Idealism, Pragmatism and Nation Building

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the philosophy and events behind the formation of the US Constitution. In particular, it examines how the political philosophy during the Confederation period of the United States developed into two important documents--the Articles of Confederation followed by the US Constitution. The paper describes why the Articles of Confederation were not sufficient in delineating the basic tenets of the new nation. The formation of the Constitution and its relevance today is also described.

From the Paper:

" It was soon -indeed, only two years after the ratification of the Articles of Confederation- obvious, however, that "the system of state politics [could] not assure America's future" (Washington, 1783). In other words, the framework of the Articles of Confederation proved too idealistic to be put into practice. The Nationalists -that is to say, those who were in favour of a strong national government, such as Madison- deeply believed that the Articles of Confederation had to be altered. Actually, they had led to several problems within the colonies: political and social unrest, economic difficulties, trading problems and unfair practices - "no money is paid into the public treasury; no respect is paid to the federal authority. Not a single state complies with the requisitions; several pass them over silence, and some positively reject them" (E. Marienstras, Naissance de la Repulique Federale, from The Writings of James Madison). Those issues resulted from the fact that Congress was not entitled to take decisions that would save the Confederation from disintegration: it did not have any coercive power. No common government existed. The emergency was then to avoid a clash between the states and to consolidate the union: all the states had to be represented in Congress. It was even said during the Hartford Convention of 1814 that "the lack of coercive power was the greatest defect in the 'general government of the continent'" (M. Jensen, The New Nation). Indeed, too much liberty -be this conception conceivable- within the sovereign states would lead to anarchy and confusion. Too much freedom of power for the individual states would lead to too democratic a union, and all this would bring about nothing but everlasting disputes and unrest. Too much power in the hands of ordinary people would lead to "mob rule", chaos and despotism."

Sample of Sources Used:

• M. Jensen, The New Nation.
• V. L. Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought.
• E. Marienstras, Naissance de la Repulique Federale, from The Writings of James Madison.
• G. Hugues, Coup d'Etat a Philadelphie?
• R. Emerson, From Empire to Nation.

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