The Creation of a More Ethical Form of Government, Essay Example

The Declaration of Independence was officially accepted by the Constitutional Congress on July 4, 1776.  This was the official document that severed the political ties between England and her 13 colonies in what was now known as the United States of America.  Listed in the document were the abuses perpetuated by England and the monarch of King George on the colonies.  The colonists believed that because of these unjust acts, they must break their political ties to the motherland.

One of the most famous lines from the Declaration of Independence is, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Jefferson 1776).  Jefferson and the other craftsmen of the Declaration believed that the rights of the colonists were being denied and that the King of England was treating the colonists like property instead of as British citizens.  King George had levied heavy taxes upon the colonists in order to pay for the Seven Years War.  These taxes were considered unjust by the colonists because they did not have a vote in their passage.  The colonists were denied representation in lawmaking proceedings in England.   Jefferson writes of King George that “He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.” (Jefferson 1776) In addition, he states how the King had standing armies stationed in the colonies, enforcing his control and trying to prevent uprisings.  This type of control violated the colonists civil liberties, defined in Jefferson’s statement of “all men are created equal.” (Jefferson 1776)

The colonists, according to Jefferson, were not being treated as citizens of England but as second class citizens or a conquered people.  They were taxed unfairly and the accused were deprived of a trial by jury.  In addition, Jefferson says that he King had abolished the colonies charters and abolished laws created the colony’s government.  The colonies wished to be able to decide their laws, economics, and politics for themselves.  However, the King wanted to maintain political control of the colonies, because for him they were economically very valuable.  When the colonists cut their political ties with England, the King lost a very valuable asset.

After the Declaration of Independence was created and the colonies political ties to Britain were severed, it was up to the founding fathers to come up with a new form of government.  The fathers were Republicans, followers of the Greek form of government.  They called their new form of government a “Democracy.”  The founders of the United States wished to found an “enlightened society” that was based upon the truth that “all men are created equal.”  Jefferson, being well studied in history and government, saw that despite their best intentions, future leaders could sell out the freedoms they wished to pass on to future generations of Americans. In order to ensure that their enlightened government would continue, they drafted the Constitution of the United States.  This document outlined the functions of the federal government.  Still the basis of the government of the United States today, this document was written to “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense and to promote the general Welfare” (United States Constitution 1787).  In order to prevent the abuses the colonists had recently suffered at the hands of the British crown, they wanted to create a form of government that would be limited.  In setting up the three branches of the federal government, the Judicial, the Legislative and the Executive branch, the founders hoped to have in place a system that would not ever fall into the control of one man, as is such with a monarchy.  Instead, the three branches would work together to pass laws and govern and provide a system with “checks and balances”.  The Constitution continues to be one of the most important documents regarding the supreme law of the United States.

After the Constitution was drafted and ratified, it was decided that more of the basic fundamental rights of citizens of the United States needed to be added, ensuring that these freedoms were continued.  The Bill of Rights originally consisted of 10 amendments, which included ensuring the citizens of the United States the freedom of religion, speech and press, the right to bear arms and the right to a trial by a jury of peers.  Measures were included protecting citizens from having soldiers stationed in their midst in times of peace.  These were considered some of the basic rights that were denied to the colonists by the British government.  Having just gone through a bloody battle to regain these precious rights, the founding fathers wanted to ensure that future generations would be guaranteed these basic civil liberties as American citizens.

The founding fathers of the United States considered their mission to be one of ethics.  They believed in individual freedom.  They worked to create a government that was run by the people and not by a monarch who’s right to rule was pre-destined by birth.  Instead, they envisioned a society where men were elected to govern based on their morality, politics and ethics.  As well, they put in place a form of government where elected leaders served short terms, so that leaders that did not do the public good could be voted out of office by the citizens.  This was a very new idea at the time.  The founding fathers saw themselves as bringing a new age of freedom to humanity in general.  The United States of America was their grand experiment to break free of the old systems of government that ruled the people and replace it with a form of government that was created and controlled by the people.

Though not perfect, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights have protected American’s freedoms for over 200 years now.  However, today it is being debated whether or not the documents are still applicable.  For example, the Right to Bear Arms has been under attack as promoting violence and not necessary. Americans today must decide if the ethics and values of the founding fathers are still necessary.  As America is still a country “of the people, and by the people” then it will be up to American’s today to either protect or amend these documents.

References      

Bill of Rights, Amendments’ to the Constitution (1789) Retrieved from http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/BillOfRights.html#1

Jefferson, Thomas. Declaration of Independence (1776) Retrieved from http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/text.html

The United States Constitution (1787) Retrieved from http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Preamble