Research On Ratification Of The Federal Constitution In Virginia

The representatives of the Constitutional Convention debated for the major issue "The legitimacy of the said constitution should be decided by’We the People’or their State Legislatures". Most representatives agreed that the legality of the constitution depends on the will of "We the People". The Congress of the Confederation confirmed this assertion, later. Although the principle of popular sovereignty was widely recognized in the above debates, can "we the people" have a right to propose amendments to the Constitution? The core issue still was not solved. However, the Virginia Ratifying Convention responded and extend to this problem. Patrick Henry and other opponents argued that the constitution was not only lack of legitimacy, but the Political transition which was founded on the constitution, was a radical and dangerous "constitutional revolution", which would lead to the crisis of freedom, even endangered the right to freedom of all mankind, so they insisted the prior amendments of the Constitution to guarantee people’s freedom and rights. However, owing to the fundamental flaw of the confederacy system, Madison and other Federalists argue that the new order of constitutional, was founded on "we the people", was both necessary and legitimate. So they insisted the prior ratification of the Constitution. In a word, the essential issue of the both sides can be attributed to "the ratification or prior amendments". In the end, the constitution was approved by a narrow margin.Owing to the critics of the Constitution righting for people’s freedom firmly, the radical constitutional amendments also be recognized later. As a result, the loser in the "struggle" of ratifying Constitution, to some degree, also gained a victory.