American History

The origin of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia exemplifies the culmination of forces and the counterrevolution against the popular excesses of the war of Independence. The federal convention at Philadelphia took place because of two main reasons. First, there is an increase perception that the Article of Confederation is a weak instrument in identifying the duties and responsibilities of the national government. Due to this, there is a rising anxiety regarding the excesses in relation with the increased power of the government in state legislatures. In relation to this, the weaknesses of the Article of Confederation also resulted in the difficulties to collect taxes and address conflict among states together with the concern regarding legislative tyranny or abuses concerning jealous states. As such, the period after the revolution was not recognized as a time of assurance or certainty among the Americans but rather it was characterized by the danger of collapse of the republican experiment because of internal threats. The hesitation of many Americans to trust the power and authority of the executive officials in the government paved the way for the establishment of the independence movement, also known as the cries of monarchial corruption and tyranny. Many ordinary people were also challenging the traditional difference of talent and stable social order (Janda et al., 2006).

The Federal Convention at Philadelphia is regarded as a culmination of forces because different people coming from various sectors come together in order to point out the weaknesses of the Article of Confederation as well as the government as a whole. The independence movement enables different forces to work together in order to address the excesses of government officials. In relation to this, the Federal Convention at Philadelphia is also recognized as a counterrevolution of the popular excesses of the post War of Independence because different forces did not agree with the increase in the power of the government. The people want to counter the Articles of Confederation in a sense that they want the assurance that government officials will not abuse their power and in doing so, limitations in their authority are needed.