“The fundamental characteristic of the Constitution is distrust.” A statement, if nothing else, as bold as the Framers who lead the revolution. As petrifying as the statement is, it is true. The framers feared a repeat of history, and rightfully so, because many governments had quickly risen and fallen equally as fast. As a result, distrust was what powered the writing of the United States’ Constitution.
This has been known since as early as November 22, 1787, when the Federalist paper: #10 Large Republic: Best Control of Effects of Faction, was published by James Madison. Madison refers to the complaints quoting, “Too often, measures are decided by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority rather than the rules of justice …show more content…
The Revolutionary War ended September 3, 1783, and then the era of fear begins. The framers, recently escaping a monarchy, were all but terrified of a strong central government; therefore, they wrote the articles of confederation. It gave most of the power to the states. Article II from the Articles of Confederation states, “Each State retains its Sovereignty, freedom 1231.3 and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled” (United States, Article II). To elaborate, it means that each state is responsible for their own affairs and that the national government is to remain separate. Through the Articles of Confederation, the U.S. Government had limited rights, such as not being able to tax the states to pay back the war debt. When voting on almost anything the states had to unanimous to pass the bill. If even one state had doubt, the bill or law was denied. In one instance, Rhode Island was blackmailed into signing, which defeated the purpose of a unanimous vote. The United States government was the only government allowed to address foreign affairs, but they “officially” could not force the states to follow any agreement or treaty. Furthermore, because the national government could not enforce their laws, foreign countries had little to no desire in associating with the new and fragile country. As a result of distrust, America was …show more content…
The validation for this is the people are often “too busy” to take time to become educated on the issues and running candidates. Or they focus on selfish means such as not wanting to pay taxes and then turning around and complaining about the nation’s debt. Other times, men and women focus on single issues when voting for a candidate. For example, on November 4, 2015, residents in Van Wert, Ohio, voted on three issues. There was more than a 25% increase in voter turnout when compared to the previous years’ averages (Gerbert, 1). “Basically, it’s Issue Three, the marijuana issue that’s bringing them out,” Board Of Elections Director Linda Stutz remarked (Gerbert, 1). Even the Board of Elections Director Linda Stutz agrees that an educated guess can be made that these voters were uneducated and likely started guessing on the other issues and candidates. Some voters may only voted for or against Issue Three, and left the other issues and candidates completely blank making their vote void. In Federalist 10, Madison says that the American people can not be trusted because they will vote for what is best in their self-interest as opposed to what is best for the American people in general (Madison,
This has been known since as early as November 22, 1787, when the Federalist paper: #10 Large Republic: Best Control of Effects of Faction, was published by James Madison. Madison refers to the complaints quoting, “Too often, measures are decided by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority rather than the rules of justice …show more content…
The Revolutionary War ended September 3, 1783, and then the era of fear begins. The framers, recently escaping a monarchy, were all but terrified of a strong central government; therefore, they wrote the articles of confederation. It gave most of the power to the states. Article II from the Articles of Confederation states, “Each State retains its Sovereignty, freedom 1231.3 and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled” (United States, Article II). To elaborate, it means that each state is responsible for their own affairs and that the national government is to remain separate. Through the Articles of Confederation, the U.S. Government had limited rights, such as not being able to tax the states to pay back the war debt. When voting on almost anything the states had to unanimous to pass the bill. If even one state had doubt, the bill or law was denied. In one instance, Rhode Island was blackmailed into signing, which defeated the purpose of a unanimous vote. The United States government was the only government allowed to address foreign affairs, but they “officially” could not force the states to follow any agreement or treaty. Furthermore, because the national government could not enforce their laws, foreign countries had little to no desire in associating with the new and fragile country. As a result of distrust, America was …show more content…
The validation for this is the people are often “too busy” to take time to become educated on the issues and running candidates. Or they focus on selfish means such as not wanting to pay taxes and then turning around and complaining about the nation’s debt. Other times, men and women focus on single issues when voting for a candidate. For example, on November 4, 2015, residents in Van Wert, Ohio, voted on three issues. There was more than a 25% increase in voter turnout when compared to the previous years’ averages (Gerbert, 1). “Basically, it’s Issue Three, the marijuana issue that’s bringing them out,” Board Of Elections Director Linda Stutz remarked (Gerbert, 1). Even the Board of Elections Director Linda Stutz agrees that an educated guess can be made that these voters were uneducated and likely started guessing on the other issues and candidates. Some voters may only voted for or against Issue Three, and left the other issues and candidates completely blank making their vote void. In Federalist 10, Madison says that the American people can not be trusted because they will vote for what is best in their self-interest as opposed to what is best for the American people in general (Madison,