Jean Kamau

Period 7
January 6, 2020

Was the Constitution Just?

The articles of confederation were a document that showed a weak central government. It

portrayed racism and unfairness but also structure and foundation. Because of this the articles of

confederation were obviously not working so it was sent to Philadelphia to get revised, which is

what the us citizens live by now. Even though the article had many things wrong with, it showed

more just facts of it being just than unjust. This is why we still use this Constitution but the

revised version.

The first reason for the original Constitution being just is how the citizens of the United

States are represented. The problem, while the Constitution was being made, was how everyone

was going to be represented, this is where Melancton Smith and Alexander Hamilton came in to

place. Melancton was an anti-federalist. He believed that “..the number of representatives should

be so large that both rich and poor people will choose to be representatives.” The reason for this

is so that everyone has a chance to run for office. If there is only a small number of

representatives the position will be too hard to get. This will prevent “ordinary” people from

running for office. While this was a valid and straightforward point, Alexander thought

otherwise. He believed that your status, rich or poor didn’t matter. He thought that no matter the

money you have or place in the government you are still eligible for an elected office. He also

said that one person can represent a group of people because having 20-50 representatives is just

unnecessary. Although both were valid points the one that was approved for the Constitution was

Alexander Hamilton’s idea.

 The second reason that made the Constitution just was how the government was split up.

The government was separated into three branches with different powers, there was the

legislative branch, Judicial, and Executive. The Legislative branch makes laws. It is made up of

the Congress and many Government agencies. The Congress has two parts, the House of

Representatives and the Senate. The Judicial branch is the ‘‘system of federal courts and judges

that interprets laws made by the legislative branch and enforced by the executive branch,” And

the Executive is in charge of making sure that the laws of the United States are “obeyed.” With

the way the power is split up between the three branches, there is no possible way for one branch

to be too powerful. This is because all branches are dependent on each other. This was once of

the best parts of the Constitution because this prevented one person or branch from becoming too

powerful.

The last and final reason for the Constitution being just is the 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, and

22nd amendment. Even though these amendments were not in the original Constitution they are

in the revised one. These amendments made the Constitution because it showed equality and

freedom. For example, the 19th amendment outlawed slavery, and the 15th amendment gave

women the right to vote. These amendments are a big part of our Constitution because it gave the

citizens of America to bee themselves selfs, to vote, and to be their own property and not

someone else’s. The reason why these amendments make the constitution just because it gives us

as citizens rights.

In conclusion the Constitution was just. Even with all the bad things about it, the good

parts outweigh it. Even though the amendments, the branches, and the representatives were not

the only thing that made the constitution just, they were a big part of it. To this day the citizens

of the United States Of America live by this Constitution, just the revised version.