The Ratification of the United States Constitution

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During 1787 and 1788 there were quite a few debates over the ratification of the United States Constitution. The issues disputed are outlined and explored in the Federalist Papers, an assortment of letters and essays, often published under pseudonyms, which emerged in a variety of publications after the Constitution was presented to the public. Those who supported the Constitution were Federalists, and those who opposed were Anti-Federalists. Their deliberations concerned several main issues. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, and other supporters of the Constitution argued in support of the federalist requirements that reserved powers to the states as well as the nationalist elements of the potential government. While others criticized the Constitution because it assigned too much power to the national government from the states, the federalists claimed the document provided balance. Many supporters of a strong central government lived in the coastal cities and towns, where public opinions were easier to organize than in outlying area. Hamilton, Madison and Jay published in the newspapers a series of eighty-five essays that provided a detail argument in favor of the constitution. These eighty-five essays were published in a book called The Federalist. People debated on the illegality of the Constitution’s formation. Those who were involved in the public debate about the Constitution considered the creation of the document as an illegal act. Some Anti-Federalists believed that the men sent to the constitutional convention had surpassed the limits of the assignment originally given to them, which was to modestly adjust the Articles of Confederation. Federalists disputed that the articles needed to be eliminated rath... ... middle of paper ... ...merican community. The Constitution of the United States of America also defines that the federal government does not have authority outside the established clauses in the Preamble. The Founding Fathers accepted that the basic rights of individuals, rights to life, liberty, and private property, were not arranged by the government, and so when the Founders composed the Constitution, they were not surrendering new rights to people. It was just to create a steady form of representative republican government that would assure that the basic rights of mankind were less likely to be compacted upon. The objective of the Framers was not to make a extreme form of “democracy” (which the Founders reviled for its strong inclination to throw off the rule of law) in which everybody had the equal kind of say in government or in which nobody felt as if they were in a minority.

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