In 1789, America had been a country for only eleven years. The country was rapidly changing, with Western expansion, more public institutes of higher learning, and the founders realized they could not go on with the Articles of Confederation. The problems with the articles were numerous, however the overall issue was that the government had virtually no power, as they could not collect taxes. Although they had power the power to declare wars and issue laws, the states had the real power to tax and enforce those laws. The Articles of Confederation were not a complete and final law, they were simply rules for the new nation to live under while separating from England. The process of creating a complete and lasting Constitution was overdue. With
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At the convention, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton represented those views. Although the two men did not get along, they both believed in a strong central government that controlled many aspects of everyday life. They were closer ideologically to the monarchy of England than the for the people republican ideals. Instead of having a president elected by direct popular vote, the Federalists believed that a leader should be chosen by a few elite electors. The compromise reached with James Madison, who was in favor of direct democracy, was the electoral college system still in place today. John Adams did not have as much faith in the Constitution as his fellow founding fathers did, believing only “a moral and upright people can follow these rules, and although yesterday I knew a few of those men, today I know none.” Adams was quoted saying after the committee, when he had a falling out with fellow Federalist Alexander Hamilton. Adams followed a stoic belief system, that of Socrates and Confucius, which believed that all happiness came from moral virtue. John Adams himself was away as ambassador during the signing of the Constitutional Convention, a fact he long rued, but hoped his ideas would be carried out by …show more content…
A delegate from Virginia, he was also an author of the Virginia plan. He came to the Constitutional Convention and expected it to be another Virgina plan on a federal level. However, his ideas were soon shattered by the bombastic Hamilton. An educated man, one of the youngest there, he argued more elegantly for republicanism than James Madison did. However, he was a fervent slaveholder and did not want there to be a chance of his rights being removed. He believed that a federal government that does not believe in state's right would do that. Together with James Madison, Randolph produced the three branches of government to balance each other out. Even after his advice was written into the Constitution, and being elected to attorney general under George Washington, he failed to sign the completed document, despite writing a majority of it. His fellow delegates asked for an explanation, and he simply said,”(The) Republican propositions of the Virginia Plan had much to his regret been widely, and in his opinion, irreconcilably departed from." His boycott of the Constitution did not deter his political path; he went on the be Secretary of State under
At the convention, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton represented those views. Although the two men did not get along, they both believed in a strong central government that controlled many aspects of everyday life. They were closer ideologically to the monarchy of England than the for the people republican ideals. Instead of having a president elected by direct popular vote, the Federalists believed that a leader should be chosen by a few elite electors. The compromise reached with James Madison, who was in favor of direct democracy, was the electoral college system still in place today. John Adams did not have as much faith in the Constitution as his fellow founding fathers did, believing only “a moral and upright people can follow these rules, and although yesterday I knew a few of those men, today I know none.” Adams was quoted saying after the committee, when he had a falling out with fellow Federalist Alexander Hamilton. Adams followed a stoic belief system, that of Socrates and Confucius, which believed that all happiness came from moral virtue. John Adams himself was away as ambassador during the signing of the Constitutional Convention, a fact he long rued, but hoped his ideas would be carried out by …show more content…
A delegate from Virginia, he was also an author of the Virginia plan. He came to the Constitutional Convention and expected it to be another Virgina plan on a federal level. However, his ideas were soon shattered by the bombastic Hamilton. An educated man, one of the youngest there, he argued more elegantly for republicanism than James Madison did. However, he was a fervent slaveholder and did not want there to be a chance of his rights being removed. He believed that a federal government that does not believe in state's right would do that. Together with James Madison, Randolph produced the three branches of government to balance each other out. Even after his advice was written into the Constitution, and being elected to attorney general under George Washington, he failed to sign the completed document, despite writing a majority of it. His fellow delegates asked for an explanation, and he simply said,”(The) Republican propositions of the Virginia Plan had much to his regret been widely, and in his opinion, irreconcilably departed from." His boycott of the Constitution did not deter his political path; he went on the be Secretary of State under