After winning the Revolutionary War, the Americans began writing constitutions for each of the states. Since they left Britain because of their tyrannical and unfair leader, they were very fearful of that happening again. To prevent this, the states made their constitutions limit the power of leaders and put systems in place to prevent tyranny. In 1776, New Hampshire was the first state to make its own constitution. Information about this constitution is very limited. The system established consisted of an elected house of representatives and an appointed council, and gave the people the power to decide on their leaders. This constitution lacked a governor and a bill of rights. In 1784, New Hampshire revised their constitution and added
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Their constitution was the most radical of the states because of the somewhat extreme measures it implemented that opposed governmental power. It removed property requirements for voting or even running for office, thus making many more people eligible. The constitution also made it so the Pennsylvania legislature was only one body, which is know as a unicameral government. The biggest thing that the constitution did was remove the position of governor entirely because people thought of governors as small-scale kings. These changes left the Pennsylvania government to be run by the people in only one body because they believed that having a higher body of legislature was like having a higher class of wealthy aristocrats, which they wanted to remove. Overall, the people of Pennsylvania wanted to place the power in the hands of only the people and thought that this was the appropriate was to do so. However, many more conservative people disliked these radical changes. John Adams even said it was “so democratical that it must produce confusion and every evil work.” South Carolina’s constitution of 1778, was near opposite Pennsylvania’s. It required men to own a large amount of land to be allowed to vote and even more land to run for any political position. This was such a large requirement, that ninety percent of the men in South Carolina were ineligible to run for office. This is largely because in that time, many people believed …show more content…
The constitution established the rights of the people and the limitations of the government, as well as another new governmental system. The rights described in the constitution included natural law, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and also limited the government from doing unreasonable searches and seizures, and taking property without compensation. The governmental system established in the Massachusetts constitution consists of three branches. The first is the legislative branch known as the General Court of Massachusetts, which contains a Senate and House of Representatives. Next is the executive branch, which is led by a governor. Lastly, is the judicial branch, in which the highest court is the Supreme Judicial Court. This system was made so that each branch would restrain the other, to keep the government fair and balanced, instead of simply putting all power in the hands of the people, as Pennsylvania initially did. Massachusetts was not the only state that used this general form of government with three branches. Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland all wrote their constitutions to include this general system, and although each state had some small differences, for example, in the number of elected officials, they effectively had the same government. This style of government also proved to be effective in preventing tyranny, as it is the system that the
Their constitution was the most radical of the states because of the somewhat extreme measures it implemented that opposed governmental power. It removed property requirements for voting or even running for office, thus making many more people eligible. The constitution also made it so the Pennsylvania legislature was only one body, which is know as a unicameral government. The biggest thing that the constitution did was remove the position of governor entirely because people thought of governors as small-scale kings. These changes left the Pennsylvania government to be run by the people in only one body because they believed that having a higher body of legislature was like having a higher class of wealthy aristocrats, which they wanted to remove. Overall, the people of Pennsylvania wanted to place the power in the hands of only the people and thought that this was the appropriate was to do so. However, many more conservative people disliked these radical changes. John Adams even said it was “so democratical that it must produce confusion and every evil work.” South Carolina’s constitution of 1778, was near opposite Pennsylvania’s. It required men to own a large amount of land to be allowed to vote and even more land to run for any political position. This was such a large requirement, that ninety percent of the men in South Carolina were ineligible to run for office. This is largely because in that time, many people believed …show more content…
The constitution established the rights of the people and the limitations of the government, as well as another new governmental system. The rights described in the constitution included natural law, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and also limited the government from doing unreasonable searches and seizures, and taking property without compensation. The governmental system established in the Massachusetts constitution consists of three branches. The first is the legislative branch known as the General Court of Massachusetts, which contains a Senate and House of Representatives. Next is the executive branch, which is led by a governor. Lastly, is the judicial branch, in which the highest court is the Supreme Judicial Court. This system was made so that each branch would restrain the other, to keep the government fair and balanced, instead of simply putting all power in the hands of the people, as Pennsylvania initially did. Massachusetts was not the only state that used this general form of government with three branches. Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland all wrote their constitutions to include this general system, and although each state had some small differences, for example, in the number of elected officials, they effectively had the same government. This style of government also proved to be effective in preventing tyranny, as it is the system that the