Charles Beard’s suggested that the Constitution was a document that was only created to protect the framer’s wealth. Beard believed that the reason why the rich framers wanted to protect against majority rule was to prevent the majority to overthrow the rich. Beard did manage to fit most of the framers under “rich” categories such as lawyers, landowners, and merchants. But, he failed to realize that the framers limited majority rule to protect the rights of minorities, also. The framers attempted to perfect the constitution by protecting the minority while giving majority some power.
The Constitution was drafted by framers that took a lot of time and effort to make a document that has held this nation together for centuries. The framers protected the minority by limiting majority rule, but Beard believed that by limiting majority rule, it would be more of an economical advantage to the wealthy framers. The reason why the framers motive was more political than economic was because the framers wanted to make minorities equal to the majority. One way the framers limited the majority rule was by implementing amendment fifteen.
Amendment fifteen prohibits the denial on race, color, or previous conditions of servitude; this protected the minorities, blacks, against the majority, whites. An example of amendment fifteen would be that if an black freed slave wanted to work for a store, the employer could not deny him for his color or his previous work as a slave. A different way the framers limited majority rule was by using Electoral College; this allowed minorities to also have a fair vote in the election of the President and Vice President.
Charles Beard’s accusation does not contain any support and it was more likely that the reason the framers limited majority rule was to ensure that the minority also had power. Framers limited majority rule to prevent minorities starting an uprising. By restraining majority rule, uprisings would not be able to form in this growing nation. Beard’s thesis states that the framers only cared about themselves and their wealth. But, the Constitution limits the majority only because of the fear of uprisings from the minorities. The framers wrote the Constitution with the mindset of preventing the majority to dominate the minority.
If there was no limit on majority rule, the majority could end up making all the decisions. This would leave the minorities fueled with anger and they would have a reason to overthrow the government. An uprising that caused the framers to limit majority rule was Shay’s Rebellion. The framers saw that the minority, poor farmers, did not have any choice because the majority dominated them. The framers also realized that this uprising could have taken down the nation because the nation was also unorganized and weak at that time.
This event made the framers realized that the minority should also have power or else the majority would dominate again. Notes: * Plenty of grammatical errors. * Your main point was obvious: Beard’s opinion is incorrect, and limiting majority rule was for political purposes, not economical purposes. * Try to make your points more concise. I had a hard time understanding what the main point of each paragraph was. * Write like a pundit. Make a clear, strong point. Don’t cloud your point with slips of data. * I’m not sure if your interpretations of majority rule match mine.
Majority rule was instituted to protect the majority from getting too powerful. The majority could not act unwillingly against the minority’s favor because the law sometimes defended the minority. For example, whites were the majority, and they didn’t want the blacks to be free. But by the law, even though the whites were the majority, they couldn’t control the blacks. * I would have to read the Beard essay to know for sure which “majority rule” it’s talking about. I think it’s the one I mentioned though.
The other majority rule is essentially the definition of democracy, where the country makes a decision based on what the majority wants. * Make your essay more flowing and readable. Try to interact with the reader a little. Make it your voice, thus conversational, but at the same time the intelligent-and-school version of you. * Cut the fluff. For example, “Charles Beard’s belief on the Constitution was that the Constitution was a document that was only created to protect the framer’s wealth” could just be: “Charles Beard believed that the Constitution was created only to protect the framers’ wealth. * The fluff, as mentioned earlier, really obfuscates your point and makes the essay hard to read. If removed, your points will be clearer, stronger, and leave room to be defended with more examples. * The prompt asked you to use specific wording from the Constitution or amendments. Make sure you do that! That really strengthens your argument. * Especially use it in the third paragraph. Don’t just say what the framers thought (majority rule gave power to the majority and minority) and say what caused them to think it (Shay’s Rebellion).
Show proof that they thought this by referencing to exact wording in the Constitution! * You spent a lot of time describing majority rule. Try this: briefly describe Beard’s argument and what the term majority rule is talking about all in the first paragraph, so the remaining paragraphs can be used for argumentative purposes. * Commission Fee: $1 * Payment status: Unpaid * Date: October 13, 2011 * Client: Dustin of Vietnam * Thank you for your service! We wish to see you again!
