Why did our Founding Fathers believe it was so important to form a central government and from whom and from where did they get their ideas for such a government?

Answer 1

The Founding Fathers believed it was important to have a strong central government for various economic, political and military reasons so that the new states could function together as a single nation. After the Revolutionary War, the individual states operated as a loose conglomeration of sovereign states rather than as a single nation. The states were more like separate countries unto themselves with no significant obligation to one another or to the government under the Articles of Confederation. In many instances, the interests of some states were contrary to the interests of other states. The result was economic and political chaos, which had to be corrected or the new nation would break apart. Economic problems were created because each state coined its own money, levied its own taxes and controlled the commerce between them. This prevented the smooth operation of business between the states themselves and between them and other countries. Politically, the loose central government did not have the ability to treat with other nations, since individual states considered themselves free to disregard treaties made by the central government and other nations. Other nations were reluctant to enter into treaties with the United States government because they feared that individual states might not abide by them. Militarily, the individual states could be attacked by Britain, France or Spain, all of which still had colonial interests in the continent. Spain controlled Florida and allowed pirates and Indians to attack settlements in Georgia. France controlled the Louisiana area and allowed the same activity against the new western areas. And of course Great Britain still had a presence in Canada and would have wanted nothing more than to see the new country split itself into sections and then try to take them back little by little. Without a strong central government, the new nation could not properly protect itself. The inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation were all too clear, so when the call came to revise them, the delegates knew the problems they faced. After some failed attempts to amend them, it was clear they had to be replaced entirely with a constitution creating a stronger central government. Ideas on what to do and how to do it came from many sources. They go back to England's Magna Carta in the year 1215, which was an agreement between the King of England and the nobles of the country guaranteeing the nobles certain protection and limiting the power of the monarch. The power of England's Parliament as it grew over time served as a basis for modelling the Congress. Philosophical theories of the legitimacy of governments as put forth by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Montesquieu were also inspirations. John Locke's theory of the social contract between government and the governed was prominent in the opening words of the Constitution: "We, the people of the United States. Thomas Paine, born in England, wrote about the senselessness of being governed by kings who had a right to pass on the titles to their children. Alexander Hamilton is said to have written a report on the deficiencies of the Confederation and calling for a convention to revise the Articles of Convention. The Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention drafted a series of proposals called the Virginia Resolves, which served as starting points for the various issues. They included the so-called Virginia Plan for determining the make-up of Congress. William Patterson of New Jersey drafted an alternate plan called the New Jersey Plan. James Madison contributed many ideas to the final product and was influential in bringing states with competing self-interests to settlements. Even though the Articles of Confederation were inadequate to create a nation, many of its provisions were used at least as foundations of some aspects of the Constitution. A proper answer to a question like this can take books to complete. These are just a few thoughts.