Running head: PROJECT 2 1
Project 2: Historical Context and Introduction
Jennifer Moore
Southern New Hampshire University
PROJECT 2 2
Research Plan
Research Question: How did some of the main challenges, the Framers of the US Constitution
encountered during the drafting process, have effects on the Americans socially, economically,
and politically?
Introduction
The United States Constitution was written and signed in 1787 by fifty-five delegates,
known as the Founding Fathers, also known as, The Framers. This historical document more
than two hundred years ago, has proven to stay solid and adaptable to a modern world
completely different from the one in which it was written. The drafting of the Constitution was
a very intricate historical event with many ratifications and challenges that impacted the
Americans socially, economically, and politically. The signing of the Constitution was the major
challenge the Framers faced. In the words of President Abraham Lincoln, “We the people are
the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to
overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution”. (Oresko 2018)
Historical Context
The signing of the Constitution was an important element for the US Constitution. The
context surrounding the signing of the Constitution was full of economic, political, and social
chaos. The United Sates was still bandaging its freshly made wounds from the Revolutionary
War. The economic debates on land ownership and taxes is what the leaders were trying resolve.
They attempted to reach agreements on how state power versus federal power would be
implemented. To ratify the Constitution or not? The nation was divided. But once decided it led
to a long a complicated ratification process. The major challenges surrounding the signing of the
Constitution was the, signing of the Declaration of Independence, the ratification of the Articles
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of Confederation, and North Carolina’s ratification debate. These are historical contexts for the
drafting of the US Constitution.
The signing of the Declaration of Independence was before the ratification of the Articles
of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, and the ratification of the Constitution. This
event was a major challenge to the drafting of the Constitution. The declaration was approved
on July 4th, 1776 by the Second Continental Congress, but it was not signed until almost a month
later. It is signed by John Hancock and the other founders of the United States. Fifty-six men
took a remarkable chance on the day of signing. Benjamin Rush wrote of the “pensive and awful
silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the
President of Congress,” to sign “what was believed by many at the time to be our own death
warrants.” (Sneff) The majority of these men who took this risk were also apart of the drafting of
the Constitution.
The ratification of the Articles of Confederation is another major challenge faced during
the drafting of the Constitution. Several weaknesses to point out during the ratification was that
Congress was not being allowed to tax citizens directly, the federal government not having
armed forces, and also not have the capacity to organize a system for handling money by
Congress. The Articles lacked the authority to levy tariffs or deal with imports or manage the
economy. “People were more loyal to the states than to America as a nation.” (Hannah J. &
Koral Z.) This was motivation for many changes in the drafting of the Constitution.
The ratification process for the Constitution which included debates and controversies
between the states is another challenge during the drafting of the US Constitution. A state that
deliberately debated the ratification of the Constitution was North Carolina. North Carolina
pronounced not to ratify and refused the Constitution at the 1788 Hillsborough convention. The
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state decided to ratify the Constitution in Fayetteville one year later. This challenge impacted the
historical context of the drafting of the Constitution. The uncertainty of North Carolina was an
important effect on the Country. Anti-Federalists and the Federalists is what divided the state.
This is what ensured the inclusion of the Bill of Rights. North Carolina ratified the U.S.
Constitution on November 21, 1789, and from the beginning, the state enjoyed the same rights as
existing states. (Kickler)
Impact of Historical Context
These three events were challenges that impacted the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
The challenges impacted the nation politically, socially, and economically. The signing of the
Declaration of Independence socially impacted the men, that were willing to sign basically a
death warrant, prepare them for a future of authority and understandable significance. The
Framers drive was to give the nation freedom, rights, and a voice was translucent in the
Declaration of Independence. The Articles of Confederation economically helped the nation
become well balanced and strong. The ratification process politically impacted the nation, when
North Carolina first decision to delay the ratifying of the Constitution which resulted in the Bill
of Rights. This also created a clearer picture of the motives behind Anti-Federalist and the
Federalist.
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References
America: established in Liberty, for all generations
Published inBlogonApril 24, 2018by Debra J Oresko
In the words of President Abraham Lincoln, “We the people are the rightful masters of
both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men
who pervert the Constitution”.
https://conventionofstates.com/news/established-in-liberty-for-all-generations
Historical Context for the Constitution and Bill of Rights
Written by Seth David Halvorson, Department of Philosophy, Columbia
University
Alan Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation, 6th#Edition
https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/content/american-revolution-and-founding-texts/
context-1
The North Carolina Experience: An Interpretive & Documentary Experience
Written byDr. Troy L. Kickler
(Chapel Hill, 1984); Stephen E. Massengill,FNorth Carolina Votes on the Constitution: A
Roster of Delegates to the State Ratification Conventions of 1788 and 1789F(Raleigh,
1988); William S. Powell,FNorth Carolina Through Four CenturiesF(Chapel Hill,
1989);FProceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Convened at
Hillsborough, on Monday the 21st Day of July, 1788, for the Purpose of Deliberating and
Determining on the Constitution Recommended by the General Convention at
Philadelphia, the 17th Day of September, 1787: To Which is Prefixed the Said
ConstitutionF(Edenton, 1789); Milton Ready,FThe Tar Heel State: A History of North
CarolinaF(Columbia, 2005).
https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/ratification-debates/
Unsullied by Falsehood: The Signing
By: Emily Sneff
July 27, 2016
Rush recalled,"the solicitude and labors, and fears, and sorrows and sleepless
nights of the men who projected, proposed, defended, and Subscribed the
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declaration of independence..."and asked Adams,"Do you recollect the
pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up,
one after another, to the table of the President of Congress, to subscribe what
was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants?"
https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/signing
U.S. Constitution – Causes and Effects
B Y L E S L I E B . H A N N A H J . F & K O R A L Z .
“The Articles lacked the authority to levy tariffs or deal with imports or manage the
economy. “People were more loyal to the states than to America as a nation.”
http://usconstitutionhistoryproject.weebly.com/causes-and-effects.html
