History of the United States Constitution

This article discusses the history of the United States Constitution.

Views of the Constitution

Despite the fact that Americans may intensely dislike serving politicians and the way Washington works, it is safe to say that Americans of the right, center, and left are united in holding the Constitution and the Founding Fathers in reverence.

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This deep respect has not always been present though. Prior to the Civil War, abolitionists hated the Constitution because it allowed slavery. William Lloyd Garrison famously denounced the Constitution as "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell."

Related Topics:
Civil War - Abolitionists - William Lloyd Garrison

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During the Gilded Age, when the United States government was swamped with corruption, there arose a view that the Constitution was defective. Woodrow Wilson's scathing critique of the committee system and the separation of powers in Congressional Government was widely read among students of political science.

Related Topics:
Gilded Age - Woodrow Wilson - Separation of powers

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In the early Twentieth Century, when the Supreme Court routinely struck down safeguards for consumers and workers as unconstitutional (see Lochner era), the Constitution was criticized for being such a seemingly inflexible document.

Related Topics:
Twentieth Century - Lochner era

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Since World War II the American opinion of the Constitution has been significantly rehabilitated.

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