American Revolution and the Crisis of the Constitution of the USA

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The American Revolution – A Long Way to the Independence
The U. S. Constitution as the Symbol of Its Independence
The Activities of the Tea Party and the New Left
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

The U. S history, particularly the period of the American Revolution, has been marked by a number of inconsistencies and misconceptions concerning the origins of political power and reasons why people were involved in mass insurgencies. One way or another, the historical events occurred in the past has formed the present, newly established movements struggling against inequalities and corrupted political regimes.

This fight, however, is based on the political frictions connected with the limitations and changes presented in the U. S. Constitution. Throughout the American history, this document has been the major source of confrontations between the Conservative and Republican Parties that interpreted the clauses with regard to their personal and political interests.

The point is that the oldest legal documents still fails to directly address the current political issues and meet people’s expectations with regard to their rights. In order to stand the biased provisions, liberal and radical confrontations appeared, such as Tea Party that is now followed by the New Left, a radical movement fighting against the corrupt government and protecting the innocence of the unwitting community.

In whole, the American people paving the way to independence have to face challenges in the form of restricted provisions of Constitution, wrong interpretation and understanding of the American Revolution, and false representation of conservative and republican views on democracy.

The American Revolution – A Long Way to the Independence

The American Revolution emerged as a result of political, social, and intellectual shifts in the American government and society. This was one of the first attempts of people to oppose the corrupt authoritative structure, establish justice, and promote liberal views.

While comparing previous resistance to the modern attitude to the political regime in the United States, much attention should be paid to the efforts of Tea Party and the New Left to protect social interests and model a new political order based on democracy and liberalism. According to Crain (2010), today the American population “…have come to regard insurgency as a foreign and unpleasant phenomenon” to the extent that one cannot recollect the fact from the American history about cruelty of the American revolutionaries (p.3).

It is often neglected, however, that the Tea Party movement often resorted to unjust and cruel methods and introduced conspiracy theories and violence. As a result, a shadow of biases is now imposed on the current movements protecting the rights of people because of the ambiguity of the U. S Constitution.

What is more doubtful is the introduction of U.S. constitution whose provisions have still left much ambiguity concerning its rightfulness and justice with regard to people and the democratic regime (Lepore, 2011). Apparently, the misconceptions emerged in the past were also due to the eternal confrontation of the political parties and regimes.

Specifically, there have always been a conflict between Conservatives and Republicans leaving no space for protecting the rights and freedoms of humble people. Lack of ideology and reluctance to follow the generally established norms led to discrepancies and frictions (Hanna, 2010). As a result, the entire U. S. history is a revolutionary path of people established to fight against those inconsistencies.

The U. S. Constitution as the Symbol of Its Independence

The USA was declared as a federal constitutional republic. In 1787, the Constitution became the main document of the government (US Constitution, 2011). This constitution is considered to be the oldest one in the modern society. As the document states, “We the People”, it implies “…forming a more perfect Union, establishing Judgment, insuring Domestic Tranquility, providing for the Common Defense, promoting the general Welfare and securing the Blessings of Liberty to the American and their prosperity” (Lepore, 2011, p. 1).

Although some politicians refused to sign it because of the uncertainty of some laws covered in its document, it was still adopted. The document was only the symbol of a federal constitutional republic (Lepore, 2011). As the Constitution was created for every American, it became accessible for reading.

Importantly, everyone could keep this invaluable document of the government in a pocket (Lepore, 2011). Although it became available for many people, the power of this document was not enhanced.

The Constitution of the United States of America is considered to be one of the shortest ones because it contains forty-four hundred words only. However, the document generates serious discussions and is subjected to different interpretations by the Parties. Existence of different variants and amendments to the Constitution prevents the government from establishing a unique set of rules and regulations applied to the contemporary society.

In particular, the original document fails to “…directly address many of today’s significant political issues” (US Constitution, 2011, p. 2). In this respect, the Republicans are more prone to use the corrected variant of the document because they approve the necessity to introduce changes to a constantly developing society.

In contrast, the Conservatives believe that it is more reasonable to apply to the original variant so as to preserve the integrity of regulations. The presented ambivalence significantly hampers the overall social improvement.

Everyone is taught to respect the Constitution from his/her childhood. However, even if you have such a great opportunity to look through the document, it can be differently interpreted due to the existence of general and ambiguous statements.

According to Lepore (2011), “the Constitution was made like a Fiddle, with but few Strings, but so that the ruling Majority could play any tune upon it they please” (p. 2). It is a sort of an instrument used by politicians to achieve their interests.

The contracted version of the legal document presented in public, however, cannot provide solutions to the problem of freedom and equalities protection because it significantly deviates from the existed variant considered by the government. In fact, the availability does not mean the existence of the printed variant of its document, but sufficient understanding of laws, rights, and duties.

