Influencers Of The Us Constitution

The US Constitution was influenced by several factors, including the study of the Magna Carta and other federations, ancient and modern. The Due Process Clause of the Constitution was based on common law and the Magna Carta, which had become a foundation of English liberty against arbitrary power. The idea of the separation of powers was inspired by Enlightenment philosophers such as Montesquieu and John Locke. The influence of political philosophers such as Locke, Hume, Blackstone, and Montesquieu was evident at the Constitutional Convention. The US Constitution was also influenced by the country's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, which gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it lacked enforcement powers, the ability to regulate commerce, and the ability to print money. The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, along with disputes among the states, threatened to tear the young country apart, leading to the creation of the US Constitution. The Constitution was also influenced by the beliefs and efforts of key figures such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, who played significant roles in shaping the country's political landscape.

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The influence of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington were key figures in the creation of the US Constitution. Just a few years after the Revolutionary War, these men feared that their young country was on the brink of collapse. America's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, gave the Confederation Congress the power to make rules and request funds from the states, but it had no enforcement powers, couldn't regulate commerce, or print money. The states' disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the country apart.

Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organize a Grand Convention of state delegates to work on revising the Articles of Confederation. In May 1787, 55 delegates assembled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to fiercely debate the future of the United States. George Washington, who had led the country to victory in the Revolutionary War, was unanimously elected as the convention president. Washington's commanding presence and guidance were crucial in achieving a consensus among the passionate federalists and anti-federalists.

James Madison, a Virginia delegate, played a significant role in the convention as well. He had previously served as a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress and had helped steer the nation to victory in the American Revolution. Madison's "Notes of Debates in the Continental Congress" provided valuable insights into the activities of Congress during the years leading up to the military victory and the plans for a new federal Constitution. In the 1787 convention, Madison's "Notes of Debates of the Federal Convention of 1787" recorded the four months of intense debate and compromise that led to the creation of the Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton also made significant contributions to the economic aspects of the Constitution. He proposed that the government establish a steady revenue stream by taxing imported goods and that the federal government assume the debts of the states. Hamilton's proposals faced opposition, but he used his political skills to gain approval for his plans, solidifying the country's economy and setting it on a path towards prosperity.

The Articles of Confederation

Just a few years after the Revolutionary War, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington were among those who feared their young country was on the brink of collapse. The central government had insufficient power to regulate commerce, levy taxes, or print money. It was also generally impotent in setting commercial policy, supporting the war effort, or settling disputes between states. In May 1787, the Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.

The role of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists

The US Constitution was shaped by the competing interests of Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists, who supported the Constitution, believed that a strong central government was necessary to face the nation's challenges. They were nationalists, seeking to strengthen the national government at the expense of the states and the people, according to Anti-Federalists. The Federalists included influential figures such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, who believed that the Articles of Confederation, America's first constitution, were inadequate and left the country vulnerable.

The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They favoured strong state governments, a weak central government, the direct election of government officials, short term limits for officeholders, and the strengthening of individual liberties. They were concerned that the new national government would be too powerful and threaten individual liberties, given the absence of a bill of rights. The Anti-Federalists included small farmers, landowners, shopkeepers, and labourers, and influential figures such as Patrick Henry.

The political split between these two groups began in the summer of 1787 when 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to draft a new plan of government. The Federalists were instrumental in shaping the new Constitution, which was signed by 38 delegates on September 17, 1787. However, the Anti-Federalists also played a significant role in influencing the final form of the Constitution.

Although the Anti-Federalists failed to prevent the adoption of the Constitution, their efforts were not in vain. Their opposition was a crucial factor in the adoption of the Bill of Rights, which consists of the first ten amendments to the Constitution and defines citizens' and states' rights in relation to the government. The Anti-Federalists' arguments against the lack of a bill of rights in the original Constitution led to the establishment of liberties that they felt were violated in the original document.

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The Scottish Enlightenment and political philosophers

The Scottish Enlightenment, a movement of ideas and their disputation, was characterised by a thoroughgoing empiricism and practicality, with chief values centred around improvement, virtue, and practical benefit for the individual and society as a whole. The philosophy of Common Sense Realism was especially influential in 19th-century American thought and religion, and the political ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment had an important impact on the Founding Fathers of the United States.

The first major philosopher of the Scottish Enlightenment was Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746), professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow from 1729 to 1746. He was an important link between the ideas of Shaftesbury and the later school of Scottish Common Sense Realism, developing Utilitarianism and Consequentialist thinking. Other notable figures of the Scottish Enlightenment include David Hume, Adam Smith, Dugald Stewart, Thomas Reid, Adam Ferguson, and George Turnbull. Hume's Treatise on Human Nature (1738) and Essays, Moral and Political (1741) helped outline the parameters of philosophical empiricism and scepticism, and he would be a major influence on later Enlightenment figures including Smith, Immanuel Kant, and Jeremy Bentham.

Adam Smith was a prominent early member of the Political Economy Club in Edinburgh, which aimed to create links between academics and merchants. Other clubs in Edinburgh included The Select Society, formed by artist Allan Ramsay, and philosophers David Hume and Adam Smith, and The Poker Club, formed in 1762 and named by Adam Ferguson. Ferguson succeeded Hume as librarian of the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh and then held two chairs at Edinburgh University, that of natural philosophy and of pneumatics and moral philosophy. His most influential work is An Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767), in which he expressed doubts about whether the proportion of human happiness to unhappiness had increased over the centuries.

The influence of the Scottish Enlightenment extended beyond Scotland across the British Empire and onto the Continent, and it continued for another 50 years or more after the conclusion of the Enlightenment itself, thanks to figures such as Thomas Carlyle, James Watt, William Murdoch, James Clerk Maxwell, Lord Kelvin, and Sir Walter Scott.

The Iroquois Confederacy

The framers of the Constitution admired the concepts, principles, and governmental practices of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. They cited the Iroquois and other Native governments as examples of federalism, with each tribe governing itself while enjoying the peace and support brought by the Confederacy. The Iroquois Confederacy's unification through mutual defence and its conduct of foreign affairs were also of interest to the framers.

The influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the framers' thinking is evident in a 1751 letter from Benjamin Franklin, in which he describes the need for the 13 colonies to form a "voluntary Union" similar to that of the Iroquois Confederacy. Additionally, in 1744, the Onondaga leader Canassatego gave a speech urging the 13 colonies to unite, as the Iroquois had at the signing of the Treaty of Lancaster. This speech was printed by Benjamin Franklin.

Despite the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution, the framers of the Constitution viewed Indigenous people as inferior. This disconnect between admiration for the political system and bias against Indigenous people may have helped obscure the framers' interest in Native governments.

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