How do you convince some newly independent citizens of the benefits of ratifying a constitution? According to Alexander Hamilton, through writing, and lots of it. In 1787, Hamilton, along with James Madison and John Jay, published a series of documents, addressing concerns the people might have about the Constitution drafted by the Congressional delegates. The Constitution was being sent to the states for ratification, but in New York, many were opposed to the ideas put forth. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote eighty-five documents which would later be named The Federalist Papers, as they voiced the common opinion of the Federalist party, which was in favor of ratification. Although there is no clear evidence that the writings had a major impact …show more content…
Ratified in 1781, they outlined the framework for a Congressional government. After a trial period of ten years, the Congress came to the conclusion that the government which had been created by the articles was too weak and needed revision. In May of 1787, delegates from several states convened to begin discussion about a new system. Over the next several months, plans like the Virginia plan, which advocated for a bicameral government, and the New Jersey plan, which advocated for a unicameral government, were put forward. Through a series of compromises, the Connecticut plan, also known as the “Great Compromise,” was adopted. The plan laid out a system by which the members of the House of Representatives were elected in proportion to the number of people in the state they represented, and the members of the Senate were equally distributed, regardless of the state. Although many of the details surrounding this system were debated at length, the core elements were eventually accepted into a structure we still use to this …show more content…
Hamilton responded to this concern in the essays by saying the unity of the states were at risk of falling apart without a national government to hold everything together, and that by implementing a judicial branch and the Presidential veto, there was a series of checks and balances that would prevent the Congress from becoming too powerful. In addition, the members of the House of Representatives were elected by the people, which would prevent them from acting against the people’s best interests. By taking each section of the document separately the three writers were able to discuss benefits of the Constitution, like improving the economy, supporting a Navy and defense, and just generally what specific powers, and limits on powers, were given to the various branches of the newly proposed government. Hamilton also pointed out that if this new form of government turned out to have hiccups, it was not set in stone, and amendments could be proposed to modify and improve the
In 1787 the future of the United States of America remained unclear as the founding fathers attempted to find a form of government to satisfy the nation. At the Constitutional Convention the men gathered formed an idea for a new government. However, not everyone present agreed with the newly proposed constitution and two groups formed, the federalists, who were pro-constitution, and the antifederalists, who opposed the constitution. Because the Constitution needed to be ratified by nine of the thirteen states to become law the two groups wrote essays to defend their stance and persuade the people to join their ideology. Hamilton used a relatable rhetoric with simple language that involved the readers in a personal relationship to persuade them
The Virginia plan presented in 1787 by Edmund Randolph was one option on how the United States should be governed. Their key points were for Congress to have 2 houses and for representation to be based on population. Another option was the New Jersey plan which was presented by William Paterson in the same year. This was to oppose the Virginia plan because not everyone agreed with what was written.
He felt there should be a union in place He states "a firm Union will be of the utmost moment to the peace and liberty of the States as a barrier against domestic faction and insurrection.". Hamilton also wanted a system of checks and balances in order for there not to be any special interests parties or for any one branch overpowering the other. He felt that the writers of the Constitution based their understandings on what the French used which were 3 branches of government. Hamilton liked the idea of having each branch watch and equal each other out but he was unsure of it working in a country more than two times bigger than
In contrast, Hamilton supported a loose interpretation of the Constitution, arguing for broad powers granted to the federal government, particularly in areas related to economic development. In Document D, Hamilton expressed the objective of reforming the federal system and strengthening governments, “Our object has been all along to reform our federal system and to strengthen our governments--to establish peace, order, and justice in the community-but a new object now presents.” (Document D) Hamilton's mention of reforming the federal system and strengthening governments suggests a recognition of the need for a robust and effective governmental structure. Ultimately, the divergent viewpoints of Jefferson and Hamilton on the Constitution encapsulate their differing beliefs on federal power and the rights of
The Constitutional Convention was initially an effort to amend the Articles of Confederation, and the purpose of the meeting was to create a whole new government (Shultz, 2014). The Convention was secret and was drawn out through the summer of 1787 (Shultz, 2014). There were many divisions in the preliminary plans and the Virginia Plan, and the New Jersey Plan was the largest (Shultz, 2014). James Madison headed the Virginia Plan's agenda, and the plans he laid out were 1) do away with the Articles of Confederation 2) create two houses within Congress 3) create a government which Congress had the power to veto the actions of the states (Shultz, 2014). He also felt that population would determine membership in Congress and this would give an
The Constitutional Republic of today and colonial times Many of the laws and policies from the colony era are still in effect. The federalist papers speak on the behalf of most of these policies. Also the check and balance system, the process in which bills become laws, and lastly the three branches of the government. It is important to remember even the policies that are not in effect today, because they shaped our government into what it is today.