More than that, there have been millions of different interpretations of the same law from this document, which leads to insurgencies and resentment among the U.S. population. Many politicians were concerned by this problem and some actions were undertaken to solve it. In 1789 and 1860, only the one state California wanted the Constitution to be taught at schools (Lepore, 2011).

There was a great doubt concerning this issue. Despite the fact that the Constitution proclaimed liberties, the majority of people were far from being free from slavery for a long time. Hence, changes should not be proposed to the document, but to the attitude of the Government to the document itself.

Judging from this, the U.S. Constitution failed to provide equal opportunities for all citizens of the United States irrespective of their race and nationality. In particular, inconsistent information was provided concerning social and political problems at different historical periods.

On the one hand, the alterations included into the legal document seem to be unreasonable because some of them are not congruent with the original and universal statements. On the other hand, the introduction of amendments and corrections is indispensible to meet the challenges of the modern society.

There is an assumption that the Constitution “…is not a document, but a stream of history” (Lepore, 2011, p. 2). The Constitution should always be subjected to changes. It should also correspond to social and political problems of the society.

When new problems arise and the government is not able to provide solutions with regard to the existing norms of the U.S. Constitution, the urgency of this document goes out of date. In this respect, it should be stressed that the Constitution of the United States of America is in crisis now.

The point is that the nation is a complex unity that undergoes different social, cultural, and economical processes. At this point, the Constitution should be developed in accordance to the needs of society (Lepore, 2011). Judging from the rigorous criticism of the documents, the U.S. Constitution should undergo tangible changes for the U.S. people to feel that their rights are protected and respected.

What is more important is that the original document, along with all the amendments, should be available for all people. Each citizen should understand the value of observing the rights and freedoms of every person to eliminate the problems of social, racial, and cultural inequality.

The Activities of the Tea Party and the New Left

There are many interpretations of the Constitution that facilitate its understanding for ordinary people. The newly introduced variation impels many Americans to comprehend this document with regard to their personal needs and interests. This idea of easy interpretations is supported by the New Left, the successors of the Tea Party and conservative think-tankers.

The movement seeks to return power to people, overthrow the power of the elite and organize a revolutionary movement (Hannan, 2010). The Constitution is not the privilege of elite, as many politicians state. On the contrary, the Constitution was proclaimed for the whole nation. Everyone has the right to know all his/her rights and duties.

Although the Tea Party and the New Left have a number of differences, there are also many similarities in their politics (Brooks, 2010). The established parallels specifically concern the methods of fighting with the legal inconsistencies through organizing public demonstrations and extreme movements.

It should also be stressed that both parties agree with the statement that all people are virtuous and pure and all problems are caused by “rotten authority structures and corrupt elite” (Brooks, 2010, p. 2). They believe that political regimes contribute to the destruction of our society. In this respect, the best decision of solving these problems is “the spontaneous upraising of participatory democracy” (Brooks, 2010, p. 3).

Is it actual to live according to the Constitution which is considered to be the oldest one? The New Left is keen on introducing the changes to the Constitution.

It also seeks to provide privileges to the middle social class. Additionally, the Party is confident that imprudence, naive radicalism, and self-righteousness can contribute to achieving the established goals and objectives (Brooks, 2010). Despite the fact that many politicians criticize the measures used by the liberal movement, it is the only way to draw attention of masses to this burning issue.

The Constitution of the United States of America, the oldest historic document is the symbol of the independence for many Americans. The U. S. honor and follow it without fully comprehension of its content.

However, community is not aware of the actual role that the document plays in governing the state because political forces are inclined to use different interpretations for achieving their personal goals. Judging from these considerations, the questions about the objectivity and appropriateness of the U.S. constitution provision arises. In order to solve the problems and eliminate contradictions, political upbringing is one of the main aims of the modern society.

It presupposes a full understanding of the Constitution. If the Constitution too difficult for ordinary people to understand, it should be reconsidered. The history shows that many regulations and norms have appeared because of revolutionary movements.

Conclusion

Many contradictions are specifically connected with the origins of the U.S. constitution, as well as the further events connected with its provisions. The American Revolution, eternal confrontation between the Republicans and the Conservatives, and the emergence of the Tea Party are among such events proving the necessity to re-evaluate the clauses of the U.S.

Constitution and introduce universal principles that would be applicable to each person. It is impossible to live in modern society with new social and political problems without changing the main document of the government. In spite of the fact that the slavery was abolished long time ago, but the consequences and undercurrent issues remain.

Reference List

Brooks, D. (2010). The Wal-Mart Hippies. The New York Times. Web.

Crain, C. (2010). Tea and Antipathy. The New Yorker. Web.

Hannan, D. (2010). The Tea-Party Tradition. National Review Online. Web.

Lepore, J. (2011). A Critic at Large. The Commandments: the Constitutions and its worshippers. The New Yorker. Web.

US Constitution Read Aloud in House of Representatives. (2011). BBC News US and Canada. Web.

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