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The United States Constitution has acted as the nations highest law from its foundation in 1789. The Founding Fathers wrote the document in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The draft was later approved via a sequence of state conventions held in 1787 and 1788 (De George 10). The constitution has been altered twenty-seven times since 1787, especially three reconstruction amendments and ten crucial amendments of the Bill of Rights. The constitution was developed out of the attempts to improve the Articles of Confederation, which were the initial constitutions of the US. The articles offered a weak federal government and a loose alliance of states. Hence, the framers converged in Philadelphia to draft the new constitution.
The forefather of the document included fundamentals like Natural Rights Philosophy , Classical Republicanism , basics of the Bill of Rights of the United Kingdom, and the solutions to the articles of confederations issues while documenting the constitution. Framers such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were influenced by the ideas of John Locke while integrating the concepts of natural rights in the new Constitution (Brown 22). Locke, an Englishman of the seventeenth century, had reevaluated the character of government in his Second Treatise of government. In this second discourse, Locke underpinned the foundation of an authentic government. Therefore, the government gets its powers from the people it rules.
The government plays a crucial role in safeguarding the natural rights of individuals. According to Locke, these rights include the right to life, property, and liberty. Locke further proposed that if the government fails to safeguard these fundamental rights, the citizens have the mandate to overthrow them (Brown 22). These ideas influenced the framers, including Thomas Jefferson, during the Declaration of Independence. The constitutions founders assumed that humanitys natural rights are inherent in every individual. The first ten revisions of the constitution include the Bill of Rights (Douma 593). Some of the rights are inseparable from the people, implying they cannot be surrendered to the authority under any circumstance.
The Founding Fathers adopted the concept of republicanism since its principles provided the people with freedom, with differing limited powers offsetting each other. Classical republicanism emphasized society, holding that the fundamental characteristic of a good government is maintaining collective welfare. This idea was copied from the philosophies of the Ancient Greco-Roman , English classic ideas, and Renaissance (Smith Paragraph 24). Thus, antimonarchism laid a framework for the Declaration of Independence of 1776, the American Revolution , the 1787 composition, the Bill of Rights, and the 1863 Gettysburg Address.
The Founding Fathers were also influenced by constitutionalism apart from republicanism and natural rights. The framers wanted individuals to influence government, but they feared the role of public opinion in influencing the decision-making process; thus, they advocated for a republican form of governance. The US constitution offers a republican model of government in that citizens participate directly in electing their leaders to represent them in governance (Smith Paragraph 24). In article four-section four of the constitution, every state is advised to have a republican government. Classical republicanism enhances people to participate and is informed about their politics.
The 1689 English Bill of Rights set the basis for a legitimate kingdom in Britain. It influenced the framers to adopt constitutionalism in their Bill of Rights. The monarchy created by the English monarch implied that the queen or king could act as the head of state, but the rule of law could restrict her powers. The monarch could not exercise its powers without Parliaments consent; therefore, citizens were granted individual rights (Campbell 246). The English Bill of Rights has several natural rights, which later became incorporated in the US Constitutions first amendment, including freedom of expression and speech and the right to petition (Smith Paragraph 25). Precisely, the constitutionalism idea came to its greatest development in the period that witnessed the ripening of liberal democracy with its importance on safeguarding the rights of the people against government intrusion.
Lastly, the US constitution and the Bill of Rights fix issues with the articles of confederation. The constitutions first amendment asserts that Congress cannot fine, impose civic liability or jail individuals based on what they write or say, except in critical situations. Under the articles of confederation, Congress was powerless and could not interstate and international trade (Maggs 397). The articles lacked an executive branch to approve any acts enacted by Congress. Additionally, the articles lacked a federal court that could settle conflicts concerning the infringement of the constitution. Hence, to pass laws under the articles of confederation, Congress could require nine of thirteen votes.
On several occasions, states argued and rejected to finance the federal government. Still, the articles of confederation lacked the power to enforce any act. Some states began liaising with foreign governments for financial support. These states formed their military and began to print their money, which destabilized the economy of the United States (Smith Paragraph 20). The constitution fixed the problems of the articles of confederation in that it became the Supreme law of the United States; thus, Congress was mandated to levy taxes and control trade between states and foreign nations, unlike in the articles of confederation, where states had the freedom to conduct international trade with countries of their choice.
The constitution created a federal court system that became a crucial element in judicial review and interpreting the constitution, and protecting the fundamental rights of individuals. The constitution additionally shaped a system of balances and checks, giving the three branches of rule supremacy to observe each other, thus acting as a watchdog (Smith Paragraph 19). Under the articles of confederation, the government had only one law made by one legislative branch. However, this practice changed under the constitution, creating judicial and executive branches. The legislative, executive and judiciary created under the constitution led to the separation of powers between the three arms. It was easy for Congress to ratify amendments in the constitution. The senate required two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of the house to pass amendments than in the articles where Congress had nine of the thirteen votes.
In conclusion, the Constitution of the US is the greatest law in the US since its beginning in 1789 by the framers. The Founding Fathers incorporated elements like Natural Rights Philosophy, Classical Republicanism, Bill of Rights of England, and solutions to the problems with the articles of the confederation. The ideas of John Locke influenced the framers of the constitution in integrating natural rights in the constitution. Lockes ideas of republicanism were inspired by ideas like the Ancient Greco-Roman and Renaissance. The US constitution congruently embraced some ideas from the English Bill of Rights of 1689 . The constitution also repairs the flaws of articles of the confederation , including creating a more solid federal government.
Works Cited
Brown, F. The Blessings of Liberty (Book Review). (2013): 22.
Campbell, Jud. Natural Rights and the First Amendment. Yale LJ 127 (2017): 246.
De George, Richard T. Introduction: The Philosophical Foundations of the US Constitution. Philosophical Dimensions of the Constitution. Routledge, 2019. 1-14.
Douma, Michael J. How the First Ten Amendments Became the Bill of Rights. Geo. JL & Pub. Poly 15 (2017): 593.
Maggs, Gregory E. A Concise Guide to the Articles of Confederation as a Source for Determining the Original Meaning of the Constitution. Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 85 (2017): 397.
Smith, Duane. An Introduction to the Political Philosophy of the Constitution. (n.d.). Web.
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