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John Pham
Mrs.Tompkins/ Mr.Wemmer
Eng.3P/ Per.5
4 November 2016
A New American Nation

The new American nation was a newly created nation from the union of the thirteen

colonies fighting for their freedom from British oppression during the American revolution. The

colonies gained their freedom but they did not want their own government to have too much

power so they limited the government's power and placed more emphasis on individual rights.

Which they did not have when they were under the British rule. They saw many problems with it

so they decided to hold a convention and change constitution. They came up with a balance after

seeing what happened when a government had too much power and when it has too little. These

ideas are shown in The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and Thomas Jefferson:

The Best of Enemies. The people had been given their individual rights when they freed

themselves from Britain, they will form a strong, long-lasting union but also bind its powers into

separate groups, and fight to find a common ground between individual rights and a union.

When the colonist were being oppressed by the British with taxation, no free trade,

unlimited search and seizure, and more. The colonist were done with the Britishes actions and

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, to declare their independence from

Britain rule and create their own union. Thomas Jefferson declared that, all men are created

equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these

are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (US 1776). He noted that every man had his

rights and that no man stood over one another, that we are all equal who were given unalienable

rights by the creator. Every individual is equal and just because one person has more power does
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not mean you lose that those rights, because they will always be with you. Thomas Jefferson also

stated that, these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States,

(US 1776). The thirteen colonies formed a union and are freeing themselves from British rule

and becoming free and independent states. The colonies joined together as a union to form their

own country, to not be under the rule of a King, and to gain a democratic society. The colonist

freed themselves from the British oppression by having their individual rights and becoming a

country themselves.

In 1777, the articles of confederation was written but was deemed powerless for law

enforcement, it did not give Congress the ability to protect the nation, regulate currency and

enact diplomacy. So James Madison during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 wrote The

U.S Constitution, to established America's national government and fundamental laws, and

guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. Article nine of the constitution states that, The

Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several

States (US Const. amend. IV sec. 2). All citizens of one state is treated equally as fair as one

from another state. No smaller or larger state is treated differently and that everyone has the

same rights, as another no matter where they are in the country. In the preamble of the

constitution is also states, ... in Order to form a more perfect Union, (US Const. Preamble).

James Madison wrote this document to form a more perfect union, and become a unified

country. The very document known as the constitution was to help develop a way to create a

balance between individual rights and government power. So the country would not be heavily

leaning to one side or the other causing disruption to the union.

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Also in Thomas Jefferson: The Best of Enemies by Ron Chernow during the

constitutional convention Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton fought over the ideas of

individual rights and a strong union. Alexander Hamilton believed in giving the union more

power so he tried to persuade,

... President Washington to create the Bank of the United State, the country's first central bank,

(Chernow 144). It is a union of all the states where every state could use the bank and it connects

to every state. The bank would be the one to keep all the currency in check to keep the United

States as a country and not let it lead to ruin. Jefferson saw things differently he wanted more

individual rights over a stronger federal power, Jefferson believed that liberty was jeopardized

by concentrate federal power, which he tried to restrict through a narrow construction of the

constitution (Chernow 142). Jefferson saw that by have a stronger federal power it would lead

to the destruction of liberty, freedom. He saw a stronger government as a bad thing rather than a

good thing. These two opinion were both correct but by having a balance it would created a

strong, long-lasting union and preserve individual rights.

The colonist had come together and they worked on a way to change America to how it is

now. Even after being ruled over by an oppressing king they worked out ways to create a country

that had a balance between preserving individual rights and a strong, long-lasting union. With

documents like the The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution written to protect the

people's rights. Thomas Jefferson: The Best of Enemies which showed the opinions and thought

of Jefferson and Hamilton about which side is better. It all lead to one answer and that is that

they need each other to have a strong long-lasting union that will preserve individual rights.
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Citation Page

Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

Madison, James. 1787 The Constitution September 17, 1787

Chernow, Ron. "Thomas Jefferson: The Best Of Enemies." Time. Time Inc., 05 July 2004.

Web. 03 Nov. 2016.