Context
The American Constitution, and other contextual texts surrounding it, including the Articles of Association, The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, The Declaration of Independence, etc, fascinate me.
Summary of events from my eyes (Take everything with a grain of salt, I’m just talking here).
In the 1700’s people from Britain went to the North American continent and formed the 13 colonies. (Or the OG states as I like to call them).
They formed a civilisation as one does, and they began to trade as one does.
Early on in the arrangement, they all felt very British, and this was only being deepened by the trading relationship that occurred with mainland Britain, where the British Americans would send raw materials to the mainland, then the mainland would send them manufactured goods.
However, they would also trade with others like the French and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, which was very lucrative for them.
Important to understand is that though America was a colony of Britain, the British governed the American colonies, not like they governed colonies like India and African colonies. It was less extractive and slavemaster like and more an economic trade relationship/partnership.
But they did govern nonetheless, and the British mainland had much control and authority over the colonies.
The settlers in America were becoming increasingly vexed about this relationship because the mainland would subject them to laws which benefited the mainland and were harmful to them, such as restrictions on their trade, and also in imposing taxes upon the settlers. The settlers had little say in British Parliament but were taxed. Hence the phrase “taxation without representation.”
The status quo was being upheld, although the relationship was somewhat precarious, until the great accelerator came, “King” George III. He abandoned the status quo and exerted more British control and authority over the settlers. He did things such as increase taxes and place trade restrictions on the settlers so that they could only trade with the British mainland.
Long story short, the settlers in America(with the help of France, Britain’s then enemy) went to war with the British and won.
Through the events of the war, the settlers adopted a new identity and American identity. With that, they wanted to create a new form of government, one more meritocratic and free than the previous.
Thus was born the American Constitution, and thus leads to my rant on why I am a constitution glazer.
Federalism
My first point is the doctrine of federalism. At that time, the new America was already large ( and only getting larger through expansion). It is understood that a unitary form of government where all the people vote as one, for uniform rules, would be wholly inappropriate. Rules may be beneficial for one group of people in one location and detrimental to another in a different location. Therefore, federalism allows each province (state) to have their own laws, within reason, to increase freedom.
States have lots of autonomy, and it’s not as simple as the federal government is “the boss” of the states. It is a sharing of power.
In a way, America isn’t a country; it’s a country of countries, with each state being a country in and of itself. (Yes, I know I’m defining a federation)
The beauty of this for the freedom of the individual is that if one does not like the way of life in one state. He can just go to another. If you don’t like life in California, you can go to Texas; if you don’t like it there, you can go to Mississippi; if you don’t like it there, you can go to New York. And so on, and so forth.
In many other countries you can go somewhere else in the country, but all the laws and regulations are the same, so it won’t make that much of a difference.
If you don’t like it in London and you go to Edinburgh, guess what? You’re still subject to the tyranny of the government.
If you live in Canada, even though it’s a federal-type system, because the federal government has so much power, the same applies. You cannot escape tyranny by moving to a different province.
Good Compromise
The American Constitution to me represents good compromises. During the creation of the Constitution, there were two camps, the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. (Oversimplification: this entire text is a gross oversimplification), The Federalists were in favour of the Constitution, as it was written, and the Anti-Federalists were not. They cited concerns of the federal government having too much power and being able to become tyrannical. Historical context is important with this one, because they had just fought a war against the British king/government, which was seen as a tyrannical institution. The people had sour tastes in their mouths about a strong government.
The compromise that was had was that the Constitution was sent out as it was, which was necessary because being a new government/experiment. They wanted to act decisively to organise the people as a new country, and not to backslide into the government/rule of Britain.
However, the Anti-Federalist part of the deal was that for it to be ratified/to come into effect, it needed to have protections for the individuals, and also for the states, and that is where the original Constitution amendments, the Bill of Rights, came from.
The other compromise was slavery. At the time, some states were in favour of slavery, and some were not (North vs South). From the point of the making of the Constitution, up until the American Civil War, many compromises were made, namely. Slavery was allowed in the old states but not the new ones that were to be added during westward expansion, then it was allowed in the southern states that were pro slavery (below the Mason Dixon line), then freed black slaves were counted as 3/5 of a white person for voting rights, then the civil war, the south lost, and here we are, full civil rights.
Meritocratic and Fair
Another aspect that I like about the Constitution is that it’s set up society to be meritocratic and fair rather than by blood, such as the British kingdom and Aristocracy.
This is great because it symbolises that anyone who does good work can make it. The American Dream. This is starting to sound like a propaganda piece, so I will stop here.
Thanks for reading if you made it to the end. Also follow me on socials, and if there’s something you’re interested in, let me know.
