The Evolution of the U.S. Constitution, 1781 – 1789

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Politics began to play a bigger role in the lives of American colonists during the beginning of a growing country. After the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776, the country was challenged with the problem of creating a process for governing the states. The Patriots were concerned about forming a centralized Parliament, like in Britain, because power was abused by the wealthy. Initially, the vision was to give states governing authority and leave minimal power to a national Union. But as the years passed and conflicts arose, there was a need to create a national government using the U.S Constitution as the blueprint. The focus of the paper is to learn what led to the formation of the U.S. Constitution. First, it’s important to explore the historical milestones, between 1781 and 1789, which explain how the state and federal governments evolved. Second, it’s essential to understand how these milestones influenced Congress to write the U.S. Constitution. At the beginning stages of creating a government, Congress asked each state to build a republic which was a “government in which the people elect their own representatives” (Isemann, Amstutz, 11). There were two views on how to design a state republic. First, strong democratic Patriots recommended a unicameral legislature or “one with a single house, whose members were elected by the people” (Lapsansky-Werner, Levy, Roberts, Taylor, 134). A few states, like Pennsylvania and Georgia, agreed to this plan. The other view was to vote in a strong governor and form bicameral legislation which is “a governing body with two houses – a Senate and a House of Representatives” (Isemann, Amstutz, 11). The idea was to have a counterbalance of power with the House represented by co... ... middle of paper ... ...utz, American Government: National Level, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 2007 James C. Kelly, 1998 & Graham T. Dozier, 2010. The Story of Virginia, Online http://www.vahistorical.org/sva2003/credits.htm Land Ordinance of 1785, The Robinson Library, Online http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/america/unitedstates/1783/1783/1785.htm Northwest Territory, United States History, Online http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h487.html Primary Documents in American History, The Library of Congress, Online, http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/northwest.html Spoils System, United States History, Online http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h326.html The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America, 1783, Archiving Early America Online http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/articles/

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