Early Colonial Constitutions - Research Paper Example

Early colonial constitutions Early Colonial Constitutions The American constitutional history has for a long time been studied and people are still studying it. Scholars have realized that the unique subject requires a lot of patient care and thoroughness. Unfortunately, little attention was being paid to the early constitutional colonial history. Critics assume that this is as a result of the shadow that roams around the great failures the constitutions recorded. They are said to have had moral loopholes that resulted in the loss of American colonies. A myriad of questions still remain unanswered about how a system with several shortcomings became a vital element in the preparation of a new constitution for America and the colonial empire itself; the question is worth a thorough investigation. According to Scott (2011), Colonial governments by the Englishmen were said to have been formed in American colonies; however, they attained full development after they separated. Recently, Americans have started giving the topic a lot of attention just like the English writers gave it earlier on which is still a spectacle for many on why the sudden urge to know more about it. The colonial constitutions were simply early systems of governments formed in colonies. Some like those in Massachusetts from inception were established for the purpose of separating. Others like those in Virginia were meant to maintain the connection between them and their mother country and are still used up to date. The shallow but, still extremely prevalent view would result in the split-up of American colonies. George III, together with his advisers, was responsible for the blunders that resulted to the separation. Wallis (2010) notes that the biggest mistake was the failure to agree on a mutual understanding that was as a result of distance and complications of communication and religious sympathy differences. An example of a wrangle due to miss understanding arose when one among the many protestant parties triumphed in an election. When independence was declared in England, European settlers had stayed in America for approximately 250 years. Though the colonists were under the British crown the colonized colonies worked independently and had a vast experience in self- governance. Many urban towns held meetings and seminars to boost public businesses and some colonies had the program input in their governments’ programs. Later on they started to rebel as they felt that the British were continuously increasingly suppressing their self-governance. Before the 1750s colonists used to pay very few taxes to the Europeans until when the British parliament signed a bill that increased the number of taxes the colonists had to pay. Robert (2009) argues that the bill faced a lot of rejection from the colonists who claimed that it was taxation with no form of representation. In 1760 for instance colonists were angered by the Sugar Act and Stamp Act that levied taxes on specific goods but, denied colonists the right to dictate the spending of the money. Legislatures from the colonies were angered by the taxes and in 1774 they gathered for the first ever continental congress their aim was to conduct a boycott on British goods. The first ever constitution on American colonies was adopted in Connecticut Hartford by representatives of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield and was known as “Fundamental Order”. In 1614, the Dutch found the Connecticut River, but European Puritans mainly from Massachusetts invaded the region and settled there before they could move. Most of the Puritans from Massachusetts Bay Colony flocked to Connecticut valley. In 1638, councils from top Puritan settlements met in Connecticut to form the central government for the newly formed colony. Research conducted by Richard (2012) reveals that a lawyer by the name Roger Ludlow was responsible for writing most of the “Fundamental Orders” and gave a compact and binding frame of government that gave preference to the welfare of the community before that of an individual. It was the first written constitution to put across the notion that the grassroots and powers of an authority are under the people. The Fundamental Orders were superseded by the Connecticut charter in 1662, though most of the original statutes and laws were in force till 1818. The constitution paved way for democratic freedom and self-governance in the American colonies in the North. If the notion of a self-governance was not brought out, the European colonies would have been able to unite and fight their mother country so as to create government bodies and laws that would benefit everyone. The Fundamental Orders established the foundation for ideals that would assist colonies to form their own constitution. In July 1776, America threw off the British monarchy leaving it without a central government. It had to plan and install a new form of government and swift. In order to be prepared, each congress advised its colony to formulate its own state government and by 1780 all the 13 states had embraced written constitutions. The formal paperwork on strategic formulation of a central government by the continental congress began in June 1776. It took almost 5 years to undergo approval by both the states and the members of the congress. According to Jarvis (2009), their first attempt at making a constitution in America was known as the Articles of confederation. Articles of confederation constituted a document signed by the 13 colonies who originally established the United States of America as a sovereign state. The document served as the first constitution of the United States. The first “prototype” of a constitution was established by an organization that was concerned with fighting the war to gain independence. The move came at a time when the Americans were afraid of a long term loyalty and a central authority to the state where they were living. The articles of confederations proved that they were inadequate and unwieldy to tackle the set-backs that faced the young American political system. In general, the move to grant federal powers to the national government as advocated by the confederation congress was a vital step towards nationhood. The articles of confederation were implemented from March 1, 1781 to March 4, 1789 when the current constitution started taking effect. The heightened political temperatures in the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1775 were the source of political values, ideas and beliefs that guided and influenced the founders of the American constitution (Scott, 2011). When the thought of implementing a central government came in mind in British North America, Virginia was the first colony to be given the opportunity. In 1619 the