According to the Readings, the Constitution was written by wealthy elites, such as landowners, merchants, and slaveholders, who wanted to protect their property and political power. This upper class included figures like James Madison and George Washington. In contrast, the working class, poor farmers, women, enslaved people, and Indigenous peoples were excluded from the process and had no voice in shaping the new government. The founders were afraid of democracy because they feared that if the lower classes gained too much power, they would vote for laws that threatened the wealth and status of the elite. While the class structure of early America was more openly unequal, with voting and power limited to cis white male property owners, many can argue that economic inequality and political influence still reflect similar divisions today, just in more passive or hidden forms.

The elite upper class was the primary author of the Constitution. This group was mostly made up of wealthy landowners, wealthy merchants, wealthy lawyers, and wealthy planters. They were generally well-educated and held positions of social and economic status. Conversely, the social class that was greatly excluded and prohibited from participating was the lower class, which were small farmers, artisans, laborers, enslaved people, and women (regardless of social class).
Looking at the difference between these two classes in the context of the readings you referred to brings a few factors to light. First, the upper elite class as we could see from written history, held a lot of property and economic power. For example, individuals such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington were wealthy landowners or lawyers for very important economic interests at the Constitutional Convention (e.g., James Madison for the Virginia Company). On the other hand, the lower classes such as a small farmer that was in debt or urban laborers that were unable to support their family, lacked the economic and political power. The poor were perceived to be less educated or not able to govern. While it is true that the lower classes may not have had the same experiences as the more elite citizens of the time, it is a very generalized comment about them by the elite to feel superior (which is of course an historically rooted social structure).

class antagonism – a belief that democracy and political expression by the masses risks inequity and danger for the wealthy and propertied classes. In some ways, this unease towards “mob rule” echoes contemporary fears about unrest by the growing disenfranchised classes in America today. In the twenty-first century United States, fully hegemonic forms of the political economy have emerged which are expressly and uniformly critical of Full Citizenship that privileged whites have historically fostered. Both the property elite, and now the professional elite, are understandably frustrated at the idea of political mobilizations by the disenfranchised poor and minority classes that criticize such systems. They do not merely oppose inequality, but challenge their individual and collective economic interests. These elite classes are rightfully worried about their financial power and social standing being publicly invalidated in ways they never anticipated through social justice movements. While the 1787 framers were not merely concerned about protecting the interests of the wealthy class, they constructed an economic system and governance structure that created much wealth and class income inequality through the exploitation of classed, racialized and gendered relations of power.

As outlined in the readings the constitution was written by the ‘gentlemen class’ or ‘propertied class’ a minority of the population consisting of no more than roughly 10%. In contrast the ‘propertyless multitude’ can be categorized as the ‘Majority Faction’ class. The framework of the constitution outlining that this small ‘gentlemen class’ were the only individuals that had the right to vote, comprised exclusively by white male property owners. The ‘Majority Faction’ comprised of all other groupings that did not hold the rights extended to this ‘propertied class’, Native Americans, African Americans and women were barred from constitutional equality, but also most white men who could not qualify for voting under the ‘property tests’ in the state constitutions and laws. 

2. The class structure of the early United States reflects the current social inequality within American society in the 21^stcentury. Despite clear gains in social mobility through emancipation, the suffragette movement and universal voting rights for citizens over the age of eighteen; the bourgeoisie still benefit the most in our capitalist society and reflect the same social class differentials of that in the 18^th century. The property-owning class have an unequal amount of political and social leveraging, through lobbying and campaign financing of politicians the same small percentage of elites exsert undue influence in the same way the propertied class of the 18^th century did. 

True democracy would have been a direct threat to the economic and political dominance of the propertied class who composed the constitution. By seeking to defend the interests of the ‘wealthy few’ in opposition to the ‘laboring many’ the framers of the constitution outlined an explicit desire to minimize the power of the disenfranchised class which would only serve to shift the balance of power where a true democracy be allowed to develop. 

