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Julia Jeck

Ms. Diane Nicoll

8th Grade History

November 4, 2017

Citizen Rights and Division of Power in the U.S. Constitution

People in the United states didn’t always have the same rights as today. Evaluate the

major debates that occurred during the development of the Constitution and their ultimate

resolutions is such areas as shared power among institutions, divided state-federal power,

slavery, the rights of individuals and states, and the status of American Indian nations under the

commerce clause. There were many precautions taken against another tyrannical rule, and

corrupt government. One of these precautions was with how much power was aous in certain

parts of the governments, this branched into shared power among federal and state governments.

Secondly they wanted to make sure that people rights were protected so the enforced the bill of

rights after the writing of the constitution giving people unalienable rights. Finally, there were

also people who were not considered citizens therefore they didn’t have rights.

After the Tyrannical rule of king George III the United States wanted to ensure that

power was well divided and separated. “...the U.S. Constitution grants Congress certain

enumerated powers, listed in Section 8 of Article I. These powers cover a wide range of subjects,

among them the authority of Congress to tax, spend, and borrow. All remaining powers belong to

the states. However, the division of state and federal power is not as definitive as it might

appear.The powers of Congress are augmented by the recognition that it possesses implied

powers in addition to enumerated powers. Implied powers are not specifically mentioned in the
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U.S. Constitution, but are derived from the necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8. ”

(“The Texas Constitution”) This is showing that states had individual power and could do

anything that they wanted as long as it didn’t interfere with the federal government. In the

government the way that the power was formated was as a democratic republic. This form of a

democratic republic balances power. A way to balance power was through power distribution in

federal system. Because of previous tyrannical english monarchs, the writers of the constitution

wanted to make sure there was division of power in the United states government. Through

things like state and federal power.

A the writing of the constitution a second document, the bill of rights was written to

protect the rights of the citizens of the United States of America. Some examples of these rights

are The unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, and also rules against things like no cruel or

unusual punishment. There are also state powers. State powers are limited to the powers written

in the constitution. Any other power belongs completely to the people or federal government.

(“A Definition of Federalism: The Case for Reinvigorating State's Rights”) Some of these

powers are “No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of

Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin

a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing

the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. No State shall, without the Consent of

the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely

necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid

by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and

all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress. No State shall,
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without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time

of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or

engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.”

(constituteproject.org) State and individual rights most likely won't conflict because individuals

are given unailible rights with built in rules protecting them from any false claims or rules the

government tries to inflict upon them.

Lots of people in America had well protected rights and lived fairly well under the new

American government, however there were several groups of marginalized individuals who did

not have the same rights as citizens. Native Americans were among these people. When the

United States was first starting to have their government and laws created, Native Americans

were very powerful and could be seen as a threat. This is when the Commerce Clause was

created. This was a document managing foreign affairs along with tasks and responsibilities

surrounding Native americans. However they weren’t treated particularly well. The government's

rules were not particularly successful in the beginning so, multiple states started trying to steal

Native American lands, which started wars not only were their lands being taken away from

them but they had no say in the United states because they were not considered to be

citizens.Other groups who were not citizens were slaves.”the first African slaves were brought to

the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such

lucrative crops as tobacco. Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17th

and 18th centuries, and African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the

new nation. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 solidified the central importance of slavery
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to the South’s economy. By the mid-19th century, America’s westward expansion, along with a

growing abolition movement in the North, would provoke a great debate over slavery that would

tear the nation apart in the bloody American Civil War (1861-65).” (history.com) Both slaves

and native Americans were treated poorly as slaves had no rights and many hard jobs and tasks

to complete with no pay and neither were citizens. Both of these groups had wars based around

the way they were treated with the many state and tribe battles along with the Civil war.

Evaluate the major debates that occurred during the development of the Constitution and

their ultimate resolutions is such areas as shared power among institutions, divided state-federal

power, slavery, the rights of individuals and states, and the status of American Indian nations

under the commerce clause. There were a lot of major debates when the constitution was created,

especially on the topics of power, rights and marginalised individuals. There was a lot of debate

about power as The United States Of America had had a bad ruler with too much power before.

There were also debates about citizens rights which sometimes too much power can take away.

There were different rights for differents section of the U.S. for example although states had

rights in the government, citizens with in the states, got unalienable rights that could be taken

away under no circumstances. However, not everyone got these rights, there were several

Marginalized groups in the U.S., such as Slaves and Native Americans. The U.S. constitution

had many rules to protect citizen rights such as shared power, state rights, and rules about

American indians and slaves.

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Works Cited

“A Definition of Federalism: The Case for Reinvigorating State's Rights.” ThoughtCo.,

www.thoughtco.com/a-definition-of-federalism-3303456.

Coleman, Michael. “Federalism: A Division of Power.” ​Home​,

dlc.dcccd.edu/txgov1-2/federalism-a-division-of-power.

“The Heritage Guide to The Constitution.” ​Heritage.org​,

www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/70/state-coinage​.

History.com Staff. “Slavery in America.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009,

www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery