1. 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.

Both readings demonstrate the exclusion of minorities and the despotism of the white upper class . During the creation of the constitution the exclusion of minorities such as “Native Americans, persons of African descent, women, indentured servants and White males lacking sufficient property“(6.1) was found irrelevant. There were four social classes in 1787 “the slaves, the indentured servants, the mass of men who could not qualify for voting under the property tests imposed by the state constitutions and laws, and women.”. Those that were able to vote and have a political opinion were those who owned land and money.

2. Would you say that the social class structure of early United States society, was the same as ours today, or different? Explain.

The social structure of early United States society is similar to that of today. Given the elimination of slavery and changes in women’s oppression, not much did change. The rich still control the United States and the lower classes rely on the rich for products and jobs. The system set up in 1787 was capitalism without the interference of government regulation to keep a somewhat fair economic field between the rich and poor. There is more opportunities now to increase the amount of money you earn as education was made free and available for all. -One of the major differences between then and now. Other than the reforms for minorities to have a voice in politics and regulation upon companies, the rich still hold the majority of power as it did back in 1787.

3. 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.

 The purpose of the Constitution was not solely to provide order and form a united country. The Constitution guaranteed an “empowered national government, best safeguard(ed) for propertied interests.” Creating a democracy would call for the initiation of those in the lower classes to believe they could either rebel or participate in politics. -This is the opposite of what those in power wanted. The rich wanted to remain in governance and gain more capital. Democracy would call for a re-vote on most decisions that kept them at such a high and secure power level in comparison to others that also resided in the states. 

1. Based on the arguments presented in readings 6.1 and 6.2 it is clear that the Constitution was written by the wealthy class. The wealthy class being property owners. They can be broken into three classes, the small farmer, the manorial lords and the slave owners. The individuals left out of the Constitution creation where the working class or the “propertyless” as George Washington labeled them. This class consisted of freeholders, artisans, tenants, and indentured servants. Most of these individuals were heavily in debt. Debt and the need to not have to work directly for wealth is what mostly separated these two classes. As the article states ” Ordinary working people could not take off four months to go to Philadelphia and write a constitution. The debate between haves and have-nots never took place.”
2. I would say the social class structure of todays society is different then the social class of early United States. I believe it is different mostly due to the creation of the Middle Class. Early America was mainly wealthy or not wealthy. In todays society many individuals can not be wealthy but still own land and live a very comfortable financially free life. In early America that was not as possible. By owning land you immediately became a man of importance. this still holds some truth in todays society but much more land is needed to be recognized as wealthy.
3. The individuals who made the Constitution were so afraid of democracy because they did not want the lower classes to disrupt the wealthy class. George Washington himself said a constitution was badly needed “to contain the threat of the people rather than to embrace their participation and their competence,” lest “the anarchy of the propertyless would give way to despotism.” The founding Fathers were also afraid that the non land owning class would have different agendas then the land owning class. James Madison himself said “the most common and durable source of faction has been the various and unequal distribution of property [that is wealth]. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society” and “the first object of government” is “the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property.”

1. 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.

Based on the arguments presented in both readings the Constitution was written by the representatives of the owning class. The owning class was the groups of personal property those who were the Personality in Money, the one that had Money Capital and the one that were creditors. The text stated that George Washington, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson who were all very rich men and who participate in the Confederation of the Constitution wrote it in the benefit of the wealthy people. Those without property, slaves, indentured servants and women did not participate in the process. Qualifications for voting at state levels required in most cases the owning of property and excluded women, Indians and slaves.

1. Would say that the social class structure of early United States society, was the same as ours today, or different? Explain.

The social class structure of early United States was the same as ours today. Because we can still consider that there are 2 groups of classes. Most of the wealthy people opposed democracy, and designed the Constitution to ensure the aristocracy would continue to rule the society. Still today tax laws or reforms are adopted in order to protect the rights and interests of the wealthy, upper-class from the encroaches of the masses. We are still not a democratic country but a republic. Because the populist votes during an elections is manipulated by the rich people who finance the elections campaign. Statistics show our politicians are highly responsive to the policy preferences of rich people, while the preferences of poor and middle-class voters have pretty much no effect.

