A Brilliant Solution Analysis

A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution In 1784 the American revolutionary war concluded and there was economic depression. The Continental Congress was confronted with demands of repayment for wartime loans from a mass of angry individuals and negatives began to arise with the Articles of confederation. America had no way to repay its debts from war and farmers were not able to reimburse the large sum of money for the land they were given in order to provide for the other states during the war. The government was unstable as each state was watching out for its self while making existence worse for its neighboring states with tariffs and trade barriers. Only adding to the hardships, disgruntled farmers decided that they did …show more content…
George Washington was invited by James Madison because his attendance would virtually guarantee a ratification of nearly anything proposed. Nonetheless, they had difficulty getting each state to send delegates to Philadelphia, where the meetings would take place. In the beginning, only around seven states were present. Berkin makes it clear that Madison had to wait numerous times too much yet start the convention due to weather issues, less delegates attending than anticipated, and certain other issues. For example, Washington had family tragedies and health issues while Benjamin Franklin also had been suffering from bad health. Both of these matters caused the meeting to be postponed. The convention had begun eventually, and, unanimously, the delegates chose Washington to be the President and afterwards, William Jackson had been chosen to be the secretary. Promptly, the convention advanced nowhere with small state delegates from Delaware greedily clinging to their sovereignty in panic of losing political muscle to bigger states. Nothing in regards to altering The Articles of Confederation came up in any debates at this time as the delegates wasted the days away, disagreeing about respect and speaking privileges. Berkin helps readers understand these first few challenges by …show more content…
Small changes were suggested, but most were declined with the exception of a few. Berkin includes the fact that some of the delegates have doubts about their newly drawn up constitution and voice that they fear the nation will quickly fall to monarchy. At this, Randolph, Mason, and Gerry refuse to sign the document. As the convention concludes, G. Morris writes the authorization of the constitution so that no matter who decided to sign or not sign the document, the decisions still appeared unanimous. Now, the document is signed, but the newly constituted government will have to be ratified by all of the states and Berkin shows that this does not go off with our any opposition. Some states voted unanimously, others did not, and some postponed voting. Berkin explains the process of voting and describes what goes on with each state in the ratification process, and in the end, all of the sates voted for ratification eventually. In the final two chapters, the author composes her work on the preparations and actual inauguration of George Washington as the first president in addition to exploring how the Constitution affected the future of the United States and its presidents; several of the small clashes and occasions initiated changes all the way through our history.
Berkin is consistent with her writing, keeping her readers invested and well educated on the subjects throughout the book. She gives background