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Why did it take so long to ratify the American Constitution?
Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Sun Dec 15 2002
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Why did it take so long to ratify the American Constitution? On the 17th September 1787 the new constitution was published as a result of the Philadelphia Convention. All the states were represented at the Convention apart from Rhode Island, who refused to participate. The first draft set up a system of checks and balances that included a strong executive branch, a representative legislature and a federal judiciary. The Constitution was remarkable, but deeply flawed. For one thing, it did not include a specific declaration, or bill, of individual rights. It specified what the government could do, but did not say what it could not do. It also did not apply to everyone; the consent of the governed meant propertied white men only. For the constitution to come into practice it had to be ratified by at least nine states. The nation was split into two: Federalists, for ratification, and Anti-Federalists,...
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