The Constitution: Less Power is More?

When the United States Constitution was written in 1787, its main purpose was to replace
the weak structure of the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation had too weak
of a central government to handle all the responsibilities with just one central Confederation
Congress. After Daniel Shays Rebellion, the founding fathers realized they needed a stronger
government, since a private army needed to be raised to stop them, as the government could not
raise one itself. A balance of safety from the mob rule that could take place and the liberty and
freedom of the common man needed to be reached. The American people were afraid of a strong
central government and needed a new way ensure their rights and feel like the right decisions
were being made by qualified individuals that were looking out for their interests. The United
States Constitution helped guarantee that it would protect not only the rights of Americans, but
also be able to strong enough to take charge when needed, even if that meant lessening the
influence of ordinary Americans.
First of all, the United States Constitution does limit the individual and their influence,
but does so in a way that benefits the whole of society. Mob rule was something that the
Founders were concerned with and wouldnt be what was best for the country as a whole. It
wouldnt be fair if every ordinary person got a say if they werent educated on the issues. That is
why the Constitution allows Representatives in the House that are voted on by the people, but
limit the ordinary person from directly playing a part in the politics. The citizens ensure that the
Representative will do whats best for everyone, and if they dont it is the peoples duty to vote
them out of office (Hennessey, p.28). So instead of a pure democracy, our country follows a

Republic style of government. However, in the beginning, not everyone was allowed to vote for
such Representatives. Women, African-Americans, and Native Americans were not allowed to
participate in politics. African-Americans and women could be counted for the population of a
state (3/5 for African-Americans), and help them gain more representative in the House of
Representatives and making the influence more prominent. Keep in mind, to many of those
who wrote the constitution, giving regular people too much power would mean putting the
new country at the mercy of mob rule (Hennessey, p. 54) and ultimately ruin the freedom that
they sought to achieve. The reduction of the influence of ordinary Americans is an aspect of the
United States Constitution, but it also is important because it looks out for the best interests of
the country and ensures that the Republic will stand strong.
Second of all, the United States Constitution also helps to protect Americans from the
power of a strong government, even though the Constitution calls for a stronger government than
the Articles of Confederation had. The Constitution has 3 branches of government instead of just
1 like the Articles of Confederation had. This creates a balance of power between them and
doesnt give one branch enough power without being checked by another branch. For example,
if the Legislative Branch agrees on a law, the Executive Branch (President) has to approve the
law, or if the President doesnt like the bill, he can veto it (Hennessey, p. 41). Also, instead of
a nation under the Articles of Confederation that is made of many different countries, the
Constitution creates a nation that is one intermingled country. The United States can now
impose taxes in order to build roads that benefit everyone and can raise an army to protect itself
from foreign and domestic issues. In a Union, the states would be stronger and as long as they
are together, the more stable [they] will all be (Hennessey p. 86). The Bill of Rights also helps

ensure that the citizens are promised certain unalienable rights that they are born with (as long as
they are white and male) and will be protected under an ever changing Constitution with
Amendments. This allows the Constitution to assert that it is the people-not their governmentwho rule (Hennessey, p. 86). The Anti-Federalist knew that this Bill of Rights would be a
cornerstone in our government and would not agree with the Constitution unless these
Amendments were attached. Luckily, the amending Constitution has also helped the nation
through its own changes and has allowed for more equality over time, like giving AfricanAmericans and women the right to vote and preventing the government from becoming too
powerful.
The Constitution of the United States of American helps protect the rights of ordinary
people, especially through the Bill of Rights, but also lessens their influence in politics.
American was a new nation with a multitude of different races and ethnicities and needed a
strong government that would protect these unalienable rights that all people are born with. The
Bill of Rights ensures that Americans can speak out against the government if they feel they are
being mistreated and gives them the right to keep the government in check, even if they arent
allowed a true democracy. The Constitution is not a perfect document, but can always be made
better by amending it to create a safe and free country for each and every generation of people as
times change.