...This book is based on the topic of Religion and Constitution. Constitution of the U.S. was intended to be set up as a completely secular political system or a Christian common wealth. While setting up the constitution, there were some controversies that had caused some religious believers to challenge the constitution’s authorities, there were also made efforts to abolish the slavery and to amend the constitution to recognize the authority of Jesus Christ. The Constitutional Convention had just met for a few weeks when there arose crisis between delegates of four smaller states who demanded equal representation in the Senate. They were firm and wanted the rights at any cost. On the other hand, the delegates of the larger states were not willing to accept the idea of providing the small states’ representation in the Senate and thus they threatened to walk out of the convention. Just as things were about to get out of control, Benjamin Franklin the oldest delegate rose up to speak. Franklin gave the suggestion of adjourning the convention for three days to cool down the temper of the members. He also suggested to include a Chaplin, who would help the delegates to give words of wisdom and enlighten...
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...The United States Constitution overcame the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and provided the organization of the new government. After the American Revolutionary War in America, the colonists needed a government so no one could take away their power.The Articles of Confederation were very weak and under them the new country was vulnerable and the states all were doing their own thing. During the Constitutional Convention, many compromises were made to make everyone in small and large states happy. Federalists wrote the Federalists Papers to gain support from the public. Anti- Federalists refused to sign things and protested the Constitution. To overcome the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation the newly formed United States...
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...Texas first Constitution, which was established in 1836, was called the Republic of Texas. The present constitution is called the State of Texas and was established in 1876. Texas Constitution changed five times in between that time. The current Texas Constitution has sixteen articles such as article II, the powers of government, article VII, education, and article XVI, general provisions. Some of these articles have cut the powers of government, limited the governor’s term to two years, added a debt ceiling of $200,000, and set fixed salaries for state officials. Details about policies and avoiding abuse of government powers included into the new constitution made the document long and disorganized. So what exactly is a constitution? A constitution is the basic law of a...
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...history—and nowhere is the contestation more prevalent than in the formation of the Constitution in the late 18th century. During the Revolutionary period, both common and elite Americans alike sought to define the ideals of liberty that would be incorporated into the new nation. But the realization of these ideals of equality in politics and universal rights necessitated the formation of a centralized Republican government in order to become a practical reality, thereby ensuring the success of the nation by implementing basis of lasting, effective systems of maintaining political order. In doing so, the constitution realizes revolutionary aspirations for independent government that guarantees the rights and common good of its citizens. The ratification of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights ensured that the ideals of independence, accurate representation in politics via a republican system, and the protection of natural liberties birthed during the Revolution could survive practically within the new nation. The ratification of the Constitution was critical for the success of the nation, thus realizing the revolutionary dream of...
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...I believe the framers of the U.S. Constitution were essentially progressive and very much wanted to protect political principles but through a new kind of government with and ideas for the United states, I believe essential they wanted to limited power of the government, but also to ensure the states’ rights through the U.S. Constitution because of the intrusiveness of the government they previously rebelled upon. The framers wanted to create a haven for themselves to procreate and become a nation free of feudalism but powerful in national recognition. With a nation of “Young go getters”, and “can do attitudes” we find the components of a nationalism at its finest. I do not believe it was a bad thing, obviously it worked out for us a few hundred...
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...Historical Essay: Confederation and Constitution By History 405 Professor Aimee James January 26th, 2015 Historical Essay: Confederation and Constitution Confederation and Constitution As Colonial America moved from civil disobedience to open war with Britain, the States, at the behest of the Colonial Congress, started drafting constitutions and in the process “became laboratories for constitutional experimentation” ( Keene 120). The need to ensure a strong union and to ensure that it was strong enough to deal with both internal and external issues drove the colonies to send delegates to Albany to draft the Articles of Confederation. Ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation framed a new United States of America. The Articles of Confederation did not create a national government, “but rather a firm league of friendship” (Keene 121). Ultimately a fear of recreating the issues that were driving them from British rule shaped the Articles of Confederation and created a weak government with little power. It setup a national legislature called Congress where each state had one vote. It had no power to levy taxes, regulate commerce or otherwise interfere with the States. It could create money and declare war or peace. Notably any changes or amendments required a unanimous vote of Congress and “because of its weaknesses, Alexander Hamilton and other delegates called for a convention to be held in Philadelphia to improve and amend the Articles” (Articles of confederation...
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...Historical Essay #1: Confederation and Constitution Anthony Snow DeVry University 08/01/2015 HISTORICAL ESSAY #1: CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION As with anything in this world there are always strengths and weaknesses when people are comparing two different items, as no one item can be a perfect solution; there are always compromises. The same happens when we are comparing the Articles of Confederation and the New Constitution of 1787. Both of theses two solutions each have their own strengths and weaknesses. First we have the Articles of Confederation that when written gave each state a lot of individual powers, and because of this was one of the main reasons for the New Constitution, and I want to show how these two solutions are different, and how the New Constitution uses some of the same concepts that make up the Articles of Constitution. I would first like to take a look at the Articles of Confederation, and explore some of the strengths and weaknesses that came as a result of adopting it. The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777. One of the main weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was that although it was able to produce a confederation of sovereign states, it was also responsible for weakening the central government, as the Articles of Confederation gave almost all of the power to the individual state governments. With the individual state gaining more power, the national government found it extremely difficult...
