Federalism & the 1787 Constitution: Arguments in Support

After reading much about the constitution, the Federalist Papers, and articles by those that opposed it, I would say that I would be a federalist. Firstly the constitution is very well written and written by men who know a lot more about the workings of government than I do. They were also the same people that sparked and won the revolutionary war giving credibility to their ideas. I also agree with the principles set forth by the constitution and its founders.

A strong central government is certainly needed, without one we would be unprotected from foreign threats, the federal currency would fail, and America would be divided. Each state could keep its army, but it wouldn’t be effective in cost or war. America would have a hard time unifying in any times of need and could easily fall to larger powers. Our system of currency could fall apart without a federal government with the ability to collect and change taxes.

States might form their currencies as the American dollar would become worthless and people invested in the success of the currency would be ruined. Economically the country would fall apart without a unified currency. Even if all of the states backed the dollar, there would still be no way of regulating it and inflation could take over. Giving all the power to the states would divide the county into pieces. States could make taxes on goods moving through their states and trading between states would become chaoticLandlockeded states could easily become impoverished.

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It would be very hard to stop someone from gaining all the power in one state or area without united power in the central government. Overall I think it best that postaysstay in the central government.

If the 1787 constitution were presented today it would not be ratified. A lot has changed over the years and there is much that the 1787 version of the constitution didn’t address that people would be concerned about. Possibly the biggest things preventing the constitution from being ratified would be slavery and women’s rights. Slavery was very popular in that period and was only just becoming a debated issue, now it is completely against social and moral standards. The constitution’s mentions of slavery would cause the constitution to lose the support of most of America. As the 1787 constitution also didn’t include women’s rights, so it would not have the support of women. Unless society was constructed the same way it was in 1787 just those two things would cause the constitution to lose the support of almost everyone in America.

Times have changed and many issues have arisen and changed with it. We now have powerful weapons such as Nuclear weapons and drones that many would want to see regulated, these cause war to break out less easily, and less of a land army is needed in any battle.

Innovations in technology, trade, travel, and economics would certainly have an effect and have to be incorporated to be ratified. Other countries’ governments have evolved and have tried the same form of republicanism enabling us to look to their countries as examples, that would probably show changes that would need to be made before the ratification of the constitution.

The concern of a dictatorship or monarchy would still be valid today and possibly even greater with events that have transpired in other countries. Restrictions on terms and impeachment laws would need to be changed for the constitution to be ratified today. Foreign threats are still a big deal now, they’re very different than threats in 1787 but existed in both times. Issues of inflation and devaluing currency remain a problem today as well with more people investing in the American dollar and our national debt. Though if the Federal government had not had the powers given by the constitution we probably wouldn’t have the debt or exist as a country.

The constitution worked at the time and has evolved to fit our purpose today. It made us the world power it is and is extremely important to our history. I think it was a good idea to move power to the central government then and now. It must evolve because there is no way the 1787 version of the constitution would be accepted today, nor would anyone propose it. Though some issues have not changed, if someone was to propose a constitution today it would need to be vastly different from the original in 1787 to get ratified because most of the issues of the world have changed. The constitution and those who wrote it helped individuals and the nation as a whole.