•  In both readings, it is argued that the US Constitution was written primarily by and for the economic elite, excluding the working class, farmers and enslaved people from the process. Parenti suggests the constitution was created by wealthy property owners to protect their financial investments. He points out that many of them were creditors and land owners who designed a structure to limit popular influence through mechanisms such as the electoral college, and the appointment of senators rather than direct election. Parenti says “On these issues, there were no poor farmers, artisans, indentured servants or slaves, attending the convention to proffer an opposing viewpoint. Ordinary working people could not take off four months to go to Philadelphia and write a constitution.” Beard suggests how the constitution served the interests of the ruling class, reinforcing a system that maintained economic dominance over the wealthy elite. He discussed how the government suppressed Democratic uprising such as Shays rebellion, which was led by indebted farmers who demanded relief from economic oppression. He also emphasizes that enslaved people, women and indigenous groups were completely excluded from political participation. 
• I would agree that the structure of social class is similar today than it was back then back then wealthy land owners mergers, and anybody with influence controlled the government while laborers, enslaved people and women had little to no political power. Today, the rich being big corporations or billionaires still hold most of the influence shaping laws to protect their wealth while many people struggle.
• The people who wrote the constitution were afraid of democracy because they were the wealthy elites, the landowner‘s, merchants, and creditors who feared that too much power in the hands of the working class would threaten their wealth and control.

which social class wrote the Constitution, and which class was excluded and not allowed to participate in this process?

1) The arguments presented in Readings 6.1 and 6.2 the Constitution was written by the wealthy elite landowners, merchants, and creditors who had a huge interest in protecting their economic power these people were from the upper class, owning property, businesses and so on and debtors were excluded from the process and were not given a voice, people in the working class, small farmers and those not rich had no opportunity to choose the government the wanted

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

2) It is pretty much the same those with financial power have still advantage on the working class for example, the difference is that today the middle and low class are given voice and vote but still the rich ones have priority

Why were the people who wrote the Constitution so afraid of democracy?

3) They believed it would lead to instability and threaten their economic interests, they saw too much public participation as a danger, particularly from the lower classes (working class), who might push for wealth redistribution, debt relief, or policies unfavorable to property owners, so basically they put their interests first and they did not want the lower class to has much participation or influence

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 the readings The Social class that wrote the constitution would be The Elite class and the class that was excluded and not allowed to participate in this process would be The Excluded, The Elite class was mostly made of wealthy landowners, merchants to name a few but their primary concern would be to protect and expand their wealth while The Excluded class made of poor farmers, enslaved people and urban workers, In “Class Power in Early America” Parenti focuses on how the new American political system largely ignores the voices of the working class like poor farmers and urban laborers he lets us know that the constitution framers where more concerned in securing the interest of the wealthy and keeping their class power, Parenti also talks about the Revolutionary War, during it the poor farmers and workers had a major role in fighting for Independence but as soon as the war was over they were excluded from the political process, so the framers made up a system that was designed to limit the influence of poorer citizens, The Elite Class beard’s argument in “An Economic interpretation of the U.S Constitution” it shows us that the framers wanted to create a government that would protect their investments.

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

I think that the social class structure of early United States was different from the one we have today because of differences of political power, economic class structure or social mobility to name a few despite having some similarities there is difference for example political power in the early U.S society the wealthy elite, the framers of the constitution were mostly concerned in preserving their economics interest and maintaining control over the government and only property owning men could participate in the political process and the rest like the working class, indigenous people had no real political power compared to today’s society but today there are more ways to move up in society than back then and it’s more inclusive than 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.

I think that the people/framers who wrote the Constitution were afraid of democracy because they believed that too much power for the general population like the lower class would threaten their economic power and property rights, they also feared that the poor would disrupt the the economic system that benefited the wealthy elite, so to protect their interest they made up a system that would limit popular influence and to make sure that the educated elites held the most power in their government.

