From the Enlightenment to the constitution
Think about this:
- You have a bunch of men who have gone through a revolution.
- They wrote a document to declare their independence…
- they wrote a document to define their new country…now - - they want to write something better.
But…how do you get all those men, from different backgrounds, and differing beliefs about government to come to an agreement?
Now that we have defined government and given you some background to the American Democracy, we are now going to talk about the early formations of our government. Check out this clip from The Patriot.
Democracy and Republicanism had been demonstrated once or twice throughout History, and the results were mixed. Greece had tried Democracy and Rome had tried Republicanism, both ended in Dictatorship. The Founding Fathers were determined that would not happen again.
Let’s meet them! Click on each of the quotes. Many enlightening surprises await!
This clip fairly well demonstrates the misgivings about democracy, even when the King was over taxing them.
Other Contributing Influences
Why did the "Founding Fathers" focused heavily on unalienable rights being guaranteed in the new government?•Because of the abuses Americans endured under Great Britain’s rule.
•Because of the abuses Americans endured under the Articles of Confederation.
•Because of the abuses the colonies endured after the Constitutional Convention.
This is why our Founding Father’s took inspiration from the following documents:
•The Mayflower Compact, 1620.The Articles of Confederation, 1781.
The Articles of Confederation were our first actual governing document BUT it did not govern. The Articles of Confederation were a starting point for the United States government. Understanding its weaknesses, will show you why the Constitution was necessary.
