Foundation of America: The Representation gap
The constitution was formed on a basis that all Americans would be united by a system of government that voiced the people’s opinions to those who could respect and maintain this country and people. However as time has gone on, problems once faced by the American people such as how slaves would be represented in population census, are no longer an issue. Since the ratification of the constitution 1790, 226 years of progress has been made, we are no longer the thirteen colonies; we are the fifty states. With the expansion of a country such as ours, we have come to face problems with the countries we now border upon. It is estimated that in 2015, seven percent of the United States population are non-American …show more content…
Following America's triumphant victory over Great Britain, it was noted that something needed to unify this newly independent nation. In 1777 we adopted the articles of confederation, a weak form of governing that gave most of the power for individual rulemaking to the states, this however made the process very difficult when trying to establish a law or rule that applied to all of the thirteen colonies. Rules could only be made if unanimously all the states agreed on the policy. This system led to little success when trying to obtain all delegates from each state because it was known that no progress would ever be made on the matters at hand. The last straw for support of the articles of confederation was broken with the outbreak of Shays’s Rebellion. In 1786 Daniel Shays started a rebellion fighting the banks and establishments that were not justly foreclosing people’s farms and increasing their debts and taxes after their service in the revolution. In the late 1780’s “most Americans had grown deeply dissatisfied with the confederation government: with its inability to deal with factions and instability, its powerlessness … to handle its failures …” (Brinkley 160). In 1787 all the delegates from the thirteen states were invited to come and create a new system of governing. The 55 delegates that attended framed what is now today our official U.S. Constitution. The constitution was made to create a working government that was able to adapt to changes and organize the nation. To sell this new system of governing to a very apprehensive nation the constitution promised a bill of rights guaranteed to all Americans as well as representation in government. This forum of government wasn’t the tyranny the American people were trying to escape, this would be the foundation to unify and make great the ideas this new nation was founded on, freedom and liberty.
The constitution was formed on a basis that all Americans would be united by a system of government that voiced the people’s opinions to those who could respect and maintain this country and people. However as time has gone on, problems once faced by the American people such as how slaves would be represented in population census, are no longer an issue. Since the ratification of the constitution 1790, 226 years of progress has been made, we are no longer the thirteen colonies; we are the fifty states. With the expansion of a country such as ours, we have come to face problems with the countries we now border upon. It is estimated that in 2015, seven percent of the United States population are non-American …show more content…
Following America's triumphant victory over Great Britain, it was noted that something needed to unify this newly independent nation. In 1777 we adopted the articles of confederation, a weak form of governing that gave most of the power for individual rulemaking to the states, this however made the process very difficult when trying to establish a law or rule that applied to all of the thirteen colonies. Rules could only be made if unanimously all the states agreed on the policy. This system led to little success when trying to obtain all delegates from each state because it was known that no progress would ever be made on the matters at hand. The last straw for support of the articles of confederation was broken with the outbreak of Shays’s Rebellion. In 1786 Daniel Shays started a rebellion fighting the banks and establishments that were not justly foreclosing people’s farms and increasing their debts and taxes after their service in the revolution. In the late 1780’s “most Americans had grown deeply dissatisfied with the confederation government: with its inability to deal with factions and instability, its powerlessness … to handle its failures …” (Brinkley 160). In 1787 all the delegates from the thirteen states were invited to come and create a new system of governing. The 55 delegates that attended framed what is now today our official U.S. Constitution. The constitution was made to create a working government that was able to adapt to changes and organize the nation. To sell this new system of governing to a very apprehensive nation the constitution promised a bill of rights guaranteed to all Americans as well as representation in government. This forum of government wasn’t the tyranny the American people were trying to escape, this would be the foundation to unify and make great the ideas this new nation was founded on, freedom and liberty.