Isabella Carter
The writers of the US Constitution, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, were motivated by the belief that all people possess fundamental rights that governments are created to protect. Influenced by Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Montesquieu, they sought to establish a powerful central government that safeguarded individual liberties and prevented tyranny. The Constitution aimed to address the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which lacked enforcement powers and struggled to manage the economy and wage war effectively. Madison, Hamilton, and other delegates engaged in fierce debates, compromising to craft a document that balanced centralized power with states' rights, ultimately creating one of the most emulated constitutions in the world.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Separation of powers | The Founding Fathers divided power into three separate branches of government: the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judiciary. Each branch has its own rules, responsibilities, and powers. |
| Limited government | The Founding Fathers wanted to limit government power and establish rules for each part of the government to prevent misuse of power. |
| Individual rights | The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, was added to protect the rights of individuals and limit the power of the federal government. |
| Federalism | The Constitution established a powerful central government, with Federal legislators having no personal stake in the vote. |
| Checks and balances | The Constitution included a way for it to change and grow over time, with "amendments" that require approval from two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate or two-thirds of the states. |
| Compromise | The writers of the Constitution represented wildly different interests and views, and crafted compromises to create a powerful central government while remaining loyal to their states. |
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What You'll Learn
James Madison, the 'Father of the Constitution'
James Madison, born on March 16, 1751, was an American Founding Father, diplomat, and the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is popularly known as the "Father of the Constitution" for his crucial role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
Madison was born into a prominent slave-owning planter family in Virginia. In 1774, he joined the Patriots, dissatisfied with British taxation. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress during and after the American Revolutionary War. Madison was committed to the idea of a strong government with well-balanced powers and was disillusioned by the weak national government established by the Articles of Confederation. He helped organize the Constitutional Convention, which produced a new constitution designed to strengthen republican government against democratic assembly. Madison's Virginia Plan, presented at the convention, served as the basis for the convention's deliberations and outlined the centralization of power, granting the Senate the authority to overturn state laws.
Madison was one of the most influential individuals at the convention, and he played a pivotal role in the movement to ratify the Constitution. He collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in writing The Federalist Papers, a series of pro-ratification essays that were highly influential in American political science. Madison penned the most famous of these pamphlets, Federalist No. 10, which argued for the ability of a large federation to protect individual rights. In his final speech to the ratifying convention, Madison implored delegates to ratify the Constitution as written, warning that failure to do so would lead to the collapse of the ratification effort as states sought favourable amendments.
Madison is also known for his contributions to the Bill of Rights. He introduced a series of Constitutional amendments in the House of Representatives and sponsored the first ten amendments, emphasizing freedom of religion, speech, and press. Historians debate the degree to which Madison considered these amendments necessary versus politically expedient. Madison's legacy is defined by his contributions to the Constitution, and he remains hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in its creation and ratification.
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Alexander Hamilton, a key advocate for a strong central government
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, lawyer, scholar, economist, congressman, and the first US Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton consistently advocated for greater federal power at the expense of the states, which placed him at odds with Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers. Hamilton's interpretations of the Constitution, set forth in The Federalist Papers, remain highly influential and continue to be cited in scholarly studies and court decisions.
Hamilton believed that the country needed a central government with power over the states, a strong executive, and a national army. He argued for a strong executive leader, as provided for by the Constitution, as opposed to the weak executive under the Articles of Confederation. He asserted that ""energy in the executive is the leading character in the definition of good government". He believed that a single executive would be safer and more effective than a group of people, as a group would be more prone to disagreements and dissensions, and would be less accountable.
Hamilton also supported a de facto central bank, which he believed was permissible under Congress's constitutional authority to issue currency, regulate interstate commerce, and do anything else that was "necessary and proper" to enact the provisions of the Constitution. As Secretary of the Treasury, he organized the National Bank, the first US monetary system, the tax system, the Customs Service, and established the national debt. He also developed the concept of "implied powers," which allowed the federal government to do things in support of the Constitution that were not specifically spelled out in it.
Hamilton's views on the role of religion in politics are also notable. During the French Revolution, he took a utilitarian approach, using religion for political ends, including maligning Thomas Jefferson as "the atheist," and insisting that Christianity and Jeffersonian democracy were incompatible. After 1801, however, Hamilton expressed his belief in Christianity, proposing a Christian Constitutional Society in 1802 to elect "fit men" to office.
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George Washington, who provided leadership and credibility
George Washington's role in the creation of the US Constitution is often overlooked, with many remembering him as the first president of the United States and the victorious general of the American Revolution. However, Washington played an indispensable role in the process, providing leadership and credibility to the Constitutional Convention.
