Paper Topic:

Constitution

The American Constitution is the oldest written constitution and has served as a model for other constitutions around the world . It is simple and flexible and was drafted during the late eighteenth century with the primary objective of providing a systematical administrative framework for governing four million people in thirteen states that were situated on the Atlantic coast . At present it caters to the needs of two hundred sixty million US citizens across fifty states that span the area between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . Till date twenty seven amendments were made

to the American Constitution , which has proved to be the most efficient administrative framework in the world (THE CONSTITUTION : AN ENDURING DOCUMENT

The adoption of the Constitution was fraught with difficulties . In 1776 , thirteen British colonies seceded from the UK in to form the United States of America . Their congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union in the year 1777 . However , these Articles granted very limited powers to the states . Since , the federal government was dependent on the state legislatures , a drastic change was required and this led to the adoption of a new document on the 4th of March , 1789 . This document became the Constitution of the United States of America and its fundamental objective was to promote a strong elected federal government that reflected the will of the people . The Constitution has bestowed the federal government with widespread powers to govern interstate relations and foreign affairs . In the late eighteenth century Americans were of the opinion that government was akin to a fire - a dangerous servant and a fearful master . Consequently the government was considered a force that controlled and inspired fear in the people . In the year 1787 a new fear arose in the minds of the people that the central federal government that was to be established under the guidelines of the Constitution would be enforced through the various amendments proposed by the State Ratifying Conventions . These objectives of these amendments were to impose rigid policies and control the federal government according to the wishes of the states . Thus the federal government could pose a threat to their liberty (A Principle of The Traditional American Philosophy

This fear was reasonable as the federal government would be in a position to abuse the power bestowed on it by the people . Furthermore it could prevent interference by the people and this could repeal the freedom and inalienable rights of the individuals . The adoption of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 contain protests against the abuse of power and usurpation of power by the Federal government through the Alien and Sedition Laws , which were adopted by Congress in the year 1798 . The Sedition Act restricted freedom of speech and freedom of the press . By using this act the government was able to muzzle criticism of Federal officials . Thus the government was in a position to breach the provisions of the Constitution (A Principle of The Traditional American Philosophy

These protests in Kentucky and...

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