1. 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.

The people who wrote the Constitution are so afraid of democracy because by definition democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.. According to the author, democracy is a bad form of government because once you let everybody participate, then you’re likely to elect a demagogue. If democracy, there would be policies that would make the rich less rich. The owning class uses the working class labor to maintain their Capital. In democracy working class would get laws in their interests and they would not be dependent of the rich people. Some of the would not need to work for a living. No class exist without the other, in other words if there are no poor there would not be rich and vice versa.

1. The vote in the early American vote a certain amount of income non-minority had to earn.
2. Only nonminatories could vote.
3. According to madison to secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a fraction. Because of this the people who are talented to become rich will not make the poor become poorer.
4. Why they were afraid because it will be nonminority only but it will be minority as well.
5. Slavery was considered form of property.

DISCUSSION BOARD 6.2

1. The two classes were rich and poor. Because in one of the readings you have to make a certain amount of money to vote the only person who was allowed to vote was nonminority and the poor were not allowed to vote.
2. I would say it is different because African Americans and every other race can go out and vote in the United States.
3. The reason why they were afraid was that they realize that the house of Representatives revise some of the laws and whoever was not allowed to vote they have the opportunity to vote.

1.) The Constitution was believed to have been created in the year of 1787 with the intent of ensuring that it protected the country’s citizens and states. While it was believed that the opinion’s of all citizens was what aided in it’s creation, what became evident was that it did not truly include everyone. Reading 6.1 “A Constitution for the Few” by M. Parenti and reading 6.2 “Economic Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution” by Charles Beard, each created an argument regarding how one’s social class determined who was eligible to have a say in what the constitution should be. During this time, those with wealth or white men who owned property, created the constitution because they wanted a means of ensuring that their wealth continued to grow, be protected, and had minimal government interference. While they knew what they wanted, those who were classified as poor or the “working class” found themselves struggling to survive in a society that catered to people who were better off. This also meant that the two classes had different perspectives, what one wanted was not what the other saw as beneficial to them. For example, according to reading 6.1 “A Constitution for the Few,” paragraph 3 of page 5 states, “Major questions relating to the new government’s ability to protect the interests of property were agreed upon with surprisingly little debate. On these issues, there were no poor farmers, artisans, indentured servants, or slaves attending the convention to proffer an opposing viewpoint.” This quote from the text is a prime example of how the upper class sought to prioritize their needs first. Since this class composed of white men that owned valuable property, they wanted to ensure that the government’s power be used to protect their wealth. This obviously would not benefit the poor or working class because they do not own any property since they cannot afford it, making their needs a lot different from the upper class. Not to mention, despite the constitution being a means of including all citizens needs and rights, those of the working class such as farmers or slaves, could not attend the convention to protest because they cannot afford to take off from the jobs. On the other hand, there is reading 6.2 that focuses on the same stance of how a particular class dominates over the other one. Since the poor and working class consisted of people who are not as wealthy, this meant that basic rights were stripped from them. For example, according reading 6.2 “Economic Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution,” paragraph 2 of page 1 states, “In an examination of the structure of American society in 1787, we first encounter four groups whose economic status had a definite legal expression: the slaves, the indented servants, the mass of men who could not qualify for voting under the property tests imposed by the state constitutions and laws, and women, disenfranchised
and subjected to the discriminations of the common law.” This quote from the text focuses on individuals that make up the poor or working class category. These people were not able to vote, have a say when it comes to deciding who their future leaders will be. Not only is this injustice to them but also, falls back into the matter of how this class is not able to have a right; not in voting and not in the constitution’s creation.

