INTRO
The war was over! America had become an independent country! But there was still one more problem. America needed rules. The people living in America needed laws that would help strengthen the basis of the young, chaotic country people now called the United States of America.
DRAFTING THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
On one fateful day on November 15, 1777, the leaders of our country got together to write a set of laws. They thought that if people followed a good set of rules, our country would become more well mannered and sophisticated. And they were definitely on the right track. Everyone thought that the individual states should feel like their own country and the government could not have too much power over them. If they did, then someone could gain total control. And BANG! You’ve got another king. So after 4 years of writing, voting, arguing, agreeing, editing, revising, and ratifying; the articles of confederation went into account. The rules stated that the government could NOT have an army, they could NOT talk and trade with foreign countries, and they definitely could NOT raise money with taxes. The states had these jobs. But the government needed to defend themselves and their country, they needed to talk with other countries (especially France) and they really, really, really needed to raise money for themselves. But the people, the states and the articles said NO.
A COUNTRY OF HATE
So the country was going through some rough times. And to make matters worse, the states began to argue about who had what job, who printed money, and who could charge taxes on other states. But still, it was only a little argument among states. But then it was like someone threw one punch and the states just collapsed. Brawls were being fought. If you looked at the United States from above, you would see a big, chaotic mess. States wouldn’t even take money from other states. One state even printed “mind your own business” on their ⅓ dollar bill. And meanwhile the government could only sit and watch because the Articles of Confederation, the cause of this mess, said they couldn’t engage. The country was a mess. The government decided to do one of the very few things they were allowed to do. They got together to try and revise the articles.
WRITING THE CONSTITUTION
Each state (except Rhode Island) sent a delegate to Philadelphia on May 14, 1787. Congress told the delegates to revise the articles, but the delegates had other plans. They were going to rewrite the articles!! It took days to make that decision, but finally James Madison and Alexander Hamilton won over the other delegates. Alex and James believed that the constitution could not be revised. The only way to make the country better was to rewrite the articles all together. They fought with the other men. They fought, they argued, they disagreed. But finally, they agreed to rewrite the articles.
Now with this new plan to rewrite the rules, they needed to start drafting. Each delegate had their own individual job. Governor Lewis Morris wrote the preamble.
“We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty, do ordain, and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” That was the original preamble that still stands today. Another job for the constitution was writing it. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wrote down whatever George Washington and the delegates voted on. After weeks of arguing, voting, yelling, deciding, and writing, the Constitution was done.
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS
To put it into action, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote a series of 85 essays defending and ratifying the constitution. Alexander and James wanted to get Aaron Burr to help them, but he said no. So they settled for John Jay to help them. This turned out to be a terrible decision because he got sick after writing 5. But still, James wrote 29, and Hamilton wrote 51. This took 6 months. A paragraph to the intro of the papers goes like this: “After an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federalist government, you call upon to deliberate on a new constitution for the United States of America.”
This was written by the United States Treasury Secretary, founding father, Alexander Hamilton. If you had trouble understanding, this is what it means:
After an undeniable bad experience made and suffered by the current government, writing a terrible constitution, the government is now called upon to write a new one.
Nearly 1 year later, the constitution was put it into action on March 4, 1789. The people loved it. There was no fighting, no arguing, and no war. But still, you always have to have a few haters on everything, even on the constitution that will probably lift our country in all the years it will exist.
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
But the government wanted no haters, the plan for when they drew up the constitution was that the people could live in harmony, with no sides taken. So the government pronounced that there could be changes to the constitution so they wouldn’t have to live under certain conditions for the rest of their lives. So far, the first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights. The bill goes like this:
1. Freedom of speech, petition, religion, press, and assembly
2. Right to own weapons in the house and right to bear arms, (as long as you don’t shoot anyone)
3. No soldier can force anyone to house them or bathe them or protect them.
4. Police must have a warrant or a legible reason to get into someone’s property or house.
5. The 5th amendment has 3 parts to it. The first part says you can’t be put on trial unless the grand jury says that there is enough evidence for you to go on trial. This has one exception, if you are in the militia. The second part says you can’t be put on trial twice for the same crime. So I’m not totally sure why Tom Brady went to a trial about 20 times. The third part says you do not have to testify against yourself or even speak. That is why people say “I plead the fifth.” They say that because they do not want to talk.
6. A person being prosecuted gets right to a speedy and public trial.
7. No cases under proceeding 75000 dollars can not be handled in federal court, also if a person goes to court, they have to go to a court recognized by the government. You cannot create your own court.
8. Excessive bail, fines, and punishments are forbidden, for example, making someone clean all the police cars in the town with a toothbrush is illegal.
9. Nothing in the constitution can be used to delete or destroy the amendments to it.
10. If a power is not given to the federal government, then it is given to the states or the people themselves.
Conclusion
The Constitution still affects us today, even after being written over 200 years ago. Today, it affects how we live our lives. If we did not have a set of rules, just imagine what the country would be like. If someone robbed someone else, no one would care. But with our rules, there are punishments, just like if you hit your brother or steal from your brother, you get a “timeout”. Same thing in the real world. If someone robs someone else. Jail. It’s pretty simple if you think about it. Our founding fathers wanted our country to be better, for us; there prosperity. So they created the constitution. But don’t think bad things don’t happen. Because they do. But over the years with laws and rules, our country may just become the United States our founding fathers were looking for.