Charles Beard’s Article, Framing the Constitution
Charles Beard’s article, Framing the Constitution, alleges the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were “disinterested” in providing basic rights for citizens. He stated that the framers of the Constitution of the United States were only concerned in improving their own economic well–being and personal agendas. Therefore, providing information of the events that led up to the Philadelphia Convention and an overview of the Constitution will dismiss his statements, and state his article was a self-serving, conspiracy theory. The Articles of Confederation of 1781 produced the first endeavor of government structure. This attempt of forming a national and state government failed. Some of the issues that transpired from the constitution include: Each state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of state size; Congress did not have the powers to tax or regulate foreign or interstate commerce; There was not a recognized national court system or executive branch to enforce acts passed by Congress; While amendments to the Constitution required a unanimous vote, the passing of a law required a 9/13 vote. The lack of involvement of the national government allowed states to become self-governing and sovereign. States printed their own money that only had value within that territory which created a hindrance in trade and in turn produced an unstable economy. The national government having no enforcing authority and the United States of America was in a state of chaos. This generated an out lash from individuals. The most recognized revolt is the Shays’ Rebellion. This was the result of the determination of the Massachusetts Legislature to pay off the state 's war debt through an aggressive taxation policy despite the hard times. The government insisted that people pay their taxes in hard money rather than in goods or paper currency made a bad situation worse (Kaufman). The outrage was recognized by the delegates and led to the Constitutional
Cited: Kaufman, Martin. Shays ' Rebellion: Selected Essays. Westfield, MA: Institute for Massachusetts Studies, Westfield State College, c1987. “Transcript of the Constitution of the United States - Official Text." Transcript of the Constitution of the United States - Official Text. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 June 2013.