Early American History: Federalism and Anti-Federalism - Essay Example

Early American History-Federalism and Anti-Federalism The new constitution that was created in America in 1787 wasbecause of the rise in the factious groups. During this time in America, there was uncontrolled rise of factions that had different views on how certain fundamental human rights were administered. Factions here mean a group of people who both forms the minority of the majority and have their own divergent opinion regarding approach to certain aspects of justice, liberty, and equality.

The existence of the different interest groups in America necessitated the establishment of different parties and further divided the citizens into factions. The divisions accelerated the animosity between the distinct groups as it culminated to the oppression of the minorities, the weak, and the unstable (Rakove 28). In essence, the factions’ formations were fueled majorly by the unequal distribution of the resources. The ownership of fundamental resources was in the hands of the few individuals who took the opportunity to oppress the less fortunate in the society.

In most instances, the rise in faction had resource allocation and distribution as the underpinning principle of their graveness. Besides that, there were issues on the balance between foreign and local products, the controversy was, which products deserves to be given the largest share in the market (Rakove 30). Other factions rooted for the regulation of the foreign products as they deem them as threat to the locals industries while others were for the latter. With regard to this, the apportionment of the taxes on the various products was an issue, certain factions perceived that the taxes levied on products were not used for their intended purposes and found there ways into the individual pockets.

The rise of numerous faction groups thus necessitated the formation of a new constitution in 1787 to help set the guidelines for the various divergent opinions of the interest groups. In curbing the rise of the interest groups, two solutions were proposed; removing its causes and mitigating on its effects. The former could also be achieved by two means; lifting the liberty associated with factions or providing every citizen with the same opinion, interest, and passion. In the experts view, the first option was obviously impractical while the second one was unwise.

The republican view on such division was plausible in that it rooted for the majority rule through voting. The republican view was that in case there is a controversy on which option to choose then the majority would definitely rule owing to their number (Rakove 34-8). The new constitution attracted admiration and hatred in equal measure; the proponents of the new constitution were agitating for equal treatment of the people in terms of prosecution and trial, they also wanted resource distribution to be evenly allocated to the citizens(Maier 65).

The taxation policies were to be reviewed to ensure that the public taxes are accounted for and the people in charge would address any discrepancy. The opponents of the new constitution feared that with the enactment and the ratification of such a document will deprive them of controlling the weak, with equal resource allocation, the opponent perceived that as a threat to hinder them achieving their own selfish interests (Maier 67-9). Ideally, the main causes of the factions was the economic reasons, the different faction groups that started were in contest of the various economic aspects that shielded them from realizing their full potential as the citizens of a country.

One of the most contested economic factors was the allocation of resources. Resource allocation was critical as majority complained of the manner with which resources were owned and disseminated to other groups. The encroachment of the foreign products was also an issue raised by the faction groups (Maddex 75). There was growing concern that with the infiltration of the foreign products in the country, the local products will be rendered a cutthroat competition that could see local industries collapsing due to unsteady market for their products.

The question of tax apportionment also constituted part of the economic concerns by the faction groups. They needed clearly stipulated guidelines of taxation on products-domestic products and the foreign products. Accountability of the money accrued in taxation was also a concern; most of the taxes were said to be ending up in the individual pockets (Maddex 78). As America is composed of different states, there was equally a division on the adoption of the new constitution. Some states reneged in its adoption while others unanimously accepted and ratified its operations.

Small states like Texas were opponents of the new constitution while the large states like Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania opposed it on fear of equality provided for in the new constitution. Works cited Maddex, Robert. The U.S Constitution A to Z. Washington Press: CQ Press, 2008. Print. Maier, Pauline. Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution,1787-1788. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Print. Rakove, Jack. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution.

New York: A.A. Knopf, 2000. Print.