Historical Foundations of the United States Constitution

Historical Foundations of the United States Constitution
Sheila James
May 23, 2013
POS-301
Chris Woolard

Historical Foundations of the United States Constitution The United States Constitution is an extremely valuable document .The constitution assisted in creating our modern day United States; The constitution assisted in establishing our administration giving inhabitants privileges and liberty. The Constitution was put in place to give citizens a voice on how the country should be run and to establish laws and principles. There were five manuscripts that were very important in establishing the constitution, (A)The Magna Carta,1215 (B) The Mayflower Compact 1620, (c) The Declaration of Independence 1776, and (D) The Articles of confederation 1777 and (E) The Federalists Papers 1787-1788. The first document was the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta of 1215 was an English Contract whose sole reason was to create boundaries for administrative power. The significant charter was thought to be one of the most significant manuscripts in the founding of equality. The Magna Carta had a profound impact that is plainly observed in the government’s bill of rights and our Constitution. This charter believed that a person was not guilty until the evidence proved that they were guilty. The Magna Carta also stated that a person should have knowledge about the accusations that is placed on them; additional beliefs were people will have the entitlements to have the ruling of their peers prior to sentencing and the entitlements to have a lawyer speak on their behalf. The Magna Carta was written to make sure everyone had equal rights. The next on record was the Mayflower Compact of 1620. The Mayflower Compact was created and autographed on November 11, 1620. The Mayflower compact was created because when the settlers came to what was called the new world they did not have and guidelines or rules to go by the mayflower compact was put in place while awaiting legitimate administration was created. This record was the basis of the united .States Constitution, for the reason that it was the number one form of administration in the united .States .territory. The mayflower compact gave the settlers entitlements, but was governed by the king of England. This type of administration was short lived. The third document was the Declaration of Independence of 1776. This very important manuscript was created to detach the settlements from the country of England. The Declaration of Independence contained five sections the statement of human rights, charges against the ruler and assembly, the preamble, charges against human rights and the statement of separation and signatures. The Declaration of Independence gave the settlements self-government. The Declaration of Independence stated that the settlers had life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that all men were created equal. This is inscribed in the constitution. This is the foundation of our present day government. The fourth document is the Articles of Confederation of 1781. The settlements were now federations and they were approved. In the Articles of Confederation there are three branches of government, the judicial, the legislative and the executive branch. The judicial branch gives congress important responsibility to decide the form and construction of the federal judiciary. The Legislative branch contains the House of Representatives and the senate which shaped congress. The executive branch contains the president of the United States and performs as the head of state. Although the administration was just starting to work they were still frail. This caused the government to start over and re- created the Articles of Confederation which became our Constitution. The Articles of Confederation was a very important part of our constitution. The last document is the Federalists Papers of 1787-1788. These papers were created to encourage electorates to approve the constitution. There are about 85 papers that will clarify in part the way our latest administration should precede and the reason why the people should elect to have it. It was unsure who created the federalist Papers but it was believed that John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison provided the majority of the essays. In order to comprehend the constitution it is a good idea to read these essays first. In conclusion In order to learn how our United States Constitution was born it is a good idea to read these five documents. This will open a window on the reason why the constitution was created and how it was created. This will show how the modern day government was created. These documents did not have large parts in how the constitution became the constitution. If we did not have these individual documents are country may not have equality or we may not be able to voice our own opinions.

References http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/ Congress. (2008). Travel Back in History the Declaration of Independence.
Mayflower History (1994). The May Flower Compact
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/articles.html

References: http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/ Congress. (2008). Travel Back in History the Declaration of Independence. Mayflower History (1994). The May Flower Compact http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/articles.html