Complete Analytical Essay #3

Kennedy Ellis

Mr. Comer

Honors Government

December 3, 2012

The Founding Fathers’ Anthropology of Man: The Articles of Confederation, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

            Based on the Articles of Confederation, the Founding Fathers of America found Man to be good; however, based on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the fathers found that Man was evil and needed to be controlled. The independent government set up by the Articles of Confederation shows the amount of trust the Founding Fathers had in the nature of man. The more restrictive and law-abiding government set up by the Constitution and enforced by the Bill of Rights shows that the Founding Fathers were skeptical of Man’s nature and found it necessary to instill more boundaries to restrict man from its natural state of chaos.

            The independent government set up by the Articles of Confederation shows that the Founding Fathers found man to be virtuous. In the midst of the American Revolution, Congress was in desperate need of a government of that was strong enough to defeat Britain; however, its’ fear of central authority led Congress to draft The Articles of Confederation. The Articles present a government that weakens the control of a strong national government and puts more of the power into the hands of the people. In fact, article one states that each state shall “retain [its own] sovereignty, freedom, and independence” (ibid.). The authors of the Articles believed that in order to be successful in the fight for their independence against Britain would be create a government that was the exact opposite of Britain’s, a government built around and for the people instead of a government built to control the people. The states that have complied with the Articles of Confederation “hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare” (ibid.). Based on the first and second articles, the Founding Fathers found man to be beyond honorable, trusting them to defend not only themselves but also defend their fellow men in any time of need. While the Articles of Confederation accredit the man to be reputable, the Constitution and Bill of Rights find man to be cruel and in need of control.

                The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are testaments to the true nature of man. After events like Shay’s Rebellion where the people abused the power they were given only proved the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and the need for a strong central government. The Constitution strips the people of all the power the Articles gave them and grant “all legislative Powers [to the] Congress of the United States” (ibid.). Once the Founding Fathers realized that man was actually corrupt and evil, they instituted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to ensure that man would be controlled. While the Constitution details the duties of Congress, the Bill of Rights details the rights of the people, including the freedom of religion. Although the Constitution brings all the power back to Congress and out of the hands of the people, the Bill of Rights allows man the freedoms necessary to ensure that they are not completely controlled by the government.

            The Founding Fathers originally found man to be good, but after close examining, they found man to be chaotic and in need of a supreme authority. The Articles of Confederation created the thirteen colonies with a government similar to that of the city-states in Athens, a government that allowed the colonies to be in control of their government. However, once the Founding Fathers saw that man was rampageous, they instituted the Constitution to create rules for man to abide by and the Bill of Rights to create rights that allowed the colonies to still feel their sense of freedom.