America's Founders

The Founding Fathers were not selfless and flawless human beings without any imperfections or personal bias. They were actually members of a political elite that were faced with a crumbling country that was suffering from a myriad of internal and external problems. The political environment after the Revolutionary War forced the new nation to either reform its ineffective government and address the critical issues of the time or else face complete destruction. Consequently, the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution, which created a far stronger and resilient political structure that prevented the United States from disbanding. However, this document was not the ultimate form of democracy that brought freedom to the Western world. Instead,

The United States at the time was breaking away from mother England and failing to become an independent power. There wasn’t any agreement among the ‘founding fathers’ on how the U.S. should move forward, should they follow the government structure of England and appoint a king and have a monarchy system, or create a whole different form of government. Well we all know how that ended up, but it was a long road to making it a successful government. First, the people in charge like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson and George Washington made plans of appointing a president and giving this person guidelines and certain responsibilities to follow. As laid out in the Constitution. Each branch of government had/s to abide by these set articles. And with that, the system of checks and balances comes into play which keeps every form of the American government in line. I don’t think that the American government is a perfect system, but I also wouldn’t change anything about

Before the U.S Constitution was ever set in motion, there was a constitution called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation followed after America gained their independence from the British. This constitution gave limited power to a central government, and gave state governments, major authority. Whereas the new constitution intended to generate a powerful government in which various states could unite under a central authority. The administration of the new government wanted to implement new approaches to help expand to Western lands and to develop a stronger economy. However, the fact that the new government was federal and not state, angered many people. So, with countless crowds opposing the new government, why were

When asked if the Founding Fathers were democratic reformers, the likely response is that yes, they were, because they believed in democracy and strove to create a nation that would be successfully governed by the people. Although this answer may be correct, the debate between historians on this subject shows that the motives of the Founding Fathers cannot be so easily discerned. According to historian Alfred F. Young, the Founding Fathers were not democratic reformers because they were elites and did not represent the interests of the general public, because they admired the British model of a strong national government that protected the wealthy from the people, and because they only included democratic accommodations to ensure that the people

After the United States gained its independence from Britain, the next step was deciding what kind of nation it should be. The founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, came up with two different models. Hamilton envisioned the country as an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse with a strong central government. While Thomas Jefferson’s vision favored a more agrarian based economy and a limited federal government. Although Jefferson won the 1800 presidential election, the changes that occurred in the United States during the second third of the nineteenth century marked the weakening of Jefferson’s ideals so by the end of the Civil War, the scale tipped and the US became predominantly Hamiltonian. The rapid growth of industry and commerce however, eventually led to the revival of some Jeffersonian ideals as people increasingly felt the need to slow down the acceleration of modernity.

Lin Manuel Miranda once wrote “Every other founding father’s story gets told, every other founding father gets to grow old. But when you’re gone who remembers your name? Who keeps the flame? Who tells your story?” These lyrics were written for one of our founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, proved not everyone in this world is able to be remembered. Before “Hamilton” the musical was released most people knew Hamilton as the guy from the ten dollar bill, but looking past the dollar bill Hamilton was a hero. Hamilton fought in the war, was Washington’s right hand man, stole cannons, wrote the Federalist papers and constructed the country we know as United States of America. Without Hamilton and the rest of the founding fathers we wouldn’t

Did you ever wonder how the United States’ founders envisioned America to be in the years to come? America’s founding fathers were tasked with the difficult challenge of finding a balance between preserving individual rights and forming a strong, long-lasting union. There are many examples of how the founding fathers found a balance. Some examples of this are showcased in the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and A New American Nation.

According to Professor Barton, when the framers of the Constitution formed the document, they didn’t want anyone to misinterpret the idea that the people ruled as sovereigns in America. This idea is reinforced by the textbook, Early American History to 1877, that says, “The Second Continental Congress (which was led by the nation’s leader) urged Americans to reject Great Britain, reject authority, and establish a republic.” This meant that when framing the Constitution, the leaders would focus on making America as opposite from Great Britain as possible, and put the power in the hands of the people. Looking to the events that preluded the framing of the Constitution, America had just fought a war against Great Britain to gain their independence from a monarchial government.

