Lesson 5: Articles of Confederation and Constitutional Philosophies
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the colonies were only brought together in their fight against the British Empire. They had representatives who met with the Continental Congress, but nothing else brought them together. Each colony felt that they were independent from one another. Virginia could have different trade agreements with France than North Carolina did. Money in Massachusetts was different than money in New Hampshire. Today, we think this is crazy, but each of the colonies were individual and similar to being separate countries. They were only brought together to fight the British. It occurred to them, however, that they might want to stick together for other purposes as well. Since the purpose of the Continental Congress was only for the war, they created the Articles of Confederation. Read about the Articles of Confederation here: http://www.history.com/topics/articles-of-confederation
Leaving the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation had many problems. Watch this video about the issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KGG9afW7XY
Due to the issues states were having with the Articles of Confederation, a meeting was set to discuss what needed to be done to fix the Articles of Confederation. Today, we know that meeting as the Constitutional Convention. Read about the convention here: http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-constitution-amendments/the-constitutional-convention/
There were many government philosophies that would influence the writing of the Constitution of the United States. Below are the names of the philosophers and a brief explanation of what they wrote and believed, as far as government in concerned.
Nicolo Machiavelli - wrote The Prince. In this book he explains that a virtue we see in people may not be virtuous for a government or a vice in a person may not be a vice for a government. He writes that an individual who is generous and gives money anonymously is considered a good person. However, if the prince of a nation gives away money in secret, the people will not see his generosity and will think he is greedy. Likewise, if a prince is too generous (openly or not), it can lead to financial ruin for the country. Thus, a virtue for an individual is not necessarily good for a nation.
Thomas Hobbes - was a believer that people are naturally selfish. He wrote Leviathan where he said that men are naturally essentially equal with inherent differences. These inherent differences allow the slow-witted to outwit the brilliant or the strong to be beaten by the weak. The story of the tortoise and the hare is an example of this. Fighting, according to Hobbes, was natural and the only thing that stops constant war is constant fear. The first law of nature is that peace should be the goal of people and the second law says that in order to have that peace, rights (such as the right to kill or steal) must be given up. By giving these rights up to a government, a person enters a social contract (an unwritten contract between people and the government where the people give up rights and the government protects them). Lastly, the third law says that the social contracts must be kept, and will be if power is given to the government to enforce the contract. Out of all government types, Hobbes preferred a monarchy for the enforcement of these laws.
James Harington - In his book Oceana, he proposed the creation of governments where a group of people makes laws (such as Congress) and another group enforces the laws. Oliver Cromwell, a leader who pretty much made himself the king in England, saw this as an attack on his rule (monarchies).
John Locke - believed that kings did not have a divine right to rule a country. In Two Treatises on Government, he wrote that the social contract between people and the government should be limited on the government side and the government only exists because of the consent of the people. Men are born free and equal (but not necessarily women). The purpose of government is to enforce rules and the government should be able to be modified at any time by the people it serves.
Charles de Montesquieu - added to the thoughts of Locke. He wrote The Spirit of Laws and believed that there should be three branches of government. These three branches should separate the power of the government between them so no one branch would become stronger than the others. He believed that a republic was the best type of government, but in order for it to run correctly the people must be educated. In order for a republic or democracy to exist, the judiciary branch (judges) must be fair and objective.
Thomas Paine - he believed that there were two main forms of government: monarchies and republics. In The Rights of Man, he wrote how monarchies are driven by corruption and that republics shouldn't be mixed with republics (like Great Britain). He said that when this mixing took place, the king would blame everything on Parliament and Parliament would blame everything on the king and neither would do anything to fix the problems. He believed that men were born free and should always be equal in their rights.
John Stuart Mill - Though his ideas were not used in the creation of the Constitution, they were for the Bill of Rights. He believed that the majority should rule, but minorities must be protected. Freedom of conscious and speech should be upheld, even when other people don't agree with what is being said.
Due to the issues states were having with the Articles of Confederation, a meeting was set to discuss what needed to be done to fix the Articles of Confederation. Today, we know that meeting as the Constitutional Convention. Read about the convention here: http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-constitution-amendments/the-constitutional-convention/
There were many government philosophies that would influence the writing of the Constitution of the United States. Below are the names of the philosophers and a brief explanation of what they wrote and believed, as far as government in concerned.
Nicolo Machiavelli - wrote The Prince. In this book he explains that a virtue we see in people may not be virtuous for a government or a vice in a person may not be a vice for a government. He writes that an individual who is generous and gives money anonymously is considered a good person. However, if the prince of a nation gives away money in secret, the people will not see his generosity and will think he is greedy. Likewise, if a prince is too generous (openly or not), it can lead to financial ruin for the country. Thus, a virtue for an individual is not necessarily good for a nation.
Thomas Hobbes - was a believer that people are naturally selfish. He wrote Leviathan where he said that men are naturally essentially equal with inherent differences. These inherent differences allow the slow-witted to outwit the brilliant or the strong to be beaten by the weak. The story of the tortoise and the hare is an example of this. Fighting, according to Hobbes, was natural and the only thing that stops constant war is constant fear. The first law of nature is that peace should be the goal of people and the second law says that in order to have that peace, rights (such as the right to kill or steal) must be given up. By giving these rights up to a government, a person enters a social contract (an unwritten contract between people and the government where the people give up rights and the government protects them). Lastly, the third law says that the social contracts must be kept, and will be if power is given to the government to enforce the contract. Out of all government types, Hobbes preferred a monarchy for the enforcement of these laws.
