Philosophical Foundations of the American Political System

        The first documents written to help form the government was the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. The Declaration of Independence was written to express the suffering of the colonists from the English Parliament and sent to the king of England, George III. Many problems resulted from the Articles of Confederation for the states and government’s ability to work as a team. The Articles of Confederation set up a weak central government for fear that the states would have no real power. The First and Second Continental Congress’s second meeting in Philadelphia met to fix the problems they were faced with. The U.S. Constitution was produced, which embodied the federalist view of a stronger central government. Many ideas came from the likes and dislikes of the English Parliament. One document that provided input was; the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was the English Parliament’s first signed document for the freedom of people from the government’s oppression with harsh and increasing taxes. So the congress took into account all the problems they saw in the English government, and tried to provide solutions for them, and preventions for them in our constitution. The Bicameral form of government, provided from the English Bill of Rights, was adopted into our form of government, although there were differences from the English House of Lords and House of Commons that would exist for our government.

        Many people’s ethics and morals had to be intertwined to form a self governing society. George Washington was elected President of the Second Continental Congress and presided over the meetings. Many of the members had different points of views of how the new country should be run. The two main groups were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The leader of the Anti Federalists was Thomas Jefferson. He believed that the government should be based off of the farmers, city workers and the working class. The Federalists, led by George Washington believed in a strong central government and supported the new writing of the Constitution. George Washington was a leader and advocate of the state’s ratification process. He knew that to have the support needed he would need each and every state to support the Constitution’s principles. The Anti-Federalist leader, Thomas Jefferson opposed the ratification of the constitution until a Bill of Rights was added. The idea of Unalienable rights must be discussed and protected by these documents for the government and people’s rights to have balance. The ethics and morals that each member personally held, if it were combined together I think it could be expressed as an idea of liberty. True liberty is freedom from oppression. All of the members had been oppressed by the English troops while the English were the governing body, and did not want this to ever happen again. Each person had separate moral and ethical issues. Each man gave their input for the rules of the central government. They all wanted to make sure it gained its power from the people, and that was successfully created. From the farmer’s to the accountant’s mind, they each felt that their inalienable rights should be protected and the government should help protect them for each citizen. I feel that their job was well served by how they combined many diverse ideas and created one plan for their future. We receive the benefits of a democracy daily, in the way our goods are taxed, how our roads are taken care of, and by having protection groups such as law enforcement officers and firemen.

        In conclusion, we realize that much effort and time was for the good of our country. We can see that the forefather’s exercised how to incorporate beliefs into our government. They made sure that everyone’s natural and inalienable rights were protected for future generation’s benefit. Their ability to incorporate their experiences with the English Government prevented our government from the same problems. The time and age when these things occurred were important to how the tasks were completed in building a firm foundation to our government. To this day the American Political System is still as solid from the foundation it was built upon. The Constitution has proven to be flexible enough to meet our needs within the last two hundred years. The common thread that bound the founding fathers, still bind us by our freedom and liberty that they provided.