2.) The social class structure of the United State’s in the earlier years comprised of the upper class or wealthy white men who owned valuable property. I believe that this class structure is what our society is like today because we can see quite a difference in how people are classified because of their amount of wealth. In our society today, we still have people of wealth-probably even more and they continue to grow and profit. Their businesses or corporations multiply, they seek to purchase products or create ones to be produced, and most of all, they have people who are in a lower class (such as working or middle) to work for them. Not only do they pay them much less than what their labor is worth but they are aware that they can get away with this because these individuals need their job in order to survive, a day without work can hinder their ability to afford various things they need. Many citizens across the country continue to believe that the wealthy gets wealthier and people who are not of that standard continue to suffer. Not to mention, considering the great rise in inflation, things that were a certain price have gone up substantially and the pay for many in other classes does not go up. Obtaining the American dream is in the hearts of many, the means of achieving it are quite far for them as well.

3.) The people who wrote the Constitution were so afraid of democracy because the people that compose the government are elected by the country’s citizens. The country is composed of people who are considered to be in different social classes; upper, middle, working, etc… These are all but a few names that classify various financial standings. Each one of these classes have people who want different things, someone who is of upper class standing would want the government to protect their property but someone in the working class would prefer financial help. Since everyone is obligated to vote on who they would elect as leaders, the country is composed mostly of people of lesser class and they would pick people that would think about their needs. Thus, the upper class would not have the government on their side and would not gain any benefits.

1. 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.

The constitution was written by wealthy white persons who owned property, according to Readings 6.1 and 6.2. The working class was not included in the Constitution-making process and was not permitted to take part. People who held property had to have assets worth more than what their state’s government was requesting. The elite class was favored to hold the majority vote and power of decision-making by those who drafted the Constitution. No one was permitted to have a meaningful voice in the creation of the constitution if they were not a man, white, and affluent. This implies that any type of less fortunate member of society was prohibited from taking part in the constitution-writing process.

2. Would say that the social class structure of early United States society was the same as ours today, or different? Explain.

The social class structure in early American society was distinct from that in contemporary culture. This is due to the fact that today, regardless of the type of society you are in, whether it be the working class or upper class, we now have a voice. This doesn’t necessarily mean that our voice is heard, but it does mean that we are now able to speak up and make change happen, whereas in the early days of the United States, if you weren’t rich and white, you couldn’t vote.

3. 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.

Since the thoughts of the ordinary man would directly become legislation, our founding fathers feared a direct democracy. Instead, they employed a “republic” or indirect democracy so that elected officials could speak for the views of the general populace.Democracy has recently been under fire for not providing adequate political stability. Democracy tends to result in frequent changes to both domestic and foreign policies because governments are constantly chosen and deselected.

1. 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. Based on readings 6.1 and 6.2 wealthy property owners were able to write the constitution to be more specific property-owning white males. They had the chance to vote while the poor couldn’t as stated in the text,” Excluded were all Native Americans (“Indians”), persons of African descent, women, indentured servants, and White males lacking sufficient property. Property qualifications for holding office were so steep as to exclude even most of the White males who could vote. This shows us that based on your social class you get certain privileges than those who have no money. There were many poor people who were going into debt and as mentioned in the article,” Economic prisoners crowded the jails, incarcerated for debts or nonpayment of taxes”.
2. Would say that the social class structure of early United States society, was the same as ours today, or different? Explain. Social class structure in the united states in earlier times is different then what it is today due to the fact that no matter if you’re poor or wealthy your voice matters and you’re able to vote.But on earlier times people who were poor didnt have such rights as stated in the readings that mentioned that in order to be able to vote you must be wealthy and own some type of property. Although even right now in the United States some people may be treated unfairly due to their economic status or social class it isn’t as bad as before.
3. 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.  The article states,” They were determined that persons of birth and fortune should control the affairs of the nation and check the “leveling impulses” of the propertyless multitude who composed “the majority faction” (majority class). This means that the wealthy class wants to be the only one with power and control and doesn’t want the poor/working class to have the same power as them. The article also states,’’Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society” and “the first object of government” is “the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property.” The wealthy class doesnt want the working class to have the same rights as them or same interest in society because it can affect them later on and they think it would be unfair.