US Constitution In 1787: A Case Study

When the United States’ Constitution was written in 1787, the country was very different than it is today. In 1787 a much smaller percentage of people were educated, there were way fewer people living in the country, and people were very concerned with the president being elected by “smart” people. Considering all of that, the electoral college was a great system for electing the president of the United States at that time. However, in modern times, a direct presidential election would be better.
In 1787 The United States was a very young country that was trying to figure out how to run its self. There were many important issues such as how much power should the federal government have, how much power should each state have, should the country have a single president, how should members of congress be elected, and many more. In cases where there are so many important issues and there is so much at stake, there are often many opinions, which was the case in this situation. To solve all of these issues and agree on a governing system, representatives from the twelve of the thirteen colonies, Rhode Island did not send a representative, met in Philadelphia to come up with a constitution for the United States ("Constitutional Convention"). All the issue of making a constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation were discussed at the …show more content…
It may have been the best system at the time. However, in modern times there is no reason to have such a complicated system. In addition, the way the current system works every person’s vote is not equal which is unfair. One article says, “…[p]olls have found that voters want their individual choice to count rather than allotting them to the respective electors representing their state as a whole” (West 2012). It is time for America’s presidential election system to change to address the changes in the country and the public’s