We The People... essays

We The People... essays In his Federalist Paper #51, James Madison said, If all men were angels, no government would be necessary. However, all men are not angels; therefore, some form of government is needed to maintain order, protect the rights of the minority, express the wishes of the majority, defend its citizens from outside intrusions, etc. It has been seen throughout the centuries since the Ancient Grecian city-states and Acropoli to Britains monarchy all the way to our very own Constitutional democracy. John Locke, in fact, discussed at length what life would be like without a central governing body. He called it a state of nature, where individual rights remain unprotected and vulnerable. No one person is ever truly the leader, so whats left is a constant battle for dominance and power; chaos runs rampant and no one is safe. The Romans realized this and created a republican form of government, whereby officials are elected by the people to represent the people when making political choices. The English realized this same point and drafted the Magna Carta in order to prevent King John and all future kings from wielding too much power. Thus, when the colonists first came to America, they agreed, before even landing on the shores of Massachusetts, that they would be governed by a group of elected officials so as to protect religious freedom, establish a written list of laws, etc. Today, this document is known as the Mayflower Compact, a precedent for the early Americans to build upon. And they did, beginning with Virginia Declaration of Rights but concluding with the two most important documents in our nations history: the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. One is looked upon as the outline of our government, while the other is noted to have guaranteed those liberties held most sacred by our Framers. Their magnificence resides in their sheer timelessness and openness t...