James Harington - In his book Oceana, he proposed the creation of governments where a group of people makes laws (such as Congress) and another group enforces the laws. Oliver Cromwell, a leader who pretty much made himself the king in England, saw this as an attack on his rule (monarchies).
John Locke - believed that kings did not have a divine right to rule a country. In Two Treatises on Government, he wrote that the social contract between people and the government should be limited on the government side and the government only exists because of the consent of the people. Men are born free and equal (but not necessarily women). The purpose of government is to enforce rules and the government should be able to be modified at any time by the people it serves.
Charles de Montesquieu - added to the thoughts of Locke. He wrote The Spirit of Laws and believed that there should be three branches of government. These three branches should separate the power of the government between them so no one branch would become stronger than the others. He believed that a republic was the best type of government, but in order for it to run correctly the people must be educated. In order for a republic or democracy to exist, the judiciary branch (judges) must be fair and objective.
Thomas Paine - he believed that there were two main forms of government: monarchies and republics. In The Rights of Man, he wrote how monarchies are driven by corruption and that republics shouldn't be mixed with republics (like Great Britain). He said that when this mixing took place, the king would blame everything on Parliament and Parliament would blame everything on the king and neither would do anything to fix the problems. He believed that men were born free and should always be equal in their rights.
John Stuart Mill - Though his ideas were not used in the creation of the Constitution, they were for the Bill of Rights. He believed that the majority should rule, but minorities must be protected. Freedom of conscious and speech should be upheld, even when other people don't agree with what is being said.
Types of Governments
There are several different types of governments. Here is an overview of a few of the major types of governments:
1. Democracy - This is literally government by the people. There is only one instance we know of where a true democracy existed and that was in ancient Greece. Every person has a vote on everything - laws, taxes, where to build parks, how much to spend on roads, etc. This is not a viable government for large numbers of people.
2. Republic - The government is a few representatives of the people who make the decisions on the laws. Individuals do not have a vote for individual laws. Most "democracies" today are actually republics.
3. Monarchy - These are led by a king or queen who has all the power of the government. Great Britain today is not a monarchy because the royal family actually has very little power - the power actually belonging to Parliament. Monarchies come in many shapes and sizes. If the people consider the king or queen to be good, the government is called a monarchy, but if not the government is usually considered a dictatorship.
4. Democratic Republic - Most countries who use this name to describe their governments, such as North Vietnam, are actually dictatorships. In reality, the government of the United States could be considered a democratic republic because the people can vote individual proposals into law, but the majority of the governance of the country is done by representatives.
1. Democracy - This is literally government by the people. There is only one instance we know of where a true democracy existed and that was in ancient Greece. Every person has a vote on everything - laws, taxes, where to build parks, how much to spend on roads, etc. This is not a viable government for large numbers of people.
2. Republic - The government is a few representatives of the people who make the decisions on the laws. Individuals do not have a vote for individual laws. Most "democracies" today are actually republics.
3. Monarchy - These are led by a king or queen who has all the power of the government. Great Britain today is not a monarchy because the royal family actually has very little power - the power actually belonging to Parliament. Monarchies come in many shapes and sizes. If the people consider the king or queen to be good, the government is called a monarchy, but if not the government is usually considered a dictatorship.
4. Democratic Republic - Most countries who use this name to describe their governments, such as North Vietnam, are actually dictatorships. In reality, the government of the United States could be considered a democratic republic because the people can vote individual proposals into law, but the majority of the governance of the country is done by representatives.
Assignment #6
1. What was the biggest problem(s) with the Articles of Confederation?
2. For each of the following philosophers, give one sentence describing their most important philosophy contributing to the Constitution.
a. Nicolo Machiavelli
b. John Locke
c. Charles de Montesquieu
3. Which of the philosophers believed that men were born equal?
4. What type of government does the United States have today?
5. Which government do you believe is the best? Explain your answer and defend yourself using or refuting the ideas of the philosophers.
6. What type of government was the Articles of Confederation? Defend yourself.
7. Choose a current-day country. Research their government and determine which type of government they have. Write a paragraph describing the government and defending your choice on the type of government it is. Use MLA citations and include a Works Cited section. You may not use Wikipedia or any other wikis.
2. For each of the following philosophers, give one sentence describing their most important philosophy contributing to the Constitution.
a. Nicolo Machiavelli
b. John Locke
c. Charles de Montesquieu
3. Which of the philosophers believed that men were born equal?
4. What type of government does the United States have today?
5. Which government do you believe is the best? Explain your answer and defend yourself using or refuting the ideas of the philosophers.
6. What type of government was the Articles of Confederation? Defend yourself.
7. Choose a current-day country. Research their government and determine which type of government they have. Write a paragraph describing the government and defending your choice on the type of government it is. Use MLA citations and include a Works Cited section. You may not use Wikipedia or any other wikis.