articals

While studing for the final i was looking at the first question about the articals of confederation. the strengths were that the government was decenteralized and i think that is something that could benefit us today. I think that our government has too much power i might be a jeffersonian when it comes to thinking about states rights but i think that if when they wrote the constatution, they kept in mind the fact that our country was going to get huge. then our government wouldnt have ended up as large as it is. It was necessary to make a new constatution but the articals of confederation werent all bad either.

Chapter 12

While reading chapter 12 i came upon the statistic that in the early 1840s 90 percent of Alabamas legislators were slave owners. It makes me curious about the other states because the south was predomidently in favor of slave owning so it would make sence for the legislators to be slave owners.. The book also said that the legislators(obviously) voted for things in favor of the slave owning population. But the book also says that in georgia only about 56 people were slave owners. So how would the government know if these places were really in favor of slavery or if only the aristocrates were in favor of it. How did things end up changing if everyone in legislator was pro-slavery.

another thought on jefferson.

i am really curious to learn why jefferson wanted America to be full of farmers. Was it so we could be self sufficiant and not rely on the government to suppy us with the things we need to survive. I am not sure if i missed this lecture but i think that the united states would be alot better if we were more self sufficiant. We rely heavily on China to give us all of the stuff that we use on a daily basis. Jefferson also might have had a point back in the day as well. America was trying to become a strong working country. If we relyed on the government America would just turn into a new Britian instead of improving and creating democracy. My idea is that he wanted the United States to be able to sustain itself, and he wanted the indevidual states to be able to control themselves because he DID NOT want a government like Britian and that what i thought the whole point was anyways? makes me wonder why Hamilton had, and stilll has, a large following

Jefferson.

While reading the controversy over the constitutionality of a United States Bank, i think i have to agree more with jefferson. It goes to show how much i know about our government now, i dont even know if we have a national bank. I think jefferson makes good points about why it would be unconstitutional, but thats for me to discuss in my analysis.

I think that if the government had a national bank, expecially with our current "money issues" in Washington DC, the federal debt would increase RAPIDLY. I think the power should reside in the state to control their own money, It makes sence for the federal government  to control external money affairs but not all things within the country. That is giving them WAY to much power.

In jeffersons times if it was possible to control the countries debt without the use of a national bank then it would definatly be against the constitution.

Today in Class

Today in class we talked about the continental congress and The Articals. It was said that the articals limited the power of the government, Aka the continental congress. They were unable to levy taxes or have an Army but it also ment that the states were in control of the taxes and spending. In a way i think that our government now would be better off if the states were in control of their own spending as opposed to the National government being in control of taking care of all the states. With that said i think we still need a government but the power that it has should be limited and the power of every state should be increased to an extent. We do still need an Army and that should not be on the state level, if every state had an army we would be at war with eachother and that isnt the point. I just think the National Debt has become ridiculous and if every state was in control of their own Social Security and programs for the elderly and immagrents then the debt would be less.

Womens Role?

While i was writing my outlines for our midterm i realized that there is not much mention about women. I realize that women had no rights like they do now. But i am still curious, when the servants came over from Spain, it says most of them were men and young men. Were there still some girls in that group? If there were what were their roles. It is hard to imagine there were no women because then their wouldnt be another generation but i havent read much about the female role.

Chapter 6

I have not been able to understand the term "grassroots" i know we had a discussion on it in class, but how does it relate to popular soverenty? Does it have to do with the fact that the common should be the people in control because they are the one who are the foundation of the colony? like the roots are the foundation of the grass? Home rule like the foundation of the society?

It makes me think of locke and the idea of people creating the government therefore the government has to protect their natural rights. Like even the though the people are the "grass roots" the elite should be the one in control.

correct me if i am wrong :)