The Constitution Case

I chose to write about why the Constitution was created. To me this is an important aspect of history because even today we still use this as a basis for maintaining laws and rights. Written in 1787 and ratified in 1789 the Constitution is mainly a guideline we use to remember why this country was established and the basic human rights of every man. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."1

The American colonies wanted to establish a document that provided the laws of the land while protecting the rights of the people. The Constitution directs its attention to the many problems the colonies faced; it offered quite a challenge because the document opened itself to be interpreted in many different ways. It is clear that the founders', as elite class American citizens, would play a role in the creation of The Constitution.

In further analysis most of the issues included in the document were because of vast cultural, racial, and economic lifestyles that our country supported, even though it was unintentional. This document lessened some of those issues and tried to appeal to the requests of all states. However, Elitist framers manipulated the idea of a constitution in order to protect their economic interests by restricting the voices of women, slaves, indentured servants and others.

The Constitution was to join weak state governments under a strong central government. Under this document, Congress was given the power to levy taxes, regulate trade between the states, raise an army, control interstate commerce, and more. A three-branch government was established including a judicial, legislative, and executive branch, each branch checking another

Branch.In opposition, the anti-federalists believed in weak central and strong state governments2, as the way it was in The Articles of Confederation and believed.1

Still, the creation of The Constitution caused much deliberation among the exclusive and self-governing states. They thought they would lose their rights under a government with too much power. The conflict between the North and South added to the development of this document, with one state wanting to count all citizens and the other only wanting to count the whites. Eventually the Three fifths Compromise was made counting every slave as 3/5 a free person under representation. Southern states, like Virginia, opposed Article one section two of the constitution because their economy was based off of slavery which multiplied its population.

Also, another issue would arise within Article 4. Section 1 which declares that all states will honor the laws of all other states; this ensures, for example, if someone was declared a slave in one state they couldn't be freed in another state. Also, section two, serves as the comprise between the founders and citizens to section one by guarantying that citizens of one state be treated equally and fairly like all citizens of another.1 It also says that if a person accused of a crime in one state flees to another, they will be returned to the state they fled from.1

Furthermore, people like William Byrd feared that the Constitution wouldn't work because it was completely opposite from The Articles of Confederation.