Study Guide #2
The Framers and Their Constitution

By what standards can we properly evaluate the "Framers," those who wrote the original Constitution, and their creation? This is the question we will be asking in this section of the course. We begin with James Q. Wilson's straightforward background chapter on the Constitution, which should help you with later readings, especially the Federalist Papers. Richard Hofstader offers a matter-of-fact, neither heroic nor demonic portrayal of the Framers as smart, capable politicians, burdened by the prejudices common to men of their class at their time. By contrast, Thurgood Marshall is scathing:

"Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start . . ."

Raymond Smith puts the American Constitution in a comparative context, showing that it is unusual both in size and content. The Constitution, he shows, bears the imprint of its 18th Century origins, and the fact that it has proven extraordinarily difficult to change through formal amendment. While there have been some very important amendments to the Constitution--including the 14th, which paved the way for a transformation of American federalism and much greater protections for civil rights--the biggest changes in the American Constitution have come through re-interpretation, not amendment. Americans spend a lot more time than citizens in other countries arguing about key terms in their Constitution--"due process," "equal protection "cruel and unusual punishment"--and a lot less time changing them.

You should take a look at what all these writers are commenting on, the Constitution. The original Constitution is hyperlinked to the syllabus on the course website. Most of it is pretty boring, but you ought to at least skim the boring parts and get a sense of the structure of the thing. At least you ought to  be able to identify the six articles and what each of them does in  general terms.

Here is a question you might consider in reading through this material: Suppose you were sent back in time to the constitutional convention and were asked to vote on adopting the Constitution. Would you vote for or against it? Why?

 Here are some other questions you should be able to answer when you finish the readings:

 1. What are "natural rights"?

 2. Why did the Framers of the Constitution want a stronger central government?

 3. What were the major points of conflict among those at the Constitutional Convention?

 4. According to Wilson, did the Framers intend to establish a "pure  democracy"? Did they want a democracy at all?

 5. What is a "republic"?

 6. According to Wilson, did the Framers believe that human nature was  basically good? How did the Framers' beliefs about human nature affect the design of the Constitution?

 7. What did the Federalists and Anti-Federalists disagree about? What was the purpose of the Federalist Papers?

 8. Why didn't the Framers include a Bill of Rights in the original Constitution?

 9. Hofstadter says that the Framers distrusted the common man and  democratic rule. Why, then, did they create a popularly-elected House?

 10. According to Hofstadter, the Framers valued liberty above democracy. Which of the liberties were most important to the Framers?  Why?

 11. According to Hofstadter, the fact that most Americans owned some land made the Framers optimistic about the future of democracy in  their nation. Why?

 12. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall states in his essay that  he does not find "the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound." Why is Marshall so critical of the Framers?

 13. What does Justice Marshall mean when he says that the Constitution did not survive the Civil War?

 14. Do you think Marshall would have voted for the original Constitution?

15. According to Smith, how is the U.S. Constitution unusual? In what respects is it similar to most other constitutions?

16. Smith says that "a number o f the crucial features of the Aemrican political sysstem are nowhere to be found in the text of the Constitution. What are some examples?

17. How has the vagueness of the U.S. Constitution created political conflict?

18. What is Article V? What does it make it hard to do in America? (Hint: there have been 10,000 tries and only 17 successes.)

19. In what ways is the U.S. Constitution arguably anachronistic (outdated) compared to other constitutions?