If we were listening in on the conversation going on at the table we would be able to see that there were three predominant theories on how the president should be elected. The first idea was for Congress to choose the president by voting on the candidates they saw fit. (Hendricks) The main problem with this idea was the tilt of power towards the legislative branch. If the legislative branch was given this express power of ushering in the executive not only would it tilt the balance of power towards the legislative but it would also open the door wide to corruption and bargaining. The second option on the table was the election of the president of the United States by the state legislatures (much like the Senators were first elected). (Hendricks) The biggest fear behind this idea was the possibility of an executive that was too intertwined with the state, an executive who slowly worked with the state and helped them erode the power of the central government. This would undermine the whole idea of the republic that the founding fathers were trying to build and thus was an idea that was quickly disregarded. The third and final proposal was the direct election of the president by the people, or now more famously known as the popular or national vote. (Smith) The biggest problem behind this proposition is the likeliness of the electorate to vote for a “favorite son” or a figure that they identify with personally rather than politically and

There are a quite a few Founding Fathers that created this nation. One in particular is Thomas Jefferson who is most commonly known as the writer of the Declaration of Independence.

When debating the Constitution, the Founding Fathers were concerned with factions and their impact on society. Many feared that the government would not effectively mitigate the effects of factions. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and other Federalists argued in support of a confederate republic because direct democracies would not be able to protect society from factions. Madison states, “in the extent and proper structure of the Union, therefore, we behold a Republican remedy for the diseases most incident to Republican Government” (173-174). Their argument is void in that their definition of a faction is one-sided and the examples they use to support their argument on factions are superficial. However, the Federalists effectively communicate that confederate republics mitigate the harmful effects of factions better than pure democracies.

The Founding Fathers put their blood, sweat and tears into the making of the Constitution and created a government out of practically nothing, all while having a vision for the future. This future consisted of a government that focused on liberty over security; a government of minimal intervention. To say that the modern version of the United States government is exactly what the Founding Fathers envisioned is a very debatable topic. There are many instances where todays government has followed the Constitution for the most part, but then there are a lot of other areas where the Founders visions have been twisted to the point that they are unrecognizable anymore. To start off, the basic concept of the United States government is one of checks and balances. This was put in place to ensure that the government never became too powerful. One very good example of checks and balances is the media. Even the founding fathers knew the extreme power of the media and its ability to keep the government in check. Two men by the names of William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were even able to create the Spanish American War by the process of yellow journalism, or the crude exaggeration of events. The first amendment states that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” The government today reflects this belief that the media is a watchdog or “fourth estate” as it is so often referred to. Political parties and everything that comes with it, including

Between 1787 and 1791 the Framers of the US Constitution established a system of government upon principles that had been discussed and partially implemented in many countries over the course of several centuries, but never before in such a pure and complete design, which we call a constitutional republic. Since then, the design has often been imitated, but important principles have often been ignored in those imitations, with the result that their governments fall short of being true republics or truly constitutional. The Framers of the Constitution tried very hard to design a system that would not allow any one person or group within the government to gain too much power. Personally, I think they

The Constitution placed a great deal of power back into the hands of a strong, central government much like that of a monarchy. “The extraordinarily powerful national government that emerged from Philadelphia possessed far more than the additional congressional powers that were required to solve the United States’ difficulties” (Wood 151). The U.S. government was extremely revolutionary though, in the way that it viewed and handled sovereignty. “Unlike the British in relation to their House of Commons, the American people never surrendered to any political institution…their full and final sovereign power” (Wood 160). Throughout the entire American struggle to establish a suitable government, the citizens maintained their ability to influence policy in a way that the British never could.

Many historians argue if the founding fathers made this country for the welfare of the future people of this nation or for their own fortune and self-greed. It has been a long-lasting feud to unearth the answer. Many debate that the founding fathers would want to see the nation they created become wealthy and set an example for other nations. Others argue that they did this for their own benefits and so they could have more power and wealth, and didn’t care for the future generations. The founding fathers created this country thinking about the well-being of the future generations that would eventually lead and take care for the nation, even in it would benefit them, and they would gain power and wealth. They didn’t care for what they gained, but what they achieved.