Alexander Hamilton Brought the Constitution to Life

The Failed Articles of Confederation. In order to understand Alexander Hamilton's outstanding leadership role which he played in bring the Constitution of the United States to life, one must first understand the failed form of government which leaders such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison opposed, the Articles of Confederation. Implemented in early 1781 the Article of Confederation united the 13 colonies under one set of laws, it would soon be proved however, that the Articles of Confederation lacked the basic functions that are needed for a government to do its job. The Articles of Confederation gave states more power than the federal government, which would soon be proved to be a disadvantage to the prosperity of the United States. First, The Articles of Confederation did not give much freedom to Congress to regulate trade. Due to this, the central government was not allowed to engage in trading agreements with foreign nations, leaving this power to each individual state. During this time the United States was still in the process of accumulating great debt from a very pricey Revolution, with 13 different states seeking different trading agreements it is hard to imagine how a stable economy could be implemented. Secondly, The Articles of Confederation did not permit Congress to conduct taxation. It does not take much knowledge to understand that it is through taxation that the United States is able to fund most of the social programs that we Americans enjoy today. Lastly, The Articles of Confederation permitted Congress to declare war or peace; but did not allow Congress to establish an army, leaving the defense of the United States to the hands of the state militia, which would not be efficient in defending the borders of the United States, who were only threatened by European power but by Native American's to the west. It is evident in these three points that the new government adopted in 1781 would soon fail or as Alexander Hamilton would put, fail the needs of the people. It was up to our great founding fathers to ensure the progress of the United States, and it is because of heroes such as Alexander Hamilton that the Constitution of the United States became a reality. The United States Constitution. Alexander Hamilton was one of the earliest voices to call for a revision of the Articles of Confederation and thanks to Alexander Hamilton's persistent voice the Constitutional Convention became a reality. It was Alexander Hamilton along with James Madison who were champions of the Constitutional Convention, leading the other delegates in the creation of a new government in which the central government would be able to lead the new nation, who was on the verge of anarchy. The new Constitution solved the problem that were present in the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution of the United States created a federal government split into three branches, the Legislative Branch, Executive and Judiciary. These three branches would now possess the power to tax the American people, engage in foreign trading and create a standing army. Now most of the delegates present in the Constitutional Convention were against such a government, which they believed place too much power in the hands of the central government and left states at the mercy of the former, but it was thanks to Alexander Hamilton's persistant voice that the United States Constitution addressed the problems which the Articles of Confederation did not. After much hard work, the new Constitution was signed by all delegates with the exception of three in 1787. However, the fight was far from over. The United States Constitution now faced it's greatest challenge, ratification by 9 out of the 13 states. No one in the United States was better prepared to defend the United States Constitution than Alexander Hamilton. Despite the fact that the Constitution could be easily ratified in smaller states, without the ratification of the Constitution in bigger states such as New York the effectiveness and longetivity of the United States Constitution was impossible. Before we move on to our next point it is critical to understand the importance of Alexander Hamilton's dedication to the Constitutional Convention, or as Robert E. Wright and David J. Cowen write, "without the efforts of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and to a lesser extent John Jay, the Constitutional Convention might have a become a mere footnote in history. "The Federalists Papers. Out of all delegates in New York, only Alexander Hamilton signed the Constitution. Noticing the great challenges the Constitution faced, Alexander Hamilton along with James Madison and John Jay devised what historian Richard B. Morris describes as an "incomparable exposition of the Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in both breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer. " It was Alexander Hamilton who wrote over two-thirds of the Federalists Papers and it is hard to imagine how the federalists would have been able to gain allies throughout the 13 states without the creation of the Federalists Papers. The Federalist Papers not only played a role in giving the United States Constitution a weapon (metaphorically speaking) to defend itself against its many enemies, but as well recruited allies in states such as Virginia, Pennsylvania which were needed to ratify the new constitution in these crucial statesRatification in New York and It's Importance. Small states like Delaware who showed no potential in being success on its own quickly ratified the Constitution, however, bigger states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia and most importantly New York were undecided on whether to ratify the Constitution. It was crucial that states such as New York ratified the Constitution, for if ratification had not occurred in states such as New York and Virginia, the nation would have not been united and would have been defeated in the many challenged that the nation faced in the years to come. It was up to Alexander Hamilton to bravely stand against 47 anti-federalist defending the Constitution of the United States in Albany. As the most populated state, it was essential for New York to ratify the Constitution for it's validity to be taken serious on a national level. And it was Alexander Hamilton that began a month long debate against anti-federalists in June 1788 to bring the Constitution to a reality. Without this debate and battle which Alexander Hamilton fought and won it is hard to see as how the Constitution could have been implemented in New York. It is here that Alexander Hamilton once again, defended and saved the Constitution of the United States. In fact it is easy to assure ourselves that without Alexander Hamilton's brave battle in Albany to ratify the Constitution, the 13 initial states would have not been united under one flag. Imagine how history would have been written if the United States would have gone to war in 1812 with the UK without New York or Pennsylvania as part of its Union? It is hard to imagine the United States becoming the great nation it is today without Alexander Hamilton ensuring the ratification of the Constitution in New York. Overview. The first step to bring the Constitution of the United States to life was to abolish the Articles of Confederation, which Alexander Hamilton began to oppose since its creation. Alexander Hamilton initially understood the impracticality of facing the challenges that laid ahead of a nation which Alexander Hamilton described as an empire, if the central government was not able to deal with the economic problems the nation faced and establish a strong standing army. The second step in bringing the Constitution of the United States to life was to create a Constitutional Convention which created the Constitution of the United States. It was Alexander Hamilton along with James Madison who demanded the creation of a Constitutional Convention and it was Alexander Hamilton's who ferociously defended the Constitution against many opponents of it. It is without a doubt that we must come to the conclusion that without the Federalist Papers (which Alexander Hamilton was the main architect of), the United States Constitution would not have gained the allies it needed in order to be ratified in important states such as Virginia and New York. The third step in bringing the Constitution of the United States to life was in ensuring that big states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia and most importantly the most populous state at the time New York ratified the Constitution. Without these states ratifying the Constitution, the 13 colonies would have been split into separated confederacies. These were the intial battles that Alexander Hamilton faced and overcame in order to dismantle a disfunctional government, establish a place in which a delegation could draft a new and stronger constitution and defend the Constitution of 1787 against many opponents. Sources. . http://www.pbs.org...http://en.wikipedia.org...http://www.constitutionfacts.com...http://www.iment.com...http://en.wikipedia.org...http://press.uchicago.edu...http://www.ushistoryscene.com...