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Join affair.Join affair InformationThe Birth of a Nation: 1607-1815It has been said that the Declaration of Independence was more democratic and for equality and the Constitution was more for a republic that benefited only some people. The Declaration was idealistic the Constitution realistic. That 1776 gave us liberty and 1787 gave us order. Although as unfair as it may sound this seems to be true. After gaining liberty this country had to establish a system that would have order. When declaring independence, the bulk of the people thought that would be "to burn the last bridge, to become traders in the eyes of the mother country." (Garraty 110). John Dickinson had stated, " 'Torn from the body to which we are united by religion, liberty, laws, affections, relation, language and commerce, we must bleed at every vein.' " (Garraty 110). The people were afraid to break away, they pondered " 'Where shall we find another Britain.' " (Garraty 110). Eventually independence was inevitable. There was a great mistrust towards both Parliament and George III when the colonists heard that the British were sending hired Hessian soldiers to fight against them in the revolution. The pamphlet written by Thomas Paine entitled Common Sense called boldly for complete independence. This reflected his opinions on George III, calling him a brute, and also attacking the idea of monarchy itself. "Virtually everyone in the colonies must have read Common Sense or heard it explained and discussed." (Garraty 110). John Adams dismissed it as something he had said time and time again. "The tone of the debate changed sharply as Paine's slashing attack took effect." (Garraty 110). A committee was appointed by Congress, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and many more. "The committee had asked Jefferson to prepare a draft" that would soon become known as the Declaration of Independence. (Garraty 112). It consisted of two parts: an introduction which justified the abstract right of any people to revolt and described the theory on which the Americans based their creation of a new, republican government, and a second part that made George III, rather than Parliament, look like the 'bad guy'. "The king was the personification of the nation against which the nation was rebelling." (Garraty 112). "The Declaration was intended to influence foreign opinion, but it had little immediate effect outside Great Britain, and there it only made people angry and determined to subdue the rebels." (Garraty 112). On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and liberty was granted to all the colonists. The Declaration of Independence gave us our first form of government, which was known as the Articles of Confederation. It was not until November 1777 that it was submitted to the states to be approved and ratified. "They merely provided a legal basis for authority that the Continental Congress had already been exercising." (Garraty 123). The union that was created was known as a "league of friendship". "The Articles reflected the colonists' fear of a strong central government." (Briggs/Peterson 36). This was great because it helped give off the concept of unity and also the Land Ordinances of 1784 and 1785, which divided the Northwest Territory into new states. The only problem was that this form of government was too weak because it gave too much power to the states and not enough to the federal government. "The articles seemed more like a treaty rather than a centralized form of government." (Briggs/Peterson 36). Each state was like its own country, with different currencies and different laws. They needed something much stronger and centralized so they came up with the Constitution which provided stricter laws and also gave more power to the federal government. It replaced the Articles of Confederation. "The Articles of Confederation weren't centralizes enough to put order in the U.S." (Wieczerzak). A convention held in 1787, known as the Philadelphia Convention, was called to fix the Articles of Confederation and instead they just rewrote it and added a new set of laws, which was then named the Constitution. The Convention was later given the name the Constitutional Convention. It gave the new government three main branches: the executive (Presidential and Cabinet), the legislature (Senate and House of Representatives), and the judicial (Supreme Court). Between all three there was a separation of power, which divided power among all three so that none of them would gain too much power and become tyrannical, this was known as checks and balances. This gave order to the colonies in 1787. At the beginning of the Constitution, in the introduction, you will find what is called the Bill of Rights. This is the First 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It justified the people's rights and gave them the certain privileges every citizen should have, and how they would. It was a mixture of both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, guaranteeing liberty and order at the same time. It did much to convince doubters that the new republican government would not become too powerful. All three documents were ratified and put into effect. For generations now, the same system has been in use, even until this day. All three work with each other, agreeing, and balancing powers so that even while its strong enough to seek justice and enforce laws, and its weak enough to allow differences in opinions, or freedom of speech. All three have made a big contribution to the outcome of the country's way of life today. |