Simone Lawson
The writers of the US Constitution were not democratic reformers. They were wary of centralized power and loyal to their states, and they crafted a powerful central government. The Founding Fathers were an elite class that feared mob rule and debated at length about how the new government should be structured. The Constitution was written to replace the Articles of Confederation, which had created a weak central government with no power to manage trade, print currency, or pass or enforce laws that all states would agree to. The writers of the Constitution, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, believed that their young country was on the brink of collapse. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were chosen by the state legislatures of 12 of the 13 original states; Rhode Island refused to send delegates. The writers of the Constitution were not democratic reformers, but they were concerned about the state of their nation and wanted to create a stronger central government to prevent its collapse.
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What You'll Learn
The Founding Fathers were not champions of democracy
The Founding Fathers were also concerned about the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which had created a weak central government that lacked the power to manage trade, print money, or pass and enforce laws that all states would agree to. This had resulted in a nation on the brink of collapse, with states' disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatening to tear the country apart. The Founding Fathers, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, were convinced that the Articles of Confederation had to be replaced.
The drafting of the Constitution was completed at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, with 38 delegates signing the document. The convention's initial mandate was to amend the Articles of Confederation, but the delegates quickly began considering measures to replace them. The Founding Fathers, representing diverse interests and views, crafted compromises and a powerful central government that guarded against both excessive change and rigidity.
The ratification process was challenging, with Federalists and Anti-Federalists holding opposing views on the role of the central government. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, favoured a strong central government, while the Anti-Federalists, led by Thomas Jefferson, advocated for states' rights and opposed a powerful central government that reminded them of the one they had just overthrown. The Anti-Federalists also fought against the Constitution due to its lack of a bill of rights.
Despite their contributions to creating a more democratic system, the Founding Fathers' fears of "mob rule" and their elite status influenced their decisions and shaped the resulting government structure.
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The Founding Fathers were an elite class
The Founding Fathers of the United States were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, and established the United States of America. The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States.
The Founding Fathers were a diverse group of individuals with different backgrounds, beliefs, and political ideologies. Most of them were of English ancestry, though many had family roots extending across various regions of the British Isles, including Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Some traced their lineage to the early Dutch settlers of New York during the colonial era, while others were descendants of French Huguenots who settled in the colonies, escaping religious persecution in France. They also had different religious beliefs, with some being Deists, like Franklin and Jefferson, while Washington had a pantheistic sense of Providential destiny, and Hamilton was a lukewarm Anglican for most of his life.
The Founding Fathers were also not in complete agreement with each other. They had extremely different views on a range of issues, including the role of the federal government, the issue of slavery, and how radical or moderate the American Revolution should be. These differences of opinion sometimes destroyed friendships and threatened to pull the country apart. Despite their differences, the Founding Fathers were able to create a form of government that was unlike any other in the world at that time.
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The Founding Fathers feared mob rule
The Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution were not champions of democracy. They were wary of absolute monarchy, but they were also apprehensive about democracy, which they saw as "mob rule". The writers of the Constitution were part of an elite class and, as such, feared the "mob". They were concerned that a pure democracy would devolve into mob rule, which would eventually lead to the return of kings and dictators to restore order.
The Founding Fathers were well-versed in the histories of Greece and Rome, which they read in the original Greek and Latin. These histories gave them pause, as they seemed to suggest a pattern of governments beginning as monarchies or dictatorships, evolving into democracies, and then devolving into mob rule. The Founders saw their task as finding a balance between liberty and order. They believed that the general population lacked the discernment and stability necessary for systematic government and were easily led into error by misinformation and passion.
This fear of "mobocracy" was a significant concern during the Constitutional Convention. The delegates debated vigorously about how the new government should be structured to insulate it from the "mob". They wanted to give the "mob" as little direct control of the federal government as possible. Measures such as electing senators and the president for life were proposed to protect against the shifting moods of the populace.
The Founding Fathers also sought to protect against mob rule by creating layers of government. For example, in presidential elections, voters do not directly vote for the president but for electors (the electoral college) who then elect the president. Similarly, Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and they serve lifetime appointments to insulate them from the passions of the mob.
Over time, the United States Constitution has evolved to become more democratic. For example, the 17th Amendment, passed in 1912 and ratified in 1913, authorized voters of individual states to directly elect their senators, rather than relying on state legislatures to choose them.
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The Founding Fathers debated the structure of the new government
The Founding Fathers were not champions of democracy. They were wary of centralised power and loyal to their states, and they feared "mob rule". The delegates to the Constitutional Convention, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, believed that the Articles of Confederation, which had governed the United States after the Revolutionary War, had created a weak central government. The Articles gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it had no enforcement powers, could not regulate commerce, and could not print money. The states retained considerable power, and the central government was unable to effectively support a war effort or settle disputes between states.
The delegates to the Constitutional Convention considered various proposals for the structure of the government. The Virginia Plan, introduced by delegates from Virginia, called for a bicameral (two-house) Congress that would be elected on a proportional basis based on state population, an elected chief executive, and an appointed judicial branch. The New Jersey Plan, an alternative to the Virginia Plan, also called for an elected executive but retained the unicameral legislative structure created by the Articles of Confederation.
The Founding Fathers also debated the process for amending the Constitution. They recognised the need for a balance between pliancy and rigidity in the amendment process. They wanted to ensure that the Constitution could be amended when necessary, but also wanted to guard against extreme facility that would render the Constitution too mutable. The final amendment process crafted during the Constitutional Convention was designed to strike this balance.
The Founding Fathers' debates resulted in a completely new form of government, with a powerful central government and a republican form of government guaranteed to each state. The Constitution they drafted has become one of the longest-lived and most emulated in the world.
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The Founding Fathers created a powerful central government
The Founding Fathers of the United States were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States of America, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation. The Founding Fathers include those who wrote and signed the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States.
Recognizing the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the Founding Fathers sought to create a stronger central government. The Constitutional Convention, which met in Philadelphia in 1787, was convened to amend the Articles of Confederation. However, the delegates, including prominent figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, quickly began considering measures to replace the Articles.
The final draft of the Constitution, referred to the states by the federal Congress on September 25, 1789, established a powerful central government with enumerated powers, including the power to declare war, maintain armed forces, regulate commerce, coin money, and establish a Post Office. The Constitution also included the ""Elastic Clause," which authorized Congress to pass laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers. These implied powers have allowed Congress to create a national bank, collect federal income tax, institute the draft, pass gun control laws, and set a federal minimum wage.
While the Founding Fathers created a powerful central government, they also recognized the importance of balancing state and national powers. Federalism, or the separation of powers between state and federal governments, was a guiding principle in the Constitution. The Constitution grants almost all other power and authority to the individual states, with certain "reserved" powers, such as policing, education, and the regulation of trade within a state, left to state and local governments.
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Frequently asked questions
No, the writers of the US Constitution were not democratic reformers. The Founding Fathers were an elite class who feared "mob rule" and debated how the new government should be structured. They created a powerful central government, which some Anti-Federalists opposed as it reminded them of the one they had just overthrown.
The Founding Fathers were eager to shed a monarchical system, but they weren't comfortable with democracy. They opted for a republic, which is stated in Article 4, Section 2 of the US Constitution.
The Founding Fathers wanted to replace the Articles of Confederation, which they believed had created a weak central government that had no power to manage trade, print money, or pass or enforce laws that all states would agree to.
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