American Constitution

America is a great, strong country. It has been this way because of a 200-year-old document that has kept this nation standing. Our laws, government and senate are all based on the Constitution. America was once ruled by Britain and was heavily taxed, treated poorly, and was given many strict laws that forbid Americans to do many things. After America defeated Britain in the Revolutionary war, 55 delegates came together to write the Constitution. They wrote the Constitution to stop all the cruel things that had happened to them. They based the ideas in the Constitution on the things that Britain had done to them, so I think the Constitution was an extension of the spirit and ideology of the American Revolution. Several documents will support this.

Common Sense (1776)

In Common Sense, Thomas Paine makes some important points. The points that are talked about in Common Sense are what the constitution is supposed to protect us from. One main point was that many people thought that Britain was the mother country and America was the child, but he did not believe it. Not even one third of the colonists were actually British. Because we weren't just British, we shouldn't have to do things like pay for Britain's wars, be treated unfairly like in Boston where property and people were put in danger. We should be able to make our own rules, form our own treaties and alliances with foreign governments and trade with other countries without Britain's approval. An example that we could be independent were the first (1774) and second (1775) continental congresses because they show that the states could get together and discuss laws.

We should make our own laws and own rules, but not only for today. We should break away from Britain and make laws that will last for future generations. The delegations had to carefully decide on laws and rules because it could either do good or bad things to future generations.

Common Sense relates to the Constitution in many ways like the First Amendment, which gives the people the "freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition." Paine says, "This new world hath been the new asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from EVERY PART of Europe." (Common Sense). The Constitution does not allow congress to favor one religion. The freedom of assembly allowed the states to gather and start a Continental Congress. There was also the freedom of religion that allowed people to believe whatever religion they wanted. Another one is the Second Amendment, which gave "people the right to keep and bear arms in a state militia." The nineteenth of April (1775) was a date when the colonists decided to fight back. It was in Lexington where the colonists took up arms in a state militia and that became the first conflict in the Revolutionary War. The Third Amendment also relates because it says, "the people cannot be required to quarter soldiers during peacetime." The Fourth Amendment states, "The government may not carry out unreasonable searches or seizures of the people's property." Because of the way Britain treated the people of Boston, the Third and Fourth Amendments were created to avoid this kind of treatment. The colonists were forced to house British troops and forced to allow them troops to search and take the people's properties without any reason. The inhabitants had nowhere to go, because British troops had destroyed their homes and if they left, soldiers would plunder them (Common Sense). Thomas Paine also talks about how "the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel the precariousness with which all American property is possessed." In this part, Paine is talking about Boston and that the things that have happened to Boston can happen to you. Paine asks, "Hath your house been burnt? Hath your property been destroyed before your face?" Paine is trying to strongly urge and get the people to support the revolution. The Tenth Amendment says, "All power not given to the government should be given to the states or people." Britain should not rule America because Britain is so far away and America can rule itself. Common Sense, the idea of independence is for not only the government but also the people.

Shays Rebellion (1786)

In Shays Rebellion, Daniel Shay wanted to prove some points. After the Revolutionary War, some Massachusetts farmers who had supported the war were in debt from all the taxes. Many of the farmers were angry because they did not have the money to pay off the debts and Massachusetts was not helping them. The people who could not pay the debts were thrown in jail and forced to sell their property. Farmers were enraged and decided to start a rebellion. Their leader was a farmer named Daniel Shay. Shay and his mob of farmers decided to bear arms and go to the Springfield Armory to get more weapons. As they were going, the state militia who were paid by wealthy merchants stopped them. The wealthy merchants were against the farmers because they would buy all the poor farmers' lands(A History of The United States, pg 115). Later, they stopped imprisoning the people with debts and took away their debts. Shay won the argument because after the rebellion, many people changed their minds and they started to demand a change in Massachusetts. The central government because of the Constitution, did not have the power to control the states. The people had the power to make the state change its taxes.

The Constitution supported Shays Rebellion because of a couple of Amendments. The first Amendment gave Shay the freedom of assembly because Shay was allowed to gather a mob and protest against Massachusetts. The freedom of speech because this gave Shay the right to say whatever he wanted, so he could state his opinion. The second Amendment allowed the farmers to bear arms, so the farmers were allowed to have weapons. This allowed Shay to start the rebellion. In the Constitution, the states have the right to create their own rules for only their state. This allowed the Governor of Massachusetts to suspend taking people to jail because of Shays rebellion. Governor James Bowdion was able to do this even though the laws made by the Massachusetts government stated that the people in debt should be imprisoned.

Federalist #10 (1788)

In Federalist #10, James Madison makes some important points. He talks about the things in the Constitution like all the states are equal in power and rights. The Constitution says that Congress can give no special treatment to any one state. He also says that the senate and federal government must treat each state equally. The states must each have equal freedoms for creating state laws too. The