Virginia Company based in London owned by European merchant adventures adopted the colony. The company had been granted by King James I a charter allowing it to develop, govern and found a colony in Northern America. The evolution of the Virginia governmental system under the colonial government was almost similar to the governmental system operated under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England. The Virginia colonists assumed the characteristics were essential for proper constitutional operations of the European governmental system at that time. In 1624, King James I abolished the colonial charter automatically disbanding the trading company and thus making Virginia a crown colony or a royal colony (Wallis, 2010).The new type of government established in Virginia resulted in a subsequent change in political developments in the other 12 British colonies that had originally had a similar type of government. The colonies were now faced with complicated and serious questions of how they would make their own rules. What were the implications of replacing royal power with institutions that were based on a popular rule? How would “popular sovereignty” be institutionalized in the newly formed state governments? And as a result of that who exactly were “the people”. Every state opted to answer the questions based on various typical local experiences. For instance there was a continuation of colonial traditions but, with various modifications where the executive or the governor lost most of the powers while legislative or assemblies which represented the citizens became more powerful (Mark, 2011). Three colonies seemed to be the perfect examples of just how the range of answers got their solutions on the republican governments and their controversial popular rule. Pennsylvania made the most outrageous state constitution at that time. After the notion of a popular rule based on a logical conclusion, Pennsylvania made a state government with very unique characteristics. First and foremost the constitution of Pennsylvania abolished the property requirement rule that was implemented on voters or people who intended to hold office. An adult man who paid taxes could now be allowed to compete for office or vote. The constitutional change was viewed as a dramatic expansion on who would be thought as a political person. That was not the only radical change noted in the newly established government. Pennsylvania also made its government to be unicameral where the Legislative arm had just one body. In addition to that they completely eliminated the office of the governor. Extremists in Pennsylvania noted that the governor was simply a small king while the upper legislative arm was supposed to symbolize wealthy aristocrats and men. Instead of continuing with the trend the constitution of Pennsylvania opted to let the people rule by using a single body loaded with legislative power. Many Pennsylvania’s patriots were shocked by the radical changes (Robert, 2009). When John Adams was interviewed he described the constitution as a document full of evil and confusion. South Carolinas constitution on the other hand was like the opposite end of the civil spectrum on the Pennsylvanian side. White Citizens of South Carolina had to have a lot of property for them to vote and even more wealth if they wanted to run for office. During the period of rebellion there was a need to create a governing body as this was only possible through the creation of a single constitution. The 1776 constitution established the colony’s first sovereign government and was able to air its grievances with Britain. An amendment was conducted in 1777 after South Carolina ratified the articles of confederation and became the second colony to do so. In the same year a committee made up of 13 delegates was appointed to draft the constitution that had the aim of uniting former colonies. On November 1777, the final draft made by the committee was sent for ratification by the states (Richard, 2012). The constitution wrote rules on how the Government of America would be operated, how diplomacy would be negotiated and how war would be declared. John Rutledge was both the governor and president of South Carolina. The original state constitution advocated for the nomination of a state president in 1776. The huge change made on the document saw the change where chief executives of a state become governors. The melodramatic limitation on who might be elected as a political leader reflects the tradition existing round the Anglo-American thought to exist in the 18th century. Only financially independent individuals were thought to possess the attribute of self-control based on making reasonable judgments on public matters. This resulted in the perception that all women, African Americans and poor white men were thought to be very dependent on other people that they could not exercise political judgment (Jarvis,2009). Most of these traditional exclusions on political participation have been abolished in America, age limitations however, are still unchallenged. The establishment of the Massachusetts constitution in 1780 provided another way to tackle the questions surrounding the role people played in establishing a republican government. Surprisingly, when the legislature presented the proposed constitution before the voters they rejected it claiming that the issue involved government matters and was very delicate to be presented to the people. If the government was able to make rules then it had the power to alter them at will and easily cut off people’s liberties. Due to this logic the Massachusetts state held a meeting in 1780 for the elected representatives for them to create a new government framework. The notion of establishing conventions in order for people to resolve constitutional matters was part of the “popular rule” aspect that would assist in the ratifying the national constitution. References Scott, D. (2011).A Distinct Judicial Power: The Origins of an Independent Judiciary, 1606-1787.Ohio. Oxford University Press Wallis, J. (2010).Transactions of the Royal Historical Society .New Jersey: Cambridge University Press Mark, H. (2011). "Jeffersonian Walls and Madisonian Lines: The Supreme Courts Use of History in political Clause Cases," 85 Oregon Law Review 563-614.Retrieved from http://www.law.uoregon.edu/org/olr/archives/85/852hall.pdf Robert, N. (2009). "Civil Religion in America". Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2005-03-06. From the issue entitled Religion in America? Richard, J. (2012).Connecticut in Transition: 1775-1818. New York: Wesleyan University Press Wesley, W. (2009) .The Connecticut State Constitution. Philadelphia: Greenwood Press. Jarvis, M. (2009). A Neglected Period of Connecticuts History 1818-1850.Berlin:Octagon Books. Read More