures could be approved only if 9 out of 13 states agreed. A president could be elected by the legislature, however, he was given very little power and was more of a figurehead position. This arduous procedure for passing measures led to legislative deadlock on matters that the central government was mandated to act on, such as the armed forces and treaties with foreign governments. Ironically, the lack of government action contributed to a boon for civil liberties, which led to support of the government by liberal members of society. With almost all power being in the hands of the states, the individual rights that had been demanded by the colonists during the revolution were being protected, however, this was at the expense of a functioning national government. This protection of civil liberties under the Confederation Government led many to believe that, while the government was not functioning perfectly, this was the best government that could be achieved while still managing to protect civil, personal, and property rights. Luckily, the Federalists thought otherwise, and gifted out nation with the Constitution.
By the end of the 1780s, a number of people within the republic were not happy with the way power was allocated in the country, and felt that reallocating more power to the federal government at the possible expense of some civil liberties would remedy most of the problems that the country was facing.

This group of people were known as the federalists, because they wished to form a federal republic, meaning more powers ceded by state governments to form an effective national government. The country under the Articles of Confederation was extremely disorganized and even began to lack its national identity that had carried it through the revolution. The United States were facing an economic depression, do to the prohibitive tariffs placed by individual states that the federal government could not regulate, and the government’s inability to control foreign trade relations, which resulted in European nations being able to dump cheap products in American markets tariff-free, shutting down all possible competition and stunting American economic growth. European powers were outfoxing America on the diplomatic front as well, because each individual state essentially had their own individual peace agreements with Europe and various native American tribes. This, coupled with the fact that most states still had their own state militias and even state navies, made the national defense almost impossible. And finally, the lack of taxing ability continuously crippled the central government, making it progressively more and more ineffective. Unsurprisingly, all of these were addressed by the drafters of the Constitution. To provide a cure for the legislative deadlock and government inaction faced under the Articles of confederation, the Constitution mandated that new laws only needed the support of a simple majority of voting congresspersons, and amendments needed a two-thirds majority. To face head-on the economic downturn that was crippling the new nation, the Constitution

mandated that the new congress “regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states[, as well as the power] to coin money”. (Constitution of the United States, A1, S8, L3&5) This allowed the new federal government the only governmental force in regulating trade with outside nations, which greatly improved its efficiency and its power over the economy. This also prohibited states from directly taxing goods coming in from other states without the consent of the federal government. The centralization of currency production made this commerce easier as well. The constitution also laid the framework for how diplomatic relations with foreign nations would unfold. The constitution gave the federal government and the federal government only (outside of state militias), the power “to declare war, … raise and support Armies … and maintain a Navy”. (Constitution of the United States, A1, S8, L11-13) And most importantly, the Constitution mandates the “power To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts … of the United States; but all duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”. (Constitution of the United States, A1, S8, L1) Among other things, these powers outlined in the Constitution, gave the new government reasonable control over actions that a typical government should control, and allowed the new nation to function and prosper.
However, the new powers allocated to the federal government did not come without a catch, and that catch was the Bill of Rights. While the compromise ‘Connecticut Plan’ was agreed upon at the convention, which split the federal government between a judicial, executive, and bicameral legislative branch (where states were represented both equally and by size) would have protected civil liberties and protected against overzealous federal intrusion by virtue of the division of power, many delegates, especially from the South, did not believe this was enough. To find the balance between the “fear that the government could fall into the hands of a few individuals [and] tyranny of the majority”, (Mauritz, Articles to Constitution PPT) many delegates refused to sign the document until a Bill of Rights, a document that would clearly and directly lay out certain unalienable rights that no citizen could be deprived of unless after due process. This was a major step towards ensuring that the same sorts of civil liberties enjoyed under the Confederation government would continue to be enjoyed under the Constitutional republic.
In hindsight, we can see that both documents generally protected and allowed for the citizens of the United States to enjoy the civil liberties they were entitled to, albeit in different ways. While the Articles of Confederation brought liberty through government inaction, this did not work as a remedy to the other problems of the republic, and thus a stronger central government with direct protections for liberty written into its charter rose to the top. The constitution is truly the tool that allowed our country to remain unified through its early period, and crises to follow afterward. It offers every American belief in their government, and thus their country. It unifies us as Americans, and not citizens of individual states, and allows us to work together with a much greater rate of success. The Constitution took us from what could have been an experimental failure on our part to a model for democratic success worldwide and an inspiration for nearly all democratic movements that were to follow us.