U.S. Constitutional Design
The European philosophers began the debate about who should govern a country as early as the 1600s. The king's absolute rule was weakening, and the enlightenment philosophers had divergent views regarding types of democracies. A war broke out in England in 1649, contesting who to rule the country; King Charles I or the Parliament. The war ended with the king being beheaded (Bailyn, 2017). Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan shortly after Charles I's killing, which was a defense of the absolute king's power. His was a proposal of a powerful state formed to impose law and order. In the Leviathan, Hobbes describes a state where all people are naturally equal. He describes a state of nature where individuals are free to do whatever they wish to survive, and as a result, everyone suffers from danger and fear of violent death. In this state of nature rule, there were no rules or anyone to enforce them. Hobbes suggests that the only way out this state of nature was to create a supreme power to bring peace for everyone (Taylor, 2016). The days of the absolute kings were, however, number; a new age or leadership with fresh ideas came up – European enlightenment.
The enlightenment school of thought philosophers was interested in improving human welfare instead of focusing on the afterlife and religion. These philosophers value science, religious tolerance, reasoning, and "natural rights," which included liberty, life, and property. The enlightenment philosophers included Charles Montesquieu and John Locke (Heimert, and Andrew, 1985) All these philosophers developed their unique theories of governance where all or some of the people would govern the country. These new school of thinkers has a serious impact on the American revolutions and the democratic governments that they generated.
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Federalists and Antifederalists
The historical transcending from the Articles of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution was not an easy one. Fixing the challenges experienced in the Articles of Confederation called for several and lengthy debates both during and after the convention (Kelly, Harbison, and Herman, 1991) However, despite the difficulty, one thing was certain that one of these had to be changed. In 1787, 55 delegates had a historical meeting at the Constitutional Convention to make a determination of the best possible way to adjust the document.
The convention had two sides this great and historical debate: The Federalists and the antifederalists. The Federalists were keen on ratifying the Constitution while the antifederalists were not. One of the core issues that the two sides debated in the convention was about adding of the Bill of Rights (Johnson, 1997). According to the Federalists, the addition of the Bill of Rights was not necessary since they had the belief that the Constitution limited the people and not the government. Antifederalists argued that the Constitution provided too much power to the central government, and given the circumstances, the Bill of Rights would prevent people oppression (Klarman, 2016).
Impact of Judeo-Christian Democratic Principles
The ethical and moral principles retrieved from the Judeo-Christian culture have over the years been a primary source of inspiration for the nation democratic values for the American founding fathers. Religion was specifically a critical motivating factor for both North American colonization and the American Revolution. Organized religion significantly contributed towards perfecting democracy in areas like the 1960s struggle for civil rights, woman suffrage enactment, and slavery abandonment. Most importantly, the Protestant ethic gave the foundation under which republican institutions were built.
The Judeo-Christian culture has been critical in affirming the principles of brotherhood, human dignity, and equality in America (Bailyn, 1970). The Torah advocated duties reciprocity and emphasized on being a brother's keeper. It further teachers the followers to the starving people and to care for those in need (Genesis 42, 43). Also, adding from the Old Testament teachings, Jesus taught his followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help the sick and provide homes to the homeless.
The religious traditions provided the civilization with the foundation where the framework for international human rights would later be built. The early writings detailed on the moral code specifying the responsibilities and duties of all the people. The idea that every individual has a responsibility to care for others is the basis under which the current belief that individuals and governments. Lauren (1998, 9) confirms that early religious beliefs enhanced the first discussions about rights.
Influence of Biblical Principles of American Statesmanship
The bible is one of the major influencers of American statesmanship. The huge influence of the Bible on a nation’s politics and its tradition of the early days is not a surprise at all since the American population was largely Protestant. The bible was a primary source for regarding several factors about the public culture. And the areas of influence included and not limited to letters, language, education, and law (Johnson, 2006). There was no book as popular as the bible in the first days, in particular the King James Bible English version. The people were literate biblically.
The discourse of the early American days, in the constitution founding days, documents the founders' numerous quotations from the obscure and familiar biblical texts, which is a confirmation that they properly understood the bible from the first page to the end (Noll, 2015). The biblical themes and language. The cadences and phrases found in King James Bible further influenced both the verbal and written-down wordings. The ideas of the bible shaped the founding fathers' habits and informed their political practices in the republic self-governance (Pangle, 1988).
References
Bailyn, B. (2017). The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bailyn, B. (1970). The Origins of American Politics. 1st ed. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN: 9780394708652.
Freeman, J.B. (2002). Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic. 1st ed. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN: 9780300097559.
Johnson, P. (1997). A History of the American People. 1st ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 1997. ISBN: 9780060930349.
Kelly, A.H., Harbison, W. and Herman B. (1991). The American Constitution: Its Origins and Development. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,. ISBN: 9780393960563.
Heimert, A. and Andrew D. (1985). The Puritans in America: A Narrative Anthology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985.
Johnson, P. (2006). The Early American Republic, 1789-1829. London: Oxford University Press.
Klarman, M. (2016). The Framers’ Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution. London: Oxford University Press.
Noll, A. (2015). In the Beginning Was the Word: The Bible in American Public Life, 1492–1783. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-026398-0.
Pangle, T. (1988). The Spirit of Modern Republicanism: The Moral Vision of the American Founders and the Philosophy of Locke. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
Taylor, A. (2016). American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