Long have the arguments on whether or not to ratify the Constitution been going on and it is most certainly right to agree. The Framers decided to give more power to the federal government than to the people for an abundant amount of reasons. The Constitution is completely necessary because there are so many problems with the old system: the Articles of Confederation and we need trained people to do important work for the country. The Anti-Federalists are clearly incorrect for bountiful reasons. There are just so many ways that the Articles of Confederation wasn’t working out for us, so we must move on with our plans for the Constitution.
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, but there was a grapple for its ratification that went on until about two decades after the ratification. Members of Congress believed that the first government of the United States or the Articles of Confederation, needed to be adjusted while others did not want anything to change. After the Revolutionary War, the people did not want a strong central government, because it reminded them too much of what they were trying to escape from. Under the Articles, each state had their own laws, and the need for a new Constitution was desired by many. The Constitution of 1787 created huge debates, arguments and splits in the nation that lasted for several year after its ratification between people who
After the Constitution was written by the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, all the individual states of America had to be convinced for its ratification. But, opponents, named "Anti-Federalists" opposed against the Constitution's ratification for multiple reasons: some thought that the Constitution would "take away the power from individual states", others desired "an even more centralized government with a single popularly elected government" and finally, some seeked for a Bill of Rights to "protect individuals liberties", in fear of undermining "the claims of slaveholders or other property owners". James Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison therefore wrote the Federalist Papers, eighty-five anonymous essays , in order to reduce the fears of Anti-Federalists and promote the Constitution's ratification. These papers described the importance
One of the eighty-five essays was titled, Federalist 16. This essay was basically Hamilton stating his opinion on why America should stick with the constitution. He says that the government before
Starting in Philadelphia on May 25th ,1787, fifty-five state delegates attended the Constitutional Convention. Their goal? To create a new government that would not succumb to the same faults of the Articles of Confederation. With the events leading into the American Revolution and the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation fresh on their minds, many of the delegates traveled to the Convention with their own conflicting agendas of what the American government should become. Today, many people agree that the Constitution should be interpreted with the intentions of the original framers in mind.
As a Federalist he believed the central government should hold the most power and influence over everything else. He thought the people themselves favored a government where the power was directly out of their control. He became critical of the other national delegates’ plan for ratification stating that it was more of the same as the Articles of Confederation (Lack et al, 1987.) Hamilton thought the people’s role in government to be that of a liability. He stated that the people were constantly changing in their attitudes and dispositions, and could not be trusted to make a sound judgement or do what was right for the nation.
After deciding to write a new constitution, the delegates could not decide what new form the government should take. One of the options was the Virginia Plan created by Edmund Randolph and James Madison. The plan included a strong government with three branches (the legislative branch, The judicial branch, and the executive branch). In the Virginia Plan, the legislator would consist of two houses and seats would be awarded on the basis of the population. Due to the fact that the seats are awarded based on population, larger states would have more representatives than smaller states.
FEDERALIST PAPER NO. 67: “THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT The purpose of the Federalist papers was to convince the citizens of the state of New York to approve the Constitution, as the citizens of New York were worried about giving too much power to what they thought had the possibility developing into another monarchy. In Federalist Paper no. 67, the writer of the paper, Alexander Hamilton, tried to explain and defend the suggested future role of the Executive Branch, namely the position of the President of the United States of America. Hamilton wrote to defend the role of the President of the United State against false pretenses, invalidate incorrect similarities that were made of it to previous unpopular monarch roles, and to clear up the
The United States is, and always has been to some extent, a partisan society. Since the early days of this representative democracy, Americans have taken sides on issues plaguing the country; even today, partisanship is present in the political system, especially in Congress. Even Supreme Court Justices take specific stances on issues in a variety of cases brought before the federal judiciary. In the years prior to the ratification of the Constitution, people voiced their opinions on the drafts of said document.