Constitution of The United States Research Paper Example

The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 to serve a purpose as a set of rules for the country. Many of its rules helped to keep the country in order, while some of its rules had the opposite effect. The Constitution mainly focused on giving liberties to the people, meaning that all people should have the same rights. During the creation of this document, members of the Constitutional Convention were making a decision as to how America should be governed. A conflict arose on how to address the problems occurring with the weak central government, leaving members utterly confused on how to have moderate control over the country. Although conflict over states’ rights and having a strong central authority seemed to slow down the production of a successful and working government in the newly governed United States, members chose to settle their differences by striving to create a more perfect union with established justice.

Full freedom was something that was considered essential to those who created the Constitution. Members of the Constitutional Convention consisted of both federalists and anti-federalists; both of whom had different ideas of how to govern the country. Federalists wanted to create an entirely new government in the United States rather than fixing the current one, while the anti-federalists believed more in self-government because they thought that the Constitution gave too much authority to the federal government. A disagreement between the federalists and the anti-federalists came through due to their differences on how to govern the newly formed United States. Despite their different beliefs on how to govern the country, they made an agreement about creating a more perfect union as a form of government. “To many Americans over the years, the Constitution drawn up in 1787 has seemed a work of genius put together by wise, humane men who created a legal framework for democracy and equality” (Zinn- 90). Freedom, equality, and democracy within the United States were what the humane men wanted, which is why they created the Constitution to begin with. The Constitution wanted to help keep the country as one united place, and to make sure this goal was achieved, it ensured equality with different religions and made sure all citizens were entitled to freedom of speech. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (First Amendment, United States Constitution). The first amendment guarantees freedoms regarding expression, religions, and how no religion should overpower or promote one over the other. It guarantees the freedom of speech because it prohibits the Congress from stepping in and restricting the rights of citizens being able to speak freely. Along with this, the Constitution also made sure that political tyranny would be unlikely to happen. Alexander Hamilton was present during the convention, and made a comment to the delegates about how the Constitution made an even balance between liberty and power. James Madison also “emphasized how the Constitution was structured to prevent abuses of authority” (Foner - 207), meaning that the founders cared about the unification of the United States and didn’t want different authorities to channel more power than another.

Generally speaking, a government successfully establishes justice for citizens when it guarantees equality within every individual and their rights. Justice is one of the most important aspects of freedom in a country, and is the main goal of democracy. Having said this, African Americans did not receive justice within the country, as they were forced into slavery. “They are to be sent out of the state, therefore we shall not be particular reflecting the character of any of them...” (Slave-trading advertisement, Richmond, VA, 1787). Although the Constitution claims to establish liberty and justice for all, it still discriminates against African Americans and their position in society. The document still had its flaws throughout its making, especially since it didn’t entitle Indians for American freedom. “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons” (Article One, Section Two, United States Constitution). There were certain qualifications that needed to be fulfilled for being a representative in the House of Representatives; one of which is to be a United States citizen. Exclusion of representatives and racism have the same idea because both are about some people getting opportunities while the others are not. The injustice for African Americans was not being supported by the Constitution, as racism is still an ongoing problem in modern day. People were treated unfairly because of the color of their skin, and this incident in society could have been spoken about during the Constitutional Convention. The founders are part of a powerful administration, and they could make an impact on the United States if they were to speak up about racism and its remaining problems in American society.

“Women” is a word that does not make an appearance in the Constitution. Establishing liberty and justice for all means that it not only includes men, but it also includes women. Their independence was not spoken about in the Constitution, which can show that liberty wouldn’t be able to be established for everyone if it wasn’t mentioned for women. “I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands” (Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 1776). While racial discrimination was not taken seriously by the Constitution, sex discrimination was also a central and ongoing problem that wasn’t addressed within the document. Women were one out of four groups that were not represented in the Constitution. Assuming that the idea of women’s rights was not brought up during the Constitutional Convention, the founders could have thought that women were nowhere near as important to regard in the final draft of the Constitution. Women’s individual rights are something that should be recognized, and it wouldn’t be possible to create a more perfect Union without women being a part of it. “True, with women, there was something more practically important in their biology than skin color--their position as childbearers--but this was not enough to account for the general push backward for all of them in society, even those who did not bear children, or those too young or too old for that” (Zinn-103). No matter the circumstances, women were still mistreated whether they were able to give birth to children or not. The Constitution is a strong source of power in the United States, and women still suffer from the sense of oppression for not being recognized in its creation. It can show how American society is not united and doesn’t support the equality of all citizens.

Finalizing the Constitution was a long and continuous process that had both useful and non-useful attributes to American society. During the Constitutional Convention, many valid points were said about how America should be governed, but some points were forgotten. Women, slaves, indentured servants, and men without property were all groups that could’ve been mentioned in the Constitution, but they weren’t. Coming from the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal, ” women, slaves, indentured servants, and men without property were four groups that were excluded from the Constitution. Racial and sex discrimination cannot establish the goal of forming a more perfect Union with established justice, therefore, revisions could have been made to the Constitution to further unify the United States.