At the foundations of the American Revolutionary War, of between 1775 and 1783, were calls for independence among the Patriots residing in Britain’s Thirteen Colonies in North America. The Americans emerged victoriously and as a result, the English Monarch lost its claims over the vast territories. Now, the understanding of freedom in the thirteen regions revolved around the eradication of tyranny to pave the way for democracy and for that reason alone, the United States abhorred monarchies and promoted a government based on a democratic system. To that end, it is no wonder that concerns over the central government stemmed from determining the amount of power that would protect liberty and prevent anarchy at the same time. In other words, while it was vital to ensure that the people could exercise their rights within the new system, it was also important to uphold order through the correct execution of the law. Thus said, an analysis of the conditions under which the United States Congress ratified the Constitution reveals one goal that governed their decision: avoiding tyranny by balancing the peoples’ liberty and civil order through a powerful central government.
Foremost, as mentioned above, the Americans understood democracy as everything that went against the monarchical ruling experienced while Britain was in power. Hence, it was a unanimous decision to make sure that the new government did not hold as much authority. Still, that did not mean that the Founding Fathers agreed on the means through which those in power could protect the rights of the people. Accordingly, the first attempt at a constitution was the Articles of Confederation that the Union formally endorsed in 1778. Central to the Articles of Confederation was the belief that “power was dangerous" and should be limited (Ginsberg, Lowi, Weir, Tolbert, and Spitzer 2014: 29). Federal power, the highest level of authority in the country, had to have limitations.
Thus, in matters that included public finance, national defense, and trade, the central government was subject to the legislations of the States. For instance, the Second Article asserted that the States were to retain “every Power, Jurisdiction and right” at the expense of a crippled Congress (United States Congress, 1781: A5). By that logic, the federal government could not levy taxes or create an army, and it was eventually clear that the Confederation was weak. Chaos reigned from the political and economic perspectives as the States found themselves in immense debt while the central government had no ability to provide assistance. After all, the fact that each State was free to conduct individual trade meant that the European powers could play them against each other and render the United States “weak and vulnerable” (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 34). The United States Constitution provided the needed changes.
At this point, it is worth mentioning that the Declaration of Independence was an essential guide to the functioning of the United States’ government from the commencement of the Revolutionary Era in the Thirteen Colonies. Delegates from all the territories fixated on the freedoms guaranteed under a self-governing country with the preservation of human rights being at the forefront of their expectations. The writings of European philosophers, with a particular emphasis on John Locke, created the grounds on which the Declaration of Independence emerged. Expectedly, in “a world in which some kings still claimed to rule by divine right,” Locke’s insistence on all humans possessing “unalienable rights” was widely accepted among the Patriots (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 32). As per the document, the “separate and equal” rights that the “Laws of Nature” bestowed on the people were immune to the whims of the English Crown and any other monarch that sought to claim the same (United States Congress, 1776: A1). Naturally, just as the Articles of Confederation highlighted the Thirteen Colonies’ desperate need to protect their autonomy, the United States Constitution epitomized their experience as a nation that was at a time without a strong central government. In other words, the governing document at the creation of the Articles was the Declaration of Independence while at the drafting of the Constitution, both documents were at play.
Therefore, the American Constitution was significantly different in comparison to the Articles. The powers of the national government stemmed from the application of “federalism as [the] governing framework” (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 63). In the views of James Madison, a man who alongside Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers, the minority stood the chance to become possible victims of the majority if the country lacked a powerful central government. In fact, in Federalist 10, Madison informed his readers that “if a faction [consisted] of less than a majority” it was plausible to have the minority lose “by regular vote” (1787-1788: A33). Apparently, without a powerful central government, the natural rights of the minority became non-existent for the benefit of the majority’s selfish interests: tyranny was possible even without a monarch. In that sense, as long as the Articles of Confederation were in place, the Union could not survive because the States remained divided and at risk of larger republics (such as those in Europe). Madison’s stand represented that of the Federalists who supported the creation of a new system of government. In the opposition, the country witnessed the rise of the Anti-Federalists who argued that “tyranny would arise from the tendency of all governments to become more aristocratic” (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 49). The Anti-Federalism forces feared that the people in authoritative positions would use their influence to gain more power. The Great Compromise into which the creators of the Constitution incorporated both the Virginia and New Jersey Plan provided a solution for the differing factions (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 37).According to the terms of the Great Compromise, the legislature became “bicameral” with the House of Representatives and the Senate: the latter had equal representation, and the former was based on State population (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 40).
Finally, and with the conditions under which the United States Constitution became active in mind, it is safe to focus on the specific powers vested in the federal government. Otherwise dubbed the “expressed powers,” the authorities were unique to the federal government (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 63). In Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the central government had power to “coin Money [and] regulate the Value thereof,” declare war, raise an army and a navy, and establish a national postal service (United States Congress, 1789: A14). In total, section 8 gives twenty-seven powers to the federal government while the States do not enjoy any of the same. Next, there are the “implied powers” that are not particular to the federal government, but the Constitution infers them so it could “make all laws which shall be necessary and proper” to promote order (Ginsberg, et al. 2014: 63; United States Congress, 1789: A14). Unlike the expressed powers, the implied ones depend on the Judiciary arm of the government to legitimize their application. Contrasted to the Articles of Confederation, the United States Constitution focused on ensuring that the central government had enough powers to protect the nation from internal and external threats.
In conclusion, the mentioned powers were specifically vested in the federal government and not the State legislatures to protect the country. Apparently, a weak central system crippled the nation as a whole as the federal government had no powers to implement policies. The evidence to probable disaster revolved primarily around the political and economic spheres which suffered the most during the implementation of the Articles of Confederation. An impotent Congress meant the entire country was vulnerable; even though they had the idea of liberty at hand.
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Works Cited
Ginsberg, Benjamin, Lowi Theodore J., Weir Margaret, Tolbert Caroline J., and Spitzer Robert J. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics. 9th. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
Madison, James. "Federalist Paper No. 10 (1787-1788)." Ginsberg, Benjamin, Lowi Theodore J., Weir Margaret, Tolbert Caroline J., and Spitzer Robert J. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics. 9th. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. A31-A35. Print.
United States Congress. "The Articles of Confederation (1781)." Ginsberg, Benjamin, Lowi Theodore J., Weir Margaret, Tolbert Caroline J., and Spitzer Robert J. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. A5-A10. Print.
United States Congress. "The Constitution of the United States of America (1789)." Ginsberg, Benjamin, Lowi Theodore J., Weir Margaret, Tolbert Caroline J., and Spitzer Robert J. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics. 9th. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. A11-A20. Print.
United States Congress. "The Declaration of Independence (1776)." Ginsberg, Benjamin, Lowi Theodore J., Weir Margaret, Tolbert Caroline J., and Spitzer Robert J. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. A1-A4. Print.
