The Us Founding Fathers

Daniel Saba

Period 3 10/5/15

“Freedom” vs “Nationhood”

Freedom is defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Nationhood is defined the state or quality of having status as a separate and independent nation. Many of the events have shown the wanting of a “Nationhood” all because of the wanting of “Freedom.”

The Declaration of Independence was written to explain why the colonists had a right to revolt against and become independent from England. The colonist’s largest complaint was that rules were being passed in England that affected their life in the colonies, but the colonists had no representation in England to voice their opinions of the colonists when the laws were being passed. The declaration states that the people have the right to overthrow a government that is not protecting their liberties. This shows the wanting for freedom and the wanting of nationhood.

The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. Under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. Congress was also given the authority to make treaties and alliances, maintain armed forces and coin money. However, the central government lacked the ability to levy taxes and regulate commerce, issues that led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 for the creation of new federal laws. In the Articles of confederation it would take a “unanimous” vote of the 13 colonies in order to pass a law. This shows nationhood because they weren’t very strong together but was still together as one nation.

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. The Federalist papers show what each party believed was right for their country. The Federalists supported the US Constitution as it was and they supported removing some powers from the states and giving more...