#Bill of rights series
84, “the most considerable of the remaining objections is, that the plan of the convention contains no bill of rights.” To ease the process toward ratification, supporters such as Revolutionary War hero George Washington had suggested creating a series of guarantees that would ultimately prevent the national government from tampering with certain rights and liberties deemed essential to a democratic form of government. As Alexander Hamilton remarked in Federalist No. The Constitution set forth the institutional structures, players, processes, and procedures for governing the new nation through a series of seven articles.ĭespite the seemingly apparent victory achieved in ratifying the Constitution, the founders failed to resolve the continuing debate over limiting the powers of the national government. Thus from the ashes of the Articles of Confederation emerged a federal system with enduring features such as republicanism, separated institutional powers, and a system of checks and balances. Although the approval of only nine states was needed to ensure the document’s ratification (Article VII), ultimately the support of all 13 states was secured. Constitution was a slow and arduous process. This faction sought additional protections that would guard against an overly centralized and oppressive national government. Led by George Mason, Patrick Henry, and Elbridge Gerry, the Anti-Federalists wrote their own essays, basing their arguments on the tyranny of the British monarchy so resented by the 13 original colonies. However, the Anti-Federalists were not convinced that these safeguards were adequate. The essays addressed the manner in which the new republican government, based on federalism and separation of powers, would guard against the tyranny of interest groups and other threats. They presented a succinct series of arguments that, even today, are revered in the annals of political theory. These essays, which became known as the Federalist Papers, were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.
In late October 1787, the first in a series of 85 essays appeared in print bearing the pen name Publius. During the debate over its ratification, the Federalists grounded their support for the document in the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. The level of support for the new Constitution varied. Federalists and Anti-Federalists argued over new Constitution The Bill of Rights came into effect in December 1791, after ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures. To ensure ratification of the document, the Federalists offered concessions, and the First Congress proposed a Bill of Rights as protection for those fearful of a strong national government. When the Convention reported the Constitution to the states for ratification, the nation split between Federalist supporters of the new document and Anti-Federalist opponents, who were especially concerned that it did not, like most state counterparts, have a bill of rights (of the 11 state constitutions in place in the years after independence, 7 had bills of rights). Bill of Rights was added to Constitution to ensure ratification The Convention also adopted scores of other compromises in forming each of the three branches of the national government and the relationship between this government and the states. From the Virginia and New Jersey Plans, a “Great (Connecticut) Compromise” was reached that resolved some of the factional disputes between the large and small states.
In response to the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which guided the fledging nation from 1781 to 1798, the country’s leaders convened a convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to amend the Articles, but delegates to the Convention thought such a step would be inadequate and took the more radical one of proposing a new document. The Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. (Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain) The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in order to appease Anti-Federalists who thought the new Constitution did not provide adequate safeguards for rights of the people. Constitution, including the First Amendment. The Bill of Rights consists of the first ten amendments to the U.S.
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