American Constitution - Essay Example

On the Nature of the United s Constitution Introduction Time and again the question has been asked: Is the United s Constitution a finely crafted document; or is it a document that was put together without extensive forethought? To answer the question, it is perhaps best to begin with what we know about the document. First, that US Constitution is a document that came out of a collaborative effort. Second, that the Constitution is perhaps the most enduring nation-state document by which a country has been governed.

The Articles of Confederation were the skeletal framework within which the newly formed government of the United Sates operated, until the founding fathers called for the Federal Convention, during which the initial work that had produced the 13 Articles of Confederation, which were incorporated into the Constitution, representing the Declaration of Independence. There is no other country that, since its birth, has been guided by the same document that was created at the time of the country’s birth.

Fourth, we know that the Constitution is vague enough in its guarantees as to be flexible and applicable with changing times, to the present modernity often referred to as the New Age. Thus, the United States Constitution is a living document; a finely crafted living document. It is not the product of happenstance or chaos, but is the product of collaborative philosophies that guided the American forefathers in framing the document so that it would continue to live, and would survive the test of time.

The Supporting Facts and Observations in Favor of a Finely Crafted Living DocumentIt was only after five years of debate and discussion that, in 1781, the Articles of Confederation were ratified (Jenson, M., 1950, p. 3). These 13 Articles serve as the Preamble of the American Constitution. What this period of time shows, is that the debate about the ensuing Constitution were serious and time consuming debate. The original 13 Articles of Confederation, while they were enough to prevent the country from sliding into chaos; were not sufficient in content or wide enough in breadth that they covered ever facet of government with which the founding fathers knew that the new government, and subsequent governments, would need to govern with.

So, when we consider the element of time, it is indicative, by the amount of time that it was before the 13 Articles of Confederation were ratified that is the first indication that the American Constitution is a finely crafted document.The second indication that the American Constitution was well thought out, is that for the eight year period following the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, and the signing of the U.S. Constitution as the document which would succeed the Articles of Confederation as the tool by which the American government would govern; there is an eight year period of time.

Again, the period of time during which the Articles of Confederation proved to be insufficient as the country’s first constitution, and the time, in 1787 (Jensen, Merrill, 1950, p. 104). What the time frame suggests, and what we know from reported history (Jenson, Merrill, 1950), is that there was much debate leading up to the passage of the Articles of Confederation, and, in 1787, the original Constitution, which is the document that has since that time been amended by Congress to keep it alive.

As a living document, the Constitution is successful in that it is vague enough in its guarantees to allow room for progress and modernity. The delegation of responsibilities and powers in the branches of the government assure a check and balance system that would require a vast, probably impossible, conspiracy to prevail in order to overthrow the American government.The US Constitution is a living document, that, by way of its amendment process, and because of the check and balance systems; has been the most successful constitution of any country in the world.