Washington was initially reluctant to get involved in politics, intending to retire from public service after the American Revolution. However, he was persuaded by prominent individuals that his presence was essential at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Washington was unanimously elected as the president of the convention, a role in which he presided over the debates and worked to forge consensus among the passionate federalists and anti-federalists. He demanded complete secrecy as the delegates grappled with controversial issues, such as the form of the executive and the powers it should hold.
Washington's leadership was crucial in creating an atmosphere that allowed convention members to reach the necessary compromises. He remained relatively quiet during the debates, allowing the delegates to discuss and decide on the foundation of the Constitution themselves. While Washington favoured a strong central government and a single executive leader, he did not impose his views on others. Instead, he participated primarily to maintain order and provide deciding votes when needed.
Washington's support for the Constitution carried significant weight. In his private letters, he expressed a desire to see the Constitution adopted, acknowledging its imperfections but praising the amendment provision that allowed for future corrections. Federalists seized on this support, urging others to accept the Constitution because Washington had signed it. His signature on the document, along with his letter of 17 September 1787 as president of the Convention to the president of Congress, were powerful tools in the push for ratification.
Washington's leadership and credibility were crucial in guiding the Constitutional Convention to a successful conclusion. While he may not have been as vocal as others, his presence, guidance, and support were instrumental in creating the framework for the new government.
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Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers
Franklin was the oldest delegate to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1787, at 81 years old. He was a proponent of freeing American slaves and was the oldest signer of the U.S. Constitution, bringing seasoned intellect, insight, and patriotism to the creation of the document.
Franklin contributed to the framing of the Constitution by composing documents that helped pave the way for it. In 1754, he represented the Colony of Pennsylvania at an intercolonial convention to negotiate with the Six Nations of the Iroquois. He wrote the "Albany Plan of Union", a blueprint for a federation of American colonies, with Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts. The plan was rejected by the colonies and the British government, but its general concept and specific language influenced later documents.
Franklin also helped retain the pre-existing postal system, which was initially an integrated part of the British imperial postal system. He served as postmaster general for the colonies and later for the Continental Congress. His influence ensured that the founding generation retained the institution rather than creating a new one.
Franklin's contributions to the federal convention were of central importance. He helped move the process forward and recommended the adoption of the document despite its faults. He gave a closing speech, encouraging delegates to put aside their disagreements and approve the document for the good of the nation. He also successfully delivered an influential speech, urging delegates to accept the document as the best that a collective body was likely able to craft.
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John Jay, a key author of The Federalist Papers
John Jay was one of the key authors of The Federalist Papers, along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. The Federalist Papers is a collection of 85 articles and essays written under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The collection was written and published between October 1787 and May 1788 to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed Constitution, which had been drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. The authors intended to influence voters and defend the Constitution against Anti-Federalists, who opposed it because it created a powerful central government.
John Jay contributed five essays to The Federalist Papers (Federalist Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 64). After writing his first four essays, Jay fell ill and contributed only one more essay to the series. He also distilled his arguments into a pamphlet in the spring of 1788, titled "An Address to the People of the State of New-York." This pamphlet was cited approvingly by Hamilton in Federalist No. 85.
The Federalist Papers were published anonymously in various New York state newspapers, including The New York Packet, The Independent Journal, and The Daily Advertiser. The authors of these essays attempted to hide their identities due to Hamilton and Madison's attendance at the Constitutional Convention. However, astute observers correctly discerned their identities. After Hamilton's death in 1804, a list emerged claiming that he had written two-thirds of the essays. The exact authorship of some of the essays is still disputed by scholars, and the assignment of authorship may vary depending on the edition of The Federalist Papers.
The ideas in the Constitution were influenced by European Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu and John Locke, as well as by the reservations that Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson had about European forms of government. The Constitution was drafted by a group of delegates, including Franklin, who came together to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, which were seen as inadequate for governing the young nation. The delegates created a powerful central government while also representing wildly different interests and views, resulting in one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions in the world.
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Frequently asked questions
The writers of the Constitution, also known as the Framers, liked checks and balances because it encouraged conflict between the branches of government, which they believed was beneficial. The system of checks and balances was designed to prevent the accumulation of power and the exercise of unrestrained power by any one branch or person.
Federalism, or the separation of powers between the state and federal governments, was a novel concept at the time. The writers of the Constitution liked federalism because it allowed them to establish a unified national government with limited powers while maintaining a distinct sphere of autonomy for state governments to exercise their general police power.
The writers of the Constitution liked the separation of powers because they believed that concentrating distinct governmental powers in a single entity would subject the nation’s people to arbitrary and oppressive government action. By dividing the federal government’s powers between three separate branches of government, they hoped to prevent tyranny from a single branch, lead to an effective government, and preserve the liberty of U.S. citizens.
