Contributor.
The strongest factions morphed into our first political parties and are now an accepted part of our republic.
We have a Constitution and, thanks to George Mason, a Bill of Rights will be a reality! The hard work has been done — or has it?
The Anti-Federalists argued that English common law would only be valid if they were a part of the United States Constitution.
Imagine if all the work had been done by the Founders but then the states had chosen to negate the compromises reached.
Those urging the ratification of the U.S. Constitution were not sitting idle. Three prominent political theorists decided to take their position to the people.
The Anti-Federalists were hesitant to trust a centralized government designed to represent all the people from across the new nation.
After all the diligent work by the Constitutional Convention delegates, state approval should be relatively easy, right? Maybe not.
Since many of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were lawyers, they were able to debate and then compromise on the best design for a judicial system.
Creating a trustworthy executive branch after having just won independence from a tone-deaf English king was a daunting task.
The question was who holds the power — small states, big states, or a balance of power between the states?
Most historians agree it was George Washington's support of the new constitution that ultimately assured its ratification.
As the Founders struggled with the Articles of Confederation's flaws and were taking cues from the state constitutions, a crisis created a sense of double urgency.
What concepts would you find in those early state constitutions if you were browsing the archives?
The passage of the Northwest Ordinance is often considered the most significant legislation of the pre-constitutional nation.
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were written in 1777 but not ratified until 1781.
The official negotiations between British and American delegates had begun in 1782 in Paris and would conclude on September 3, 1783.
There were pivotal battles in the South in the fight for our "inalienable rights."
George Washington's favored "sons" fought well and with distinction. Their names are worthy of memory.
