US Government Development after Revolution - Essay Example

Full & Number: (After the American Revolution) 13 March (estimated word count 338) US Government Development Introduction People rely on their government for a good number of things, such as maintaining a police force to keep law and order, taxation for basic public services, a standing army that will protect them from external threats and a host of other benefits inherent in a democracy. This is because citizens have an implicit social contract with their government to provide them these various services in exchange for giving up some of their freedoms. Over time, people have an intrinsic attitude that government will be there whenever they need it but they do not want it to intrude too much into their personal and private lives. After all, this was one of the reasons why Americans revolted against their English masters, to have their basic personal freedoms and political rights for them to enjoy. This is why these principles were enshrined in the U.S. Constitution but there were distinct periods in early American independence when the citizens alternated between liberalism and conservatism. Public attitudes regarding this matter were a reflection of the exigencies of the times back then and influenced by political thinkers. The colonial era (1607 to 1783) was a period when individuals had very few rights in relation to the larger community. The frontier mentality necessitated that individuals have to subsume their rights for the greater good because it was necessary for survival. Many colonial writers, political thinkers and philosophers extolled this virtue but things underwent a radical change after the American war for independence. The revolution was a success and American citizens now had to contend with what to do with their lives and their government. This paper is a short discussion on the developments of the American government after the Revolution. Discussion The United States of America gained complete independence from Great Britain via the Treaty of Paris signed on September 03, 1783 and ratified by the two countries on January 14, 1784. The agreement was notable for a few things, primary of which was it enlarged the boundaries of the new country and the American state legislatures were given the freedom to recognize the rights of real loyalists (former real British subjects) whose lands, estates and properties were confiscated during the course of war. Wording of instructions of the Congress of the Confederation (this was the name of the government back then) left it to the discretion of individual states on how to proceed on this point as it merely stated “earnestly recommend” without any sanctions for possible violations. As can be seen by subsequent events, some state legislatures reneged on this undertaking by failing to return confiscated properties, refused to pay old debts to former British creditors and confiscated anew some properties supposedly to pay off old debts owed to them by some loyalists. In other words, the prevailing situation after Independence was quite chaotic, as the central government was powerless to impose its will on the states. A good number of the states disobeyed lawful orders at their own will and sole convenience without much fear of penalties from the new federal government. The intervening period between the signing of the Treaty of Paris and the convening of the Continental Congress to finally draft and adopt the Constitution was a time of chaotic conditions in terms of relations between the newly-independent states and central government and a good number of the luminaries of the American Revolution saw the need for a strong or at least, a viable federal government to prevent the nation from breaking up and fragmenting. One of those who saw the dangers was Benjamin Franklin, who advocated for limits on rights of states and individuals to preserve the Union and its hard-won independence (Ward 96). He had the foresight to know that a weak central government is a threat to the nation's existence. The oft crucial question back then, as it is even now, is how much government is too much government. People want some government as long as it is not intrusive; the framers of the Constitution realized this dilemma and tried to address this issue by incorporating in it the four articles pertaining to the principle of federalism. On the other hand, they did not want in the future, no matter how improbable, to have a person acquiring too much power to become a despot like their former British monarch. They addressed this concern through four articles which set up the separation of powers using the three co-equal branches of the government. It is still very much in evidence today, but with the presidency, the legislature and the judiciary at various times working at cross purposes, resulting in gridlock and deadlock. The framers balanced the legitimate concerns of the citizenry by assuring them their Bill of Rights are always protected by adopting the first ten amendments in the Constitution. The newly-liberated Americans were rightfully wary of throwing away their previous British oppression only to be replaced by a new repressive government and so they demanded this. In retrospect, American history recorded the swings in the pendulum between liberalism and the consequent conservatism with regards to how much government they want in their lives. Ben Franklin and many other like-minded thinkers had favored individual rights only to the extent concerning material prosperity but eschewed it when it comes to political rights as they were mightily concerned of the Federal Government giving up too much power (Beer 355). However, federalism suffered its low ebb during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. His brand of democratic government anchored more on individual rights and he tried to down play the role of federal government, such as reducing taxes and limiting judiciary influence in the nation's political affairs. But when it comes to foreign affairs, Jefferson wanted the strong government that federalism entails, when he pushed through with the Louisiana Purchase. Its ambitions soon took form in the concept of Manifest Destiny a few decades later. America as a nascent industrializing and commercial power needed a strong form of government to push through with its programs of territorial expansion, such as the aforesaid Louisiana Purchase and the wars with Mexico, and later with Spain, to acquire the Philippines in the Far East as its new colony. The purchase of the vast tract of land west of the Mississippi doubled the land area of the United States but it was made at the time when the federal part of government was weak; the purchase was opposed by Congress. Jefferson wanted the people to enjoy their rights by advocating for limited government; he not only reduced taxes but even reduced the national military of the United States. But the sheer size of the country and many conflicting demands of various groups and ethnicities required a strong central authority. The need for a vigorous federal government was illustrated by the crisis of slavery in which the country was almost torn apart by its Civil War. There was always the dreaded threat of dismemberment of the Union and Lincoln was one of the foremost proponents of the strong federalism to counteract seditious forces in the South (Beard 2). He had instituted the military draft (Shelden 470) and put reforms in the banking sector and in private property rights as his way of strengthening federal powers. The strong federalist stance of Lincoln saved the day for the Union as it was a constitutional right for Southerners to own slaves (McPherson 100). Conclusion Growth of the Federal government came about when government had to intervene in national crises such as the Civil War, the Reconstruction Period, the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement. Many federal agencies are still in existence such as the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. A clear example of this growth was the Sixteenth Amendment which allowed for federal income taxation adopted in 1913. The government shifted its focus from protecting personal liberties to acquiring more power but it had become less transparent or accountable (Holcombe 1). Works Cited Beard, Charles Austin. Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy. Clark, NJ, USA: The Lawbook Exchange Ltd., 2007. Print. (Re-print of the original in 1915). Beer, Samuel Hutchison. To Make a Nation: The Rediscovery of American Federalism. Boston, MA, USA: Harvard University Press, 1993. Print. Holcombe, Randall. G. "Federal Government Growth before the New Deal." The Independent Institute. 01 Sept. 1997. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. McPherson, James M. Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War. New York, USA: Oxford University Press US, 1996. Print. Shelden, Rachel A. “Measures for a Speedy Conclusion: A Re-examination of Conscription and Civil War Federalism.” Civil War History 55.4 (Dec. 2009): 469-498. Print. Ward, Greg. The Rough Guide History of the USA. London, UK: Rough Guides Publishing, 2003. Print. Read More