Approving Our Constitution In 1787, political leaders met at the Constitutional Congress in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they wrote the United States Constitution, an entirely new plan of government. Under this new plan the states would retain a number of imp...
As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist #74, "The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength, forms a usual and essential part in the definition of the executive authority"6. This is Hamilton invoking the idea of plenary authority. What this essentially means is that Hamilton would vest in the President complete unitary power to deploy and command the military as he or she sees fit in times of "war". ...
The proper interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause was the subject of a heated debate between such important figures as Alexander Hamilton (who argued that the clause should be read broadly to authorize the exercise of many implied powers) and Thomas Jefferson (who argued that "necessary" really meant necessary). Hamilton's more flexible interpretation makes possible a strong central government, whereas Jefferson's narrower interpretation strengthens states' rights. ...
Party competition first emerged, when James Madison and Thomas Jefferson sought to create a political opposition to Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and the Federalists. ... He feared that Hamilton's view of the Constitution and the unitary system that he advocated would destroy the delicate balance of powers that Madison's understanding of government had envisioned. ...
In the twentieth of September 1789 the United States congress proposed ten amendments that were later ratified two years later. These amendments are known as the bill of right, which are rights that were created to protect and defend our individual rights and liberties. Of the amendments on the bill...
