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. 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.
   1. Based on Reading 6.1 and 6.2 the rich as well as property owning white men wrote the constitution. The working class was excluded and not allowed to participate in the process of the Constitution, this includes women, slaves, those who did not own property, indentured servants, and Native Americans. Those who owned property had to own assets over the amount the government of their state was asking. Those who wrote the Constitution preferred the elite class to have the majority vote and deciding powers.
2. Would say that the social class structure of early United States society, was the same as ours today, or different? Explain.
   1. The social class of the early United States society is the same as ours today in that the upper class and rich have power over the government and write the laws. The middle and working class who consume most of the debt in the United States have little rights in the decision making in the US. How the structure in hierarchy of classes was back then is the same as it is now with the wealthy, upper class, middle class m and the lower class.
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.
   1. Those who wrote the Constitution were so afraid of democracy because they wanted to continue to defend and protect their interest and the interest of property. They didn’t want the majority to have any control and they didn’t want them to be able to oppose their view points in regards to the new government. They viewed the working class as incompetent to many attributes, and were afraid of tyranny by the majority.

1. In Document 6.1 & 6.2 it states only wealthy people or land owners could participate in the building of the constitution. This means that any kind of poorer member of society was not allowed to participate in this build. “In the period from the American Revolution to the Constitutional Convention (1776–1787), the big landowners, merchants, and bankers exercised a strong influence over politico-economic life, often dominating the local newspapers that served the interests of commerce” stated on page 5 of 6.1  states wealthy politically involved members of society had great control of everything they could have control over.  “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.” stated on the first page of 6.2 shows the wealthy intended on keeping not only slaves but poorer men, women in general and indentured servants down below them, that they did not compare to them. (Which is unjust).
2. I would say our social class issues are a bit different but also sort of the same as this time that we’re learning about (Around the time of the Constitution). Back then there weren’t as many resources for the poor, not to mention the men and people of that time were ruthless they didn’t care about anyone that wasn’t their own. Today a majority of people have their freedoms, so that has changed. So has the resources we have, such as social security, financial aid, tuition payment, and funds. All that. I would say there definitely still are people who use their money for corruption, but also a lot of men and women with money trying to help the less fortunate. 
3. Good question. The constitution writers were afraid of democracy because democracy means the people have more power over the lower class people as well as everyone else, whereas in a republican area the power the government would have would come from the people and has a less likely chance to become corrupt (Even though both are now heavily corrupt).

1. The social class that was allowed to write the constitution but also participate in voting events were the upper class people, specifically, capitalist white males who owned property. On the contrary the class that happened to be excluded from these privileges were the working classes who consisted of folk who were “Native Americans (“Indians”), persons of African descent, women, indentured servants, and White males lacking sufficient property.”(Democracy for the Few, pg. 5). If someone was not a man, white and wealthy, they were not allowed to have a significant word within the making of the constitution.
2. The early social class structure of the united states is different than what is in modern day society. This is due to the fact that in our present day no matter what type social you are in, wether it be in the working class or upper class, we have a role in what goes on within the political atmosphere. For example, in the early days of the u.s. if you weren’t rich and white, you were not allowed to vote, however in today’s society that is not the case.
3. The people who wrote the constitution were afraid of democracy because they saw the working class were people who spent very little money, never payed debts and were in support of paper money. Because of these particular reasons they believed the working class were not allowed to have a word in society through democracy.

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. 

According to readings 6.1 and 6.2 the rich capitalist class was responsible for writing the United States Constitution. This is clear because during colonization and beyond, wealthy white men were given the gift of land as provided by the King of England. Additionally, between the time of the American Revolution and the Constitutional convention, affluent landowners, merchants, and bankers had a substantial amount of control and influence over politics throughout the United States. As represented in reading 6.1, only landowning white men were able to vote in twelve out of the thirteen states.  

The social class that wasn’t allowed to vote was considered the working-class citizens, who were the group of people who needed to work in order to survive. These people were referred to as the disenfranchised. The term “disenfranchised,” as defined on Wiktionary.org, is expressed as a set of people who aren’t represented, nor awarded the opportunity to vote in an election. This group was not allowed to participate in the development process of this newly formed country, especially in the creation of the government system. People who were deemed the disenfranchised were the Native Americans, Black people, women, indentured servants, and white men who did not have any claim to land. 

