Malcolm Rivera
The US Constitution was written by and for white men, and while it was intended to be adaptable, change has been slow. The document was drafted by educated, propertied, white men in 1787, and it has been criticised for being a product of its time, reflecting the values and culture of its authors. The Constitution has been amended many times to extend rights and equality to all citizens, regardless of race or gender, but the fight for equal rights is ongoing.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Written by white men | White men with property |
| Gave rights and power only to white men | White men |
| Did not include the right to vote for all | Only privileged few (white men who owned property) |
| Did not include equal rights for women | N/A |
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution was written by and for white men
The US Constitution was written in the late 18th century, a time when the social, economic, and political spheres were dominated by white men. The writers of the Constitution, including George Washington and Gouverneur Morris, were all wealthy, educated, and influential men, and the document they created reflected their class, race, and gender interests.
The Constitution was intended to establish a strong central government and protect the rights and liberties of its citizens. However, the definition of "citizens" at the time was limited to white male property owners. Women, enslaved people, and free Black people were excluded from the political process and denied the same rights and protections as white men.
The language of the Constitution is telling in this regard. It refers to "We the People," a phrase that was intended to signify the source of the government's legitimacy in the people rather than the states. However, the phrase "We the People" did not include all people, only those who were considered full citizens. This exclusionary language set the tone for the rest of the document and the country's future political and legal systems.
While the Constitution did not explicitly mention gender, it was implicitly understood to refer to men. The rights and responsibilities outlined in the document were assumed to apply only to male citizens. Women were largely excluded from the public sphere and were considered to be under the protection and authority of men. They had limited legal rights, particularly when it came to matters of divorce, property, and employment.
It wasn't until the 19th and 20th centuries that women began to organize and demand equal rights, including the right to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, finally guaranteed women's suffrage, though it did not end the fight for gender equality. The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1923, sought to guarantee equal legal rights for all citizens regardless of sex, but it has yet to be ratified despite ongoing efforts.
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The founding fathers were slave owners
The US Constitution was written by white men, and it was written to give rights and power only to white men. The founding fathers were born into a slaveholding society where the morality of owning slaves was rarely questioned. The majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and nearly half of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention owned slaves. Four of the first five presidents of the United States were slave owners.
Thomas Jefferson, the man who wrote the words "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence, owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life and even fathered children with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Despite this, he still wrote about his belief that slavery was a political and moral evil that should be abolished. However, he never personally freed his slaves and when he died, his slaves were sold off to the highest bidder to pay off his debts.
George Washington, another Founding Father, also owned hundreds of slaves. During the Revolutionary War, his views on slavery began to change, and he wrote that he wished to get clear of owning slaves. He even went as far as to say that he sincerely wished to see a plan for the abolition of slavery. However, he never took a public stand against slavery and only freed the slaves he owned in his will, making him the only Founding Father to do so.
The issue of slavery proved to be a difficult one for the Founding Fathers to navigate. While they acknowledged that slavery violated the core American Revolutionary ideal of liberty, their commitment to private property rights and limited government prevented them from taking a stand against it. The Southern Founders, in particular, had a considerable investment in slave-based staple agriculture, which made it even more challenging for them to advocate for emancipation.
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The fight for women's rights
The US Constitution was written by and for white men, granting them rights and power. The famous line "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" was written by Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves and ignored his own children, especially his Black children. The Constitution was drafted by a congress of educated white men of property, and it was meant to be adaptable, but this change should not come easily.
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The Constitution was meant to be adaptable
The US Constitution was written by a group of educated white men, most of whom were property owners, and was intended to give rights and power only to white men. The document was drafted by a congress that met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia in 1787, and it laid the foundation for the Government of the United States of America. The Constitution was meant to be a living document, adaptable to the evolving needs of the country. This is evident in the thousands of amendments that have been proposed to Congress, with 27 of them being ratified.
The Constitution, as originally written, mentioned little about the right to vote, and it was thought that only privileged white men who owned property should be allowed to vote. The fight for enfranchisement for all Americans, regardless of race or gender, has resulted in seven of the Constitution's 27 amendments addressing voting rights. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in 1921 by the National Woman's Party, aimed to guarantee equal rights for women and men. While it did not succeed initially, the women's movement of the 1960s revived support for the ERA, and it was approved by the US House of Representatives in 1971 and the US Senate in 1972.
The ERA's purpose is to ensure that equal legal rights are afforded to all American citizens, regardless of sex. Supporters of the ERA argue that it would eliminate legal distinctions between men and women in areas such as divorce, property, and employment. Opponents, however, claim that it would remove protections from women and make them eligible for the military draft. Despite falling short of the required number of states for ratification, efforts to ratify the ERA continue.
The adaptability of the Constitution is further demonstrated by the inclusion of the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, which was adopted in 1868. While it initially did not apply to women, the Supreme Court extended equal protection to sex-based discrimination in 1972. This reflects the ongoing evolution of the Constitution to meet the changing needs and values of American society.
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The Constitution was under siege by the press
The US Constitution was written by white men, for white men. The authors of the Constitution were educated, propertied, and held values and a culture that were vastly different from those of today. The document was intended to be adaptable, and it has evolved over time to reflect the changing needs of the country.
In New York, the Constitution was under siege in the press by a series of essays signed "Cato." The essays attacked the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and advocated for a strong national government. Alexander Hamilton and John Jay responded to this by enlisting Madison, and together they published a series of 85 essays, most penned by Hamilton, now known as the Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers probed the need for an energetic national government and the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
The anti-Federalists, on the other hand, attacked the Constitution on several fronts, including the lack of a bill of rights, discrimination against southern states in navigation legislation, direct taxation, and the loss of state sovereignty. They charged that the Constitution was written by aristocratic politicians seeking to protect their class interests. Some newspaper articles, presumably written by anti-Federalists, even resorted to making fanciful predictions of horrors that might emerge under the new Constitution, such as pagans and deists controlling the government or the Pope being elected president.
The fight to enfranchise Americans regardless of race or gender is an ongoing process. While the original Constitution mentions little about the right to vote, today, seven of its 27 amendments deal with this issue. Over time, amendments have been proposed to abolish the Senate, call for a national vote before going to war, and limit individual wealth to $1,000. The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1921, aims to guarantee equal rights for men and women, though it has yet to be ratified.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution was written by a group of educated white men of property.
The US Constitution was written to give rights and power to white men, specifically those who owned property.
While the framers of the Constitution intended for it to be adaptable, change does not come easily. The Constitution is a living document that belongs to the people, and Americans seek to mould their government to fit the evolving needs of the country.
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