Constitutional Convention
Comparing essays from John Roche and Richard HofstadterSince the beginnings of the Constitutional Convention, the Founding Fathers of our great country and their motives, during the time of the writing of the constitution, have been questioned and analyzed. This still holds true to this century. Two historians, John P. Roche and Richard Hofstadter, have both published essays giving their interpretations of what happened during that time in our countries history. Although both of thee essays were written within twenty years of each other the historians give two very different views on the events of the Constitutional Convention.Richard Hofstadter's The American Political Tradition and The Men Who Made It shows a history of our nation that we do not usually see interpreted. He believes that the Constitution was written by men who were not looking to create a government for the people, they looked to create a "good politic
The "Virginia Plan" proposed by James Madison, and the "New Jersey Plan" proposed by William Patterson, are both equally written about in Roche's essay. Those who backed the "Virginia Plan" were ones who looked out for the interest of the states as a whole not the common person. The people of the newly founded United States wanted a democratic government. Roche does, without taking sides by writing his own opinion, split the constitutionalists into two groups, those who were for states rights and those who are for the idea of a centralized government. " This idea is only further proven by the words of the Founding Fathers themselves. " Even though these wealthy would have considerable power in a non-democratic government they agreed that the people should not be without a voice in the government. I believe the combinations of the two are the actual events of that fateful summer. He does go on to state the compromise reached in both the problem of representation and the problem of governments right to taxation. The writings of each man show how historians have interpreted how the constitution was conceived. It was due to the fact that of all the men present only "half a dozen. al constitution to control him [the people]. The ideas of both these men have sufficient evidence to back them up. Much of what is known about the Constitutional Convention is taken from the notes of James Madison.
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Acceptance Essays