 As stated in reading 6.1, the qualifications for becoming a government official were so strict that many white men who were able to vote could not run for office. In reading 6.1 Michael Parenti quoted that “there is a class of men denominated “gentlemen”… they are creditors, and therefore interested in strengthening the government and watching over the execution of the law… it is for their interest to establish the credit of the United States in Europe on a solid foundation by the exact payment of debts, and to grant Congress powers extensive enough to compel the people to contribute for this purpose ” (Parenti 6). This simply means that the wealthy class was developing the United States constitution to align with their own self-interests and should compel the average working-class citizen that it is within their best interest to allow them to have this power. The wealthy capitalists did not want to include anything within this constitution that might protect the working-class people of society. In actuality these capitalist founders were convinced that land in the hands of working-class citizens would be misused, as explained in reading 6.2. Furthermore, there is a possibility that they would become wealthier and stronger than them. Therefore, in either case they would pose a threat to the capitalists’ existence and position in the social order.  

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 of today’s society is the same as early United States society. As described in reading 6.2, we have almost identical class systems ranging from the poor lower-class citizens who have no wealth, the citizens who have a small amount of wealth, and the exuberantly wealthy capitalist class who owns most of the wealth within the country. The small farmers of early American society, who consisted of the poor whites, mechanics, and the European immigrants would be similar to today’s poor working-class citizens who have no wealth. The manorial lords who owned a little bit of wealth in early United States fall along the same lines as today’s working-class citizens who have some wealth. The third and final group of early America had a substantial amount of wealth, similarly to today’s wealthy capitalist class, and they were the slaveholders of the South. The two main class systems of early and modern society are the wealthy capitalist owners and the working-class citizens and are therefore the same. Regardless of the many advancements forward from the abolishment of slavery, the lack of indentured servitude, and the women’s right to vote, the class systems are essentially the same.  

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 group of men that are known to have written and signed the United States Constitution were some of the wealthiest people in America. However, they were not very keen on the idea of democracy. Reading 6.1 it declares that the framers believed that democracy was “the worst of all political evils” (Parenti 8). Some even credited democracy as the source of all the nation’s problems. The wealthy leaders who wrote the Constitution never considered the new nation to be a democracy where all Americans were given equal opportunity to vote on all current issues. Instead, the Founding Fathers meant for the right to vote to be for the wealthy landowning and educated people. It is noted in the Parenti reading that Alexander Hamilton believed that people outside of the wealthy and wellborn class did not possess the qualities to make the right decisions for their country. The mass of people was very unstable and constantly changing their mind.  

Despite the equality depicted in the Constitution, the wealthy Founding Fathers did not want poor people to vote. They even excluded poor farmers, artisans, indentured servants, and slaves from their committee meetings. They did not care to hear any objections or opposing viewpoints and preferred to look after their own self-interests. For instance, many queries regarding the topic of property protection were settled and approved of with extraordinarily little argument. They spent many hours arguing about issues that pertain to merchants, slaveholders, and manufacturers, but not those of the common people. Constitution is written so that the average working American citizen has very little power. This was due to their fear of appealing to the turbulent masses. George Washington is quoted asking the Founding Fathers not to create a document “just to please people” (Parenti 8).  

To keep the poor out of the decision-making process the founding fathers implemented a list of rules to prevent the low wealth majority from unifying and becoming stronger. Some examples of these government rules are that the senators from each state were to be elected by their respective state legislatures rather than the voters, the president was to be selected by an electoral college whose members were elected by representatives in only five states, or by the state legislature or sheriffs in the other eleven states, the electoral college is to act like an obstacle for popular opinion where each state was represented by men of wealth and substance and chose a president who best fit their needs, and the Supreme Court would be a lifelong position appointed by the current president with approval by the senate. Slavery was also considered a form of property. Three-fifths of the slave population was counted when calculating state representation giving the slave states more reputation in congress. 

 Most of the laws mentioned are still in effect, most notably the primitive practice of the electoral college, with former slave states having more representation. The exception is the senator election process, which is now executed state by state and elected by their respective citizens. The only system of government elected by the people was the House of Representatives. People would vote for wealthy properties white men who would be responsible for choosing a president who had high character, yet selective judgment. The Founding Fathers constructed the American Constitution as a republic, a state where the power is held by the people and their representatives. Contrary to widespread belief, America is not a democracy appeasing the will of the people. This was done so informed wealthy delegates of the people would successfully serve the public good, while writing laws that benefit themselves and other members of the wealthy capitalist class. They were particularly afraid of creating an environment ruled by demagogues and mobs that would harm the wealthy class. 

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