The forming of the American Constitution lasted much longer than the initial signing; it is a living document that continues to change with each new amendment. That being said, there were many problems present in American Constitutional history – foibles and mistakes that needed or still need to be corrected. The Articles of Confederation, Prohibition, and lack of voting rights for women and minorities presented the most important hurdles for the country to overcome in its infancy.
Before the drafting of the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation were the official governing documents for the United States. However, they were fraught with issues – they placed far too great an emphasis on state’s rights, including allowing them to print their own currency, making interstate trade nearly impossible. The overreliance on supermajorities in order to pass legislation also became a problem. With this in mind, the Articles were scrapped in favor of the more democratic Constitution we know today.
One big mistake made in the many amendments that were added to the Constitution was a Prohibition on alcoholic drinks in 1918. This created an incredible uproar, and became nearly impossible to enforce, given the unpopularity of the law and the prevalence of bootleggers and speakeasies, creating the organized crime networks that remain today. Luckily, in 1921 this amendment was repealed, and Prohibition ended. However, it was a major problem for America in those three years, when the country collectively rebelled against a piece of legislation.
One noticeable flaw that the Constitution had in its infancy was the lack of voting rights for blacks and women. At the time of ratification, only white men could vote for their senators, representatives, and presidents. This delay caused problems such as the suffrage movement and the Civil Rights movement. Luckily, amendments were created to offer these rights to these groups, but it should have happened much sooner to preserve the equality of the American people, and to prevent deeply-ingrained prejudices to form among races and genders, which leads to groups like the Ku Klux Klan forming.
In conclusion, the key major problems of American Constitutional History include the Articles of Confederation, Prohibition, and lack of minority voting rights. While all of these problems were eventually addressed, they created lingering problems within the American people that still remain today. If these problems had not occurred, their effects might not have had such an impact on things like race relations and the formation of criminal networks, including the mob.
