Yes, We can! It is Our New Nation! The United States!

The political upheaval which brought to massive dissatisfaction and war, eventually, had its end in Paris, in 1783 United States were officially recognized as the Unites States of America – an independent nation. It was not the America we know today, but rather loose notion, the states were still very much indeed loyal to the old system, they perceived themselves as New Yorkers or New Virginians – not the Americans. Each American stated had its own government, it made its own laws and its own decisions of how to run its own affairs. The states representative power was reflected in a common body know as Congress each state had its own representative in it. A document which precisely described the procedure and work of the Congress was called the Article of Confederation implemented in 1781. It has to be underlined, the Article had almost not power and the states had a weak influence on what was going on, at this time the Government of the Unites States was very weak. The Congress had right to vote, to set up an army and a navy however had to ask the states for permission to gather them. It could vote to spend money but had not right to to collect taxes to rise money. It caused serious problems, when the Congress had debts because of the unpaid penalties from the war with France, couldn't gather proper amount of money – some states simply refuse to collect it.

After the war some states began to act as independent nations and fight against each other, about the land, the frontier, some states raised taxed on imported and exported goods. The prestige of the government and its reliability was so weak that the British Empire decided to step aside and not dealing with it any longer. Its weakens made the British King George III certain that it will collapse and reunite with British Empire once again, it was just a matter of time. 

The Americans were worried how their country will function without mutual trust and cooperation within all states, there was no unity, it was mayhem. In 1787 the Congress led the meeting known as Constitutional Convention during which fifty-five representatives agreed to give a leadership to George Washington. The leaders knew and understood the necessity of changes. The new nation needed a directory known as Constitution. After hours of negotiating and changing of sentences, words, comas, and the whole pages of the document, they finally made it, it was called – The Constitution of the United States.

It is the most important document which represents the virtues and shape of all independent countries. The Unites States were given a federal system of government, the power to rule is shared, central and federal institutions share some power of authority – the law and order; the rest of it is shared among smaller regions which make up the whole country. The Federal Government became stronger than before. The Constitution pointed out a President as a leader of the country, a representative of its daily affairs; the President was responsible and in charge of the Federal Government. He would head an 'executive' side of the government. A 'legislative' power was given to the Congress. George Washington was chosen the first American president in 1789. He took the official control over the national government. The Constitution gave the onset of the Supreme Court which had control over 'judicial' part of the nation's government. The Supreme Court guarded the laws and function of the Constitution which was not meant to be underestimated. The constitution established so called balanced power between states and government. A coherence. The constitution has changed throughout this period; some significant amendments were added to make it better and much more stronger than originally it was supposed to be. It fully represented the needs of the country, more stronger Constitution became, better and more reliable a new nation – The United Stated was perceived overseas.

The Bill of Rights (1791) was one of the most important amendments added at that time – it described the rights and freedoms of individual citizens. Moreover it promised all Americans the following freedoms:

• freedom of religion;
• a free press;
• a free speech;
• a right to carry arms;
• a fair trial by jury;
• a protection against 'cruel and unusual punishment'.

Another President of the United States (1797) – John Adams in 1801 implemented another function to Supreme Court, namely, he nominated Chief Justice. His name was John Marshall, he was 46 years-old during one of his legal cases he led to the significant changes! One case became very interesting in particular (Marbury vs. Madison) due to the fact that the Supreme Court was given the power to decide whether particular laws are according to Constitution. It is know as a 'power of judicial review'. If any law appears to be 'unconstitutional' it stops being enforced, at all!

Notwithstanding the difficulties and disagreements, the beginning of the law system in United States may appear a bit perplexing and misleading, chaotic and confusing, nonetheless, the changes and modifications made it quite well organised. It gave efficient central authority to govern the country. It gave the birth to the first political parties in the United States. Two main parties took the polls – The Federalist Party which favored rich and lucrative businessmen and Democratic Party favored and chose by less wealthy; mostly farmers and craftsmen.

Bibliography:

1. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
2. A History of American Literature, A. Grey
3. An Outline of American History.
4. An Illustrated History of the USA.