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...How The Constitution Prevents Tyranny “Don’t interfere with anything in the constitution. That must be maintained for it is our only safeguard to our liberties.” -Abraham Lincoln. The document talks about the constitution and how James Madison framed it to prevent tyranny and to escape the settlers tyrannic lives in England. How does the constitution prevent against tyranny? The constitution guards against tyranny by using four steps such as Federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the small state-large state plan. The Constitution guards against tyranny by using Federalism. In Madison’s quote, he talks about a “Double Security” between powers in the central government and state powers. “Hence a double security arises to the...
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...the greatest army and navy of its time, Great Britain. This document came to be known as The Articles of Confederation and it is the first written Constitution constructed by the United States Continental Congress. The objective of this document was to unify the thirteen states under one central government while retain each individual state right. After the war our founding fathers recognize huge flaws in this document that would eventually destroy the national government if not changed. One of the main flaws was the Articles lack of power to demonstrate authority over the states. Delegates from all over argued for years on if there was a need for a Constitution. Those in favor of a new Constitution, identified themselves as Federalists while those who were in favor of keeping the Articles were identified as Anti-federalists. Because of Federalists such as Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison and Anti- Federalists Patrick...
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...How the Constitution Guards against Tyranny The United States of America learned from Great Britain’s government and used what they had learned to create the government that the United States has today. After the Thirteen colonies broke away from Great Britain, they needed a plan of government so, they made a document entitled the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation worked like a constitution would and it worked very well until the framers of our now Constitution realized that The Articles of Confederation would never work to suit the needs of the new blossoming country. Upon this realization, they made a whole new plan of government called The Constitution which protected the people’s rights, set out the rules of the government, and most importantly protected all the citizens from an abusive government otherwise know as a tyrant....
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...laws. But because of these flaws and inabilities, they decided to write the U.S Constitution. The U.S Constitution had a much more specified set of laws and regulations. When it comes to the Articles of Confederation, it did have some good things about it such as creating a peace treaty with Great Britain, it had many flaws. Although both of these important documents helped make our government what it is today, there are also many differences between the two. Both of these documents shaped what our government is today. They both do have many differences but they also have some similarities. Such as they both list congresses rights and duties. Also they both specify that only the government can send and receive ambassadors, not the states. Both had lots of power over the United States, and listed many rules that helped control the people of the U.S. While these two documents had some similarities, they had quite a few...
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...Iroquois Political Theory vs. U.S. Constitution The Iroquois people have inhabited areas of Canada and northern New York for the last 4,000 years, while the US has only been a country and had a government for around 240 years. The Iroquois confederacy was originally made comprising of Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca tribes to prevent and resolve inter tribal conflict and to make the land more peaceful. The US Constitution and the Iroquois political theory are both similar and different in its own way. The Iroquois political system was the building blocks of the US constitution and that's why we have some of the similar ideas in the US constitution. Areas such as the three branches of government, impeachment, and executive branch getting veto power are in both political systems. The US government is divided into three parts; the...
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...what’s in Americas best interest? After a long arduous fight against Great Britain we achieved our independence. The next step was to make a guideline for this country to follow. While doing it, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, better known as our founding fathers wrote the constitution for the United States. One very crucial part which determines the fate of a country is its leadership. Upon great contemplation our founding fathers set up some requirements for our would-be presidents. According to Article II Section I Clause V of the constitution...
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...To what extent was the government laid out in the American Constitution of 1787 unique? The government laid out in the constitution was both unique and not unique for its time. The constitution was not unique in that the majority of the ideas in the constitution were not original and came from other sources. The constitution was unique in that it was the first time that all the ideas used in the constitution were put together for a government. The constitution was unique in that it was the first government basis containing separation of powers, checks and balances, limited government, judicial review, federalism, and popular sovereignty; and that it was based off of the Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights, the English Bill of Rights, and John Locke Second Treatise. The six main ideas used in the constitution, while mostly not original ideas this was the first time these six ideas were used in a basis of government. The constitution was not unique in that the ideas used in constructing the...
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...The Republic of Texas then adopted a new constitution referred to as the Texas Constitution of 1836. This new constitution incorporated similar ideology from the United States constitution and various other states. Some major additions were made to this constitution including the separation of powers between the judicial, legislative and executive branches with a system of checks and balances that prevented one group from having more power than another. This constitution also created the form of legislature we know today as bicameral where we have both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Senators could serve term of three years whereas Representatives were limited to one year. Unlike beforehand when the judiciary system consisted of only one level, the new constitution put into place a four-level system consisting of the justice, county, district and supreme courts to handle these issues. Another important aspect of this constitution was the addition of a bill of rights, recognition of slavery and the exclusion of African American and Native American from being or becoming...
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