Has Our Political System Evolved Over Time?

Rebecca Trombley

History 151

April 23, 2017

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America has been on an interesting journey for the past 241 years. At the nations birth,

several political parties began to evolve. Each group had ideas on how the country was to be

governed. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but the Founding Fathers were

ultimately able to put aside their differences for the sake of our countrys development.

There are many lessons that can be learned from Americas beginning. The Founding

Fathers did much to shape the manner in which the individual citizen can contribute to society

and make their country a better place. Of course, those principles did not develop overnight, and

in order to properly understand the evolution of American government, one must firsts look at its

humble beginnings.

When the colonies were being formed, each of them had their own set of laws for how to

govern themselves. As mentioned in Module 4 of the E-Text, successful colonies require strong

leadership (Unknown). There were several men who rose to the occasion. William Bradford

was the first elected governor of the Plymouth colonies. In Massachusetts, Roger Williams

argued for separation of church and state, a principle later included in the Bill of Rights. The

government of Connecticut developed the first written constitution in the western hemisphere.

Once the colonies decided to work together to fight British oppression and monarchy,

various committees began to emerge. The Stamp Act Congress convened in 1765 to protest the

unfair taxes levied on printed goods. James Otis suggested to unite the colonies in making their

grievances known to the king. The Committee of Correspondence mentioned in Module 7, along

with the first Continental Congress, met Philadelphia in 1774. Their purpose was to argue their

case of unfair taxation and British rule before the king (Unknown).
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When the Continental Congress met for the second time in 1775, much was

accomplished. A continental army was formed, and money was printed to pay the expenses that

would be incurred by the impending revolution. Before they knew it, the foundation was laid for

the form of government that resembles the government in place today. In the Khan Academy

video from the Aspen Institute, President and CEO Walter Isaacson explained how men like

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams discussed and revised key phrases in our

Declaration of Independence in order to strike a middle ground between different philosophies

(Isaacson)

In Module 9, the focus was on changes in the political system (Unknown). Each colony

wrote their own constitutions. Legislative and judicial branches were developed to scale back

the power of the governor to ensure they did not have too much power like the monarchy the

colonists so desperately wanted to distance themselves from. People voted for their

representatives, but an individuals voting power depended on if they were a land owner. For

example, Pennsylvania mentioned in their state constitution that all men were able to vote

regardless if they owned land. The only requirement was that they were a taxpayer. By contrast,

South Carolina required white men to own a significant amount of property to vote as discussed

in Module 10 (Unknown). A pivotal decision came about in 1780 when Massachusetts presented

their constitution, which was ultimately rejected by the people. A convention was called, in

which the people determined the framework for the new state constitution. This practice would

ultimately prove instrumental in the ratification of the future Constitution of the United States.

The United States as a whole drafted a Constitution, and it proved difficult to ratify

amongst all the states. To plead the case, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

collaborated to write a series of essays that would come to be known as The Federalist Papers.
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These essays helped to clarify the objectives of the Constitution. And just as todays Americans

look back on the Constitution or the The Federalist Papers for a glimpse into the ideas that

molded the government, the Founders did much the same thing. In his essay On the Rhetorical

Use of History to Understand the Present, Blair Hodges notes that Alexander Hamilton drew on

assumed common sense about the pasts of Sparta, Rome, Carthage, Venice, Holland, Britain,

etc. to provide perspective on the state of both politics and humanity in his own time (Hodges).

This offers to modern Americans the notion that we can look back on history to provide us with

perspective as we look forward.

With the pieces of the puzzle in place for the running of the government, it was time to

place someone in charge. George Washington, Americas first President, was very much against

the idea of separate political parties or factions in the government. Washingtons first cabinet,

consisting of a Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and Attorney

General, was accepted or rejected by the legislature, as discussed in Module 11 (Unknown)

(Hodges). Despite Washingtons dislike of separate parties, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton

headed up the Federalist party in 1791, while Thomas Jefferson became the leader of the

opposing Democratic Republican party in 1792.

When Washington declined a second term as President in 1796, in his farewell address,

he emphasized the importance of national unity, stating, The name of American, which belongs

to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the pride of patriotism more than any

appellation derived from local discriminations (Hamilton). In contrast to Washingtons self-

imposed term limitation, John Adams presidency was limited to one term by the will of the

people. His successor, Thomas Jefferson, implemented many policies that were at the same time

celebrated and condemned, including his ideas about westward expansion and the extension of
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slavery. These decisions call for an objective viewpoint when discussing how Jeffersonian

policies have influenced life in twentieth century America.

William McNeil, in his essay Why Study History? makes the fairly obvious point that

history offers innumerable heroes and villains (McNeil). While each of the Founding Fathers

were deeply flawed, each of them acted in the way that they thought best for the citizens, and not

out of selfish ambition. As it stands, America would not be the great nation it is today without

their leadership skills. Michael Postma asserts that historical narratives offer us stories of

humility, courage, wisdom, andmost importanthope (Postma). Americas founding gives

the modern voter a story to reflect on. It, too, is one of hope and courage, highlighting the

importance of choosing candidates that hold fast to the ideals this country was founded on, and

who ultimately have the best interest of the citizens in mind.

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Bibliography

Hamilton, Alexander. "President George Washington's Farewell Speech." We the People:

Documents and Writings of the Founding Fathers. Birmingham: Race Point Publishing,

19 September 1796. book.

Hodges, Blair Dee. "On the Rhetorical Use of History to Understand the Present." Foundations

of Modernity Term Paper. 2012. Document.

Isaacson, Walter. First Draft of the Declaration of Independence Sal Khan. 29 October 2013.

Video.

McNeil, William H. "Why Study History." American Historical Association (1985): 6. Essay.

Postma, Michael. What Can History Teach Us Today? Essay. Minnetonka: ASCD Express, 2011.

Website.

Unknown. "History 151: Early America." Unknown. Early America: US History. Unknown. E-

Text.
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