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Demian Schatt

Ms. Diane Nicoll

8th Grade History

October 27th, 2017

The Major Debates during the Development of the Constitution

Many Americans today are proud of their governmental system. The Americans have

created a system of government where all citizens have a say in the way that they want to be

governed, but how did this system come about? There were many major debates that occurred

during the development of the Constitution which eventually morphed into the system of

government that they know and love today. Many of these debates were about minority groups

like how the American Indian nations (who were there before the British) should be treated and

what rights they have and there were many debates about African Americans being used as

slaves and if that was wrong or not. There were also many debates about the federal and state

government and their balance of power. This relates to what rights individuals and states should

have and the development of the Bill of Rights.

Some of the major debates were about about the rights minority groups should have

including African and Native Americans. Slavery started in the early 17th century when

American colonists turned to African slaves as a cheaper, more plentiful workforce. “Black

slaves worked mainly on the tobacco, rice and indigo plantations of the southern coast”

(History.com). Most slaves lived on large farms or small plantations. They were not allowed to

learn how to read or write and their behavior was very restricted. There were about 12.5 million

total Africans enslaved up until about 1866. In addition, there was a lot of debate about the
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Native American nations and what their status should be under the Commerce Clause. The

Commerce Clause was a section in the Constitution that gives power to Congress to control trade

between the US, foreign countries, and Indian tribes. The status of the Indian nation was

considered independent, meaning it has it’s own form of government but it was completely

dependent on the US for everything including electricity, commerce, employment, etc. The

Commerce Clause treated the Indian nations somewhat like the Federal government treats the

States, meaning they can have their independence but they can’t have their own currency or have

their own army. There are three basic principles of the Commerce Clause that define the

relationship between the US and Indian tribes. The first principal is “Territorial Sovereignty”

which means that the Indian nations could have their own territory not granted by the States that

the States do not control. The second basic principle guiding the Commerce Clause is the role of

congressional power also called the Power Doctorine which means Congress, not the president of

the executive branch, has authority over matters affecting Indian tribes. The last basic principle is

called the “Trust Relationship” which means that the federal government has the duty to protect

the Indian tribes because they are fully dependent on the US. In 1820, there was a harsh debate

about whether the federal government should restrict slavery in Missouri. This debate ended in a

compromise with Missouri becoming a slave state while western territories north of Missouri’s

southern border were to be free states. This compromise, called the Missouri compromise, was

designed to maintain an equal balance between slave states and free states. However, this only

worked temporarily and in 1860 the South reached a breaking point when Abraham Lincoln was

elected president. Within three months, seven states formed the Confederate States of America

and four more states joined after the civil war began. The Confederate States of America was a
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Republic that wanted to preserve slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Though

Lincoln’s anti slavery views were well established, the central Union war aim at first was not to

abolish slavery, but to preserve the United States as a nation. Abolition became a war aim only

later, due to military necessity, growing anti-slavery sentiment in the North and the

self-emancipation of many African Americans who fled enslavement as Union troops swept

through the South. Five days after the bloody Union victory at Antietam in September 1862,

Lincoln issued a preliminary emancipation proclamation, and on January 1, 1863, he made it

official that “slaves within any State, or designated part of a State in rebellion, shall be then,

thenceforward, and forever free.” Finally, in 1865, the thirteenth amendment was adopted which

officially abolished slavery.

Federalism is a form of government in which two levels of government have a range of

control over the same area. The first federal government in the United States, which was

established under the Articles of Confederation in 1777, didn’t have very much power. It was

more focused on Congress and it had no executive or judicial branches. The Congress had the

right to organize an army and navy, declare warm, and control a postal system but it couldn’t

collect taxes or regulate commerce which led to the federal government becoming reliant on the

states for money which meant that the central government was too weak to be sufficient. In May

of 1778, representatives from nearly every state met to revise the Articles of Confederation and

finally produced the US Constitution. The United States Constitution has federalism as there is

power shared between the federal (central government) and the individual state government.

During the colonial period of America, Federalism was known as the desire for a stronger central

government in contrast to the Articles of Confederation which vouched for a weaker central
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government and powerful state governments. “Alexander Hamilton argued that federalism’s

system of shared powers would benefit the citizens of all of the states” (ThoughtCo.com). The

central government can print money, declare war, establish an army and navy, enter into treaties

with other countries, regulate commerce, and make laws necessary to enforce the constitution.

The state governments can issue licenses, regulate commerce within the state, provide for public

health and safety, give consent about amendments to the constitution, and establish local

governments. State governments and the federal government also share some power. They both

can: make and enforce laws, create and collect taxes, build highways, and more. Throughout

American history, there have been many debates about how much power the federal government

and state governments should have. Anti-Federalists argued that the Constitution gave way too

much power to the federal government, while taking away too much power from state and local

governments. They were afraid that the country was too large for the federal government to

respond to the concerns of the people on a state and local basis. They were also worried that the

original Constitution did not contain a Bill of Rights. They wanted to make sure that they were

getting guaranteed protection for basic rights such as freedom of speech and trial by jury. The

Bill of Rights was added in 1791 because the Federalists promised to add a Bill of Rights if the

Anti-Federalists would vote for the Constitution.

The Bill of Rights was written by James Madison in 1791 and is made up of the first 10

amendments in the Constitution. James Madison was strongly influenced by The Virginia

Declaration of Rights which was a document written in 1776 to proclaim the fundamental rights

of men, including the right to reform or put an end to"inadequate" government. The Bill of

Rights is basically a list of limits on government power. It states rights like the right to bear arms
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and the right to freedom of religion. There were many debates about the Bill of Rights.

“Federalists argued that the Constitution did not need a Bill of Rights, because the people and the

States kept any powers not given to the federal government. Anti-Federalists stated that a Bill of

Rights was necessary to safeguard individual liberty” (Billofrightsinstitute.org). The

Anti-Federalists argued that the states would be sucked into an “all-too-powerful” central

government. They feared that their president might become another monarchy. That’s where the

compromise of the Bill of Rights steps in to protect the natural rights of citizens and states while

also stronger federal government.

To conclude, there were many major debates during the development of the Constitution

and resolutions that make up what are government is today. Many of those debates sprouted from

minority groups in the US like the American Indian nations and African Americans who were

used as slaves. Also, many people argued about the powers shared by the government and what

powers are different between state and federal government. Related to this, was the debate about

what rights individual citizens and states should have which is stated in the Bill of Rights. All

these debates and resolutions strongly impacted the Constitution and what the American form of

government is like today.

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Work Cited

History.com Staff. “Slavery in America.” ​History.com​, A&E Television Networks, 2009,

www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery.

Longley, Robert. “Federalism: A Government System of Shared Powers.” ​ThoughtCo​, 3 Oct.

17ADAD,
www.thoughtco.com/federalism-powers-national-and-state-governments-3321841.

“Bill of Rights.” ​Bill of Rights Institute​,

www.billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/bill-of-rights/.

Feinberg, Barbara Silberdick. “Explaining the Bill of Rights.” ​Explaining the Bill of Rights​,
Scholastic , www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/explaining-bill-rights/.

Costly, Andrew. “BRIA 25 2 The Major Debates at the Constitutional

Convention.”​Constitutional Rights Foundation​, 2009,

www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-25-2-the-major-debates-at-the-constitutional-

convention.html.