- Based on the arguments presented in Readings 6.1 and 6.2, which social class wrote the Constitution, and which class was excluded and not allowed to participate in this process? In your comment, make sure you clearly specify the difference between the two classes by giving examples from the readings.
- Would say that the social class structure of early United States society, was the same as ours today, or different? Explain.
- Why were the people who wrote the Constitution so afraid of democracy? Hint: think about how to answer this question by discussing it in terms of social classes.
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1. From what I got out of Parenti and Beard, the Constitution was mainly written by the wealthy upper class — men who had land, businesses, or money invested. They were the ones with the power and resources to actually be part of the process. The people left out were the majority: small farmers, poor laborers, women, and enslaved people. Basically, anyone without property had no real voice. Beard really stresses how the framers were protecting their own economic interests, while Parenti points out how shut out the lower classes were.
2. I think there are some similarities between then and now. Back in early America, the rich clearly had all the control and only property-owning men could vote. Today, everyone can technically vote, but money still plays a huge role in politics. Wealthy people and corporations have way more influence because of things like lobbying and campaign donations. So the structure isn’t exactly the same, but you can see that the divide between rich and poor still affects who really has power.
3. The framers were afraid of democracy because they didn’t trust the lower classes to make decisions that protected the wealthy. Parenti talks about how uprisings like Shays’ Rebellion scared them — poor farmers demanding relief from debts threatened elite interests. Beard shows that the Constitution was written in a way that kept property and wealth safe from majority rule. So their fear of “too much democracy” was really a fear of losing control to the common people.