Simone Lawson
The founding fathers of the United States were responsible for the creation of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, which together form the Charters of Freedom. These documents have secured the rights of the American people for centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States. However, the question remains: did the founding fathers get everything right about the Constitution? This topic will be explored in the following paragraphs, focusing on the founding fathers' concerns about foreign influence and political factions, as well as the potential limitations of their understanding of Americans' rights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Fear of foreign influence | The founding fathers were wary of foreign influence and wanted to protect their young democracy from the influence of other nations. |
| Fear of political factions | The founding fathers believed that political parties could be divisive and wanted to avoid the divisions that had occurred in England during the 17th century. |
| Centralized power | The founding fathers were wary of centralized power and loyal to their states, creating a powerful central government. |
| Federalism | The founding fathers included federalism, or the separation of powers between state and federal governments, in the Constitution. |
| Enforcement powers | The founding fathers did not include enforcement powers in the first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, which weakened the country. |
| Incomplete rights | They worried that spelling out all Americans' rights could be limiting, but also wanted to avoid concentrating too much power in the federal government. |
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What You'll Learn
Foreign influence
The Founding Fathers were wary of foreign influence, having only recently broken free from the British Empire. They were familiar with the backroom deals and intrigue of 18th-century European politics, including gift-giving, bestowing titles, and intermarriage between royal families to bind nations together. The framers of the Constitution wanted to protect the young democracy from foreign corruption and influence.
The founders believed that the Emoluments Clause and congressional impeachment powers provided a two-pronged defence against foreign influence. Gouverneur Morris, author of the Preamble to the Constitution, recognised the danger of foreign bribery and the need for impeachment powers:
> "[The Executive] may be bribed by a greater interest to betray his trust; and no one would say that we ought to expose ourselves to the danger of seeing the first Magistrate in foreign pay without being able to guard against it by displacing him."
Edmund Jennings Randolph affirmed this belief at the Virginia Ratifying Convention in 1788, stating, "It is impossible to guard better against corruption." George Washington, in his 1796 farewell address as the first president, also warned against the "insidious wiles of foreign influence," urging the American people to remain vigilant against foreign interference in their affairs.
The Founding Fathers' fears of foreign influence were not unfounded. They were aware that King Charles II of England had been bribed by French King Louis XIV to sell parts of England and convert to Catholicism. This historical precedent, along with their recent experience with British rule, shaped their determination to safeguard the young nation from external corruption and interference.
In conclusion, the Founding Fathers' concerns about foreign influence were understandable given the political context of the time. They took steps to protect the new nation through constitutional measures and impeachment powers. Their legacy continues to shape American democracy and its relationship with the world.
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Political factions
The Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution were wary of political factions, which they referred to as "parties". They believed that these factions were corrupt relics of the monarchical British system, which they had recently broken free from. The framers of the Constitution aimed to establish a truly democratic government, avoiding the divisions that had previously led to civil wars in England during the 17th century. George Washington's family, for example, had fled England to escape these civil wars, and Alexander Hamilton described political parties as "the most fatal disease" of popular governments.
However, Thomas Jefferson, who was serving in a diplomatic role in France during the Constitutional Convention, disagreed with this view. He believed that not providing for different political parties in the new government was a mistake, stating in 1824 that "Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties". When George Washington ran unopposed in the first-ever US presidential election in 1789, he selected Thomas Jefferson for his cabinet to include a differing political viewpoint.
Despite their fears of political factions, the Founding Fathers' own differing visions for America led to the formation of the nation's first two political parties. Madison and Jefferson joined forces to create the Democratic-Republican Party (the forerunner of today's Democratic Party) in response to Alexander Hamilton's ambitious financial programs, which they believed concentrated too much power in the federal government. Hamilton's programs included the federal government's assumption of states' debt and the establishment of a national banking system.
The Democratic-Republicans and Federalists spent much of George Washington's second term in office attacking each other in competing newspapers over their opinions of his administration's policies. As Washington stepped down from the presidency, he urged Americans to always put the interests of the nation ahead of their political and regional affiliations.
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Federalism
To address this issue, the founders met again in Philadelphia in 1787 and drafted a new Constitution grounded in federalism, a separation of state and national powers. While the word "federalism" is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, it became the guiding principle to protect Americans from tyranny while providing checks and balances. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights created two types of separation of powers: the first being the well-known division between the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary branches of government, and the second being the distribution of powers between federal and state governments.
Under federalism, the state legislatures retain significant sovereignty to pass laws, but the federal government can intervene in the national interest. The Constitution enumerates specific powers exclusively delegated to the federal government, such as declaring war, maintaining armed forces, regulating commerce, coining money, and establishing a Post Office. However, the "Elastic Clause" in Article I, Section 8, grants Congress the authority to pass laws deemed "necessary and proper" to carry out these enumerated powers, leading to "implied powers" that have expanded federal influence.
The Founding Fathers' approach to federalism aimed to balance liberty and power. They recognised that power could enable and constrain, so they sought to restrain power where its abuses were most evident. This resulted in a system where liberty, a core principle of the Declaration of Independence, could be effectively exercised. Federalism, as envisioned by the founders, was not meant to endorse state sovereignty unconditionally but to curb its excesses and prevent oppressive local governance.
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Enforcement powers
The founding fathers of the United States were wary of centralised power, having just broken free from the centralised government of the British Empire. Their first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, vested almost all power in individual state legislatures, with the national government having little to no enforcement powers. This led to political chaos, crippling debt, and disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade that threatened to tear the young nation apart.
The founding fathers thus sought to create a powerful central government while also ensuring that it did not become tyrannical. They achieved this through the concept of federalism, which became the guiding principle of the new Constitution. Federalism is a separation of powers between state and federal governments, with the former retaining "reserved" powers including local and state governments, policing, education, the regulation of intrastate trade, and the running of elections.
The Constitution also created a system of checks and balances, with three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. The president, for example, can veto an unjust law passed by Congress, and if the president acts against the best interests of the country, Congress can impeach them.
The founding fathers also set the terms for ratifying the Constitution, bypassing the state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government.
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State legislature bypass
The founding fathers of the United States Constitution were wary of centralised power and loyal to their individual states. They crafted a powerful central government that represented a compromise between wildly differing interests and views. However, they also bypassed the state legislatures, reasoning that their members would be reluctant to give up power to a national government.
The founding fathers, or constitutional framers, were concerned about the possibility of a corruptible American president. They had just broken free from the British Empire, and the idea that another empire might threaten their independence was a source of fear. They included the emoluments clause and congressional impeachment powers in the Constitution to protect against foreign influence. They also recognised that political factions could tear the nation apart, and wanted to avoid the divisions that had plagued England during its civil wars in the 17th century.
The founding fathers were concerned about the weaknesses of America's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, which gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but had no enforcement powers, and couldn't regulate commerce or print money. The states' disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the country apart.
To address these issues, Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organise a Grand Convention of state delegates to revise the Articles of Confederation. On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the new Constitution, bypassing the state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. This move towards a more powerful central government was a significant shift in the country's governance.
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Frequently asked questions
The founding fathers were wary of centralized power and loyal to their individual states. They were also concerned about foreign influence and political factions, which they believed could tear the nation apart.
The founding fathers included both the emoluments clause and congressional impeachment powers in the Constitution, which they believed would protect against foreign influence.
The founding fathers feared that political parties would cause divisions that could threaten the young democracy. However, Thomas Jefferson believed it was a mistake not to provide for different political parties in the new government, stating, "Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties."