1. In Readings 6.1 and 6.2, the arguments presented support the claim that the elite landowning and merchant class wrote the Constitution, and the other class which was excluded from this process is the working class, poor farmers, enslaved people, women, and Indigenous peoples. The Constitution was written by the elite landowning and merchant class which included wealthy plantation owners, lawyers and businessmen. These individuals, who were often called the Federalist elite, had a good deal of economic power and wanted to create a government that would guarantee their position, especially as regards property and order. Many of the Founding Fathers, such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, were part of this privileged class, and they were wary of the lower orders in politics. On the other hand, the working class, poor farmers, enslaved people, women, and Indigenous peoples were barred from the Constitutional convention. The landless, poor, and indebted people, many of whom had served in the army during the Revolutionary War, had no say in the formation of the new government. Stuents, women, and enslaved people had no voice in politics. Also, Native Americans were completely shut out from the legal system of the new republic. The distinction between these two classes was that the Constitution was meant to guarantee the rights of the wealthy and prevent the lower classes from directly exercising their political rights. 2. Do you think the social class structure of early United States society was the same as ours today or rather different? Explain. Although some features can be common between the social class structure of the early United States and the present world, there are some differences. As it was in the 18th century, wealth and power were exercised by a few elite in both the current world and the founding era; the modern elite comprises of corporate tycoons, political kings and billionaires. There is also a similarity in the levels of income inequality; the present levels of income inequality are reminiscent of the class structure of the past. However, there are differences. In the 18th century, there were legal barriers to participation, such as the property vote. Today, everyone is legally entitled to vote and stand for election, independent of their social status, skin color or gender, although economic power is still a major determinant of political power. Where early America was an agrarian society with a clear cut social structure based on the ownership of land, the economy of the present world is industrial and technological, and wealth is generated through companies and the financial sector. Therefore, although democracy has been expanded since the time of the Constitution, there are still some obstacles such as economic inequality and elite political power which makes the two classes system of today and that of the early United States completely different and at the same time completely the same. 3. Why did those who wrote the Constitution fear democracy? The framers of the Constitution were terrified of full democracy because they associated it with the mob and turmoil, especially the mob from the poor people. Many of them, including James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, feared that if too much power was given to the general population, especially to the heavily in debt farmers and workers, they would enact policies that would be detrimental to the wealthy elite. The Shays’ Rebellion of 1786-1787 which was a revolt by farmers who could not pay taxes increased these fears because it showed that the lower class had the capability of forming a rebellion. To avoid direct democratic control, the framers put in place the following measures to prevent the lower classes from having a say in government: The Electoral College was proposed to avoid a direct election by the population to the presidency. Senators were chosen by state legislatures and not by the people, thus the elite kept on controlling the government. The judicial branch was protected from public influence because Supreme Court justices were not elected but appointed. The House of Representatives was directly chosen by the people but they had shorter terms and less power than the Senate. In other words, the fear of democracy was based on the social class lemma; the rich were scared that a government by the people would endanger their position. Instead of establishing a direct democracy, the Constitution was meant to create a republic in which the power of the elite would be guaranteed while the majority would have something to say.

The Constitution of the United States was written by the wealthy, property-owning class, including large landowners, merchants, and bankers. These men had significant economic interests and wanted a strong central government to protect their property and wealth. The classes excluded from the process included enslaved people, indentured servants, women, Native Americans, and poor white men who did not own property. They had no voting rights or political representation and were not considered in the decision-making process.The social class structure in early America was different from today. Back then, the gap between rich and poor was vast, and only a small percentage of people had political power. Today, while inequality still exists, more people have voting rights and political participation, though economic disparities remain.The people who wrote the Constitution were afraid of democracy because they feared that the poor majority would take away their wealth and power. They believed that the “common people” were too unpredictable and could pass laws that would cancel debts or redistribute land. To prevent this, they designed a government that protected the interests of the wealthy while limiting the direct influence of ordinary citizens.

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.