1. INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF THE CONSTITUTION
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
- The Framers of the Constitution lived in a period of intellectual
ferment known as the Enlightenment.
- European political thinkers and writers challenged traditional
views of the relationship between the people and their
government.
- Enlightened ideas took root in the American colonies, where they
became the time's dominant philosophical and political views.
Leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James
Madison used Enlightened ideas to justify their opposition to the
British government.
KEY ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS
- Reason: Reason meant the absence of intolerance, bigotry, and
superstition. Reason could be used to solve social problems and
improve society.
- Natural laws: Natural laws regulate human society. These natural
laws can be discovered by human reason.
- Progress: Social progress is possible. The discovery of laws of
government would improve society and make progress inevitable.
- Liberty: Europeans lived in societies governed by absolute
monarchs who restricted speech, religion, and trade. Enlightened
writers wanted to remove these limitations on human liberty.
Enlightened thinkers believed that intellectual freedom was a
natural right. Progress required freedom of expression.
- Toleration: Enlightened thinkers opposed superstition,
intolerance, and bigotry. They advocated full religious tolerance.
KEY POLITICAL WRITERS
- John Locke (1632-1704): Locke argued that people are born with
“natural rights” that include “life, liberty, and property.” People
form governments to preserve their natural rights. Government is
therefore based on the consent of the governed. Government is a
contract in which rulers promise to protect the people’s natural
rights. If rulers betray the social contract, the people have a right
to replace them.
- Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755): In his Spirit of the Laws,
Montesquiey concluded that the ideal government separated
powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. This
system of divided authority would protect the rights of individuals
by preventing one branch of government from gaining
unrestricted control over the entire society.
, - Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): In his Social Contract,
Rousseau argued that the sovereign power in a state does not lie in
a ruler. Instead, it resides in the general will of the community as a
whole. Rulers and the servants of the community. If they fail to
carry out the people’s will, they should be removed.
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
“A FIRM LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP”
- The United States began as a confederation under the Articles of
Confederation.
- The Articles of Confederation established “a firm league of
friendship” with a weak national government. Each state retained
“its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.”
- The Articles created a unicameral Congress in which each state had
one vote.
- The Articles did not establish executive or judicial branches.
Instead, congressional committees handled these functions.
FLAWS IN THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
- The writers of the Articles of Confederation were reluctant to give
the new government powers they had just denied to Parliament
- Congress lacked the power to levy taxes. It had to ask the states for
revenue.
- The government lacked both executive and judicial authority.
Congress had no means of enforcing its will.
- Congress did not have the power to regulate or promote commerce
among the states.
- Amendments required a unanimous vote of all 13 states.
SHAYS’S REBELLION
- Frustrated Massachusetts farmers were losing their land because
they could not pay debts in hard currency.
- The farmers demanded an end to foreclosures, relief from
oppressively high taxation, and increased circulation of paper
money.
- Led by Daniel Shays, rebellious farmers forced several judges to
close their courts.
- Shays’s Rebellion helped convince key leaders that the Articles of
Confederation were too weak and that the United States needed a
stronger central government that could maintain order, protect
property, and promote commerce.
THE FRAMERS
“AN ASSEMBLY OF DEMI-GODS”
- Twelve of the 13 states sent delegates to Philadelphia. The debtors
and small farmers who controlled the Rhode Island legislature
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
- The Framers of the Constitution lived in a period of intellectual
ferment known as the Enlightenment.
- European political thinkers and writers challenged traditional
views of the relationship between the people and their
government.
- Enlightened ideas took root in the American colonies, where they
became the time's dominant philosophical and political views.
Leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James
Madison used Enlightened ideas to justify their opposition to the
British government.
KEY ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS
- Reason: Reason meant the absence of intolerance, bigotry, and
superstition. Reason could be used to solve social problems and
improve society.
- Natural laws: Natural laws regulate human society. These natural
laws can be discovered by human reason.
- Progress: Social progress is possible. The discovery of laws of
government would improve society and make progress inevitable.
- Liberty: Europeans lived in societies governed by absolute
monarchs who restricted speech, religion, and trade. Enlightened
writers wanted to remove these limitations on human liberty.
Enlightened thinkers believed that intellectual freedom was a
natural right. Progress required freedom of expression.
- Toleration: Enlightened thinkers opposed superstition,
intolerance, and bigotry. They advocated full religious tolerance.
KEY POLITICAL WRITERS
- John Locke (1632-1704): Locke argued that people are born with
“natural rights” that include “life, liberty, and property.” People
form governments to preserve their natural rights. Government is
therefore based on the consent of the governed. Government is a
contract in which rulers promise to protect the people’s natural
rights. If rulers betray the social contract, the people have a right
to replace them.
- Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755): In his Spirit of the Laws,
Montesquiey concluded that the ideal government separated
powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. This
system of divided authority would protect the rights of individuals
by preventing one branch of government from gaining
unrestricted control over the entire society.
, - Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): In his Social Contract,
Rousseau argued that the sovereign power in a state does not lie in
a ruler. Instead, it resides in the general will of the community as a
whole. Rulers and the servants of the community. If they fail to
carry out the people’s will, they should be removed.
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
“A FIRM LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP”
- The United States began as a confederation under the Articles of
Confederation.
- The Articles of Confederation established “a firm league of
friendship” with a weak national government. Each state retained
“its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.”
- The Articles created a unicameral Congress in which each state had
one vote.
- The Articles did not establish executive or judicial branches.
Instead, congressional committees handled these functions.
FLAWS IN THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
- The writers of the Articles of Confederation were reluctant to give
the new government powers they had just denied to Parliament
- Congress lacked the power to levy taxes. It had to ask the states for
revenue.
- The government lacked both executive and judicial authority.
Congress had no means of enforcing its will.
- Congress did not have the power to regulate or promote commerce
among the states.
- Amendments required a unanimous vote of all 13 states.
SHAYS’S REBELLION
- Frustrated Massachusetts farmers were losing their land because
they could not pay debts in hard currency.
- The farmers demanded an end to foreclosures, relief from
oppressively high taxation, and increased circulation of paper
money.
- Led by Daniel Shays, rebellious farmers forced several judges to
close their courts.
- Shays’s Rebellion helped convince key leaders that the Articles of
Confederation were too weak and that the United States needed a
stronger central government that could maintain order, protect
property, and promote commerce.
THE FRAMERS
“AN ASSEMBLY OF DEMI-GODS”
- Twelve of the 13 states sent delegates to Philadelphia. The debtors
and small farmers who controlled the Rhode Island legislature
