Wrote The Constitution Essay, Research Paper
When a group of 55 men gathered in Philadelphia, they would write a document which truly benefited themselves, the upper class and the elite. They were educated people and very wealthy people. (The reason that the people who wrote the constitution were all wealthy is because they needed to be able to afford to take off from work for such a long time to write the constitution). There was no popular vote taken directly or indirectly on the proposition to call the convention which drafted the constitution. A large mass was, under these prevailing suffrage qualifications excluded at the outset from participation.Indeed it was true that the members of the Philadelphia convention who drafted the constitution were the elite and truly were very concerned with deriving economic advantages in the establishment of the new government system.
However, even though they were concerned with protecting and promoting their own financial interests they still were writing the constitution for the ultimate goal of attaining a truly democratic society. Even though they favored themselves time and time again in the writing of the constitution they did make many compromises for the benefit of the common people. After all they did have to get it ratified by two thirds of the states. If the constitution was so unfair it obviously would not have been ratified.
There are many examples that the constitution was an upper classmans document and was not as democratic in its original form as it is today. The constitution did not give all people a say in the government. Realty was favored greatly and only white males who owned land had suffrage rights. In addition, the Bill of Rights was not included in the original constitution. The founding fathers also gave more power to the senate which represented the elite. They have the final say in almost all matters. They also make treaties and serve as the jury for impeachment preceedings. Another big advantage that the senate received is that its members receive six year terms, a much more comfortable period of time compared to the two year term given to members of the House of Representatives.(As soon as you win you have to start campaigning for next election)! However, the founding fathers made many compromises and gave the common people many rights. They did create a bicameral government and they did give the people a good share of representation in the House of Representatives, which received many important powers. For example, the House is responsible for electing the president if there is no majority in the electoral college. Also, all revenue bills and impeachment proceedings originate there.
It is obvious that the members at the Philadelphia convention were of high class. 40 out of 55 of them were connected to the Treasury department, some for sums up to more than one hundred thousand dollars. Some invested in land, others loaned at interest, while many others were involved in the mercantile, manufacturing and shipping businesses. In addition, many owned and dealt in the slave trade. However, despite their subjective goals they made a constitution which represented the views of many others besides themselves. It contains many compromises with out which the constitution in its entity would not have been adopted. If such a large portion of the people were done unjustly they would not have ratified it. It involved the whole of the peplel as any government system possibly could. After all it was ratified!