James+Wilson

Nolan King James Wilson

“//All men are, by nature, equal and free: no one has a right to any authority over another without his consent: all lawful government is founded on the consent of those who are subject to it//:..”- **James Wilson** __ **Introduction** __

In the late 1700's after the US had signed the Declaration of Independence and broke away from the rule of England, the founding fathers realized that the government and The Articles of Confederation were not working out. Fifty-five delegates from twelve of the thirteen states gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to fix the national government. Their final product turned into the Constitution that we know today. The founding fathers put a tremendous amount of time into creating this document which is now one of the most famous government documents in the history of the world. One of the founding fathers was a man by the name of James Wilson.

James Wilson was born on September 14, 1742 in Caskerdo, Scotland. His father worked as a farmer meaning that he had a modest upbring. He went to college at the University of St. Andrews and then decided to come to America from Scotland in 1765. He became a tutor shortly after he arrived in America (at what soon would be known as the University of Pennylvannia). Wilson published "Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament", which was a document that denied the colonies to be legislated by Parliament. Wilson was elected to the Second Continental Congress, as a representative. As a representative of the Second Continental Congress, he signed The Declaration of Independence. He was also named to the provincial assembly. His upbringing caused him to work hard in life, which got him to become a member of the Second Continental Congress. He had a major impact in the signing of the Constitution. James Wilson was a delegate of the state of Pennsylvannia.
 * __Background Information__ **

__ **Role In the Creation of the US Constitution** __ James Wilson had a major impact at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He was a huge supporter of the idea of the US having a strong national government. He also promoted having a strong elective presidency and in having popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty is the idea that all of the government's power lies in the hands of its people. James Wilson made sure that popular sovereignty was included in the writing of the US Constitution. This concept was one of the building blocks on which the Constitution was based. If it were not for Wilson, this idea may have never been included in the Constitution, and today in the 21st century, we could have possibly had a major problem within the US because of the government. James Wilson is most well known for rarely missing a session of the Constitutional convention. He is also known for his exemplary knowledge of political theory and his numerous speeches at the convention. Gouverneur Morris was the only delegate at the convention who gave more speeches then James Wilson.

__DBQ and Wilson's Beliefs__

__Federalism__: James Wilson was a strong believer in Federalism. James Wilson believed in a strong central govenment that its people could be reliant on to keep the country in tact. He wrote his beliefs concerning federalism in various pamphlets from about 1770-1780. In the late 1700's, George Washington appointed Wilson as a Supreme Court Justice. During his time as a Supreme Court Justice, Wilson did not write on many of his opinions, but the few breif writings that he did write on, showed that he was truly in favor of the ruling of Federalism.

__Checks & Balances__: Wilson stood strongly behind the system of checks and balances. He realized that in order for the government to be successful, each branch would have to check the others, so that unfavorable laws would not pass and the US would not turn into mass chaos. Wilson also believed that tyrnanny could be prevented by the system of checks and balances. James Wilson worked extremely hard to persuade his peers to incorporate the system of checks and balances into the United States Constitution.

__Separation of Powers__: James Wilson was all for separation of powers. He spent endless amounts of time arguing on the behalf of this idea. He wanted to make sure that it was included into the Constitution. He thought that separation of powers was going to be one of the key rules in the Constitution that would lead to the United States of America having one of the strongest governments in the world that would never become corrupt. He wanted to make sure that no branch was more powerful than the other.

__Small & Large States__: Perhaps small states vs large states was the issue that James Wilson was most involved with. There was a lot of arguing between delegates concerning this issue. Some delegates believed that the New Jersey Plan, which favored small states should be used, while others believed that the Virginia Plan, which favored large states, should be the plan used. After a lot of hard, strenuous work, Wilson produced The Three Fifths Compromise. As you can probably tell by its name, The Three Fifths Compromise was a compromise between the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan. This document was the one that was included in the Constitution. If it had not been for James Wilson, the delegates could have picked a plan that could have led to seroius problems in the US, such as a civil war.

__Attendance Record__ James Wilson was one of the few delegates who attended every single meeting during the Constitutional convention. It is approximated that Wilson attended 89 out of 89 meetings. James Wilson was truly dedicated to restoring the United States government. He was known among all of the other delegates as a man who was commited to improving the well being of his country. He was always there and gave many incredible and passionate speeches. All in all, he had a strong voice in the creation of the United State Constitution.

__Primary Sources__
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__**The United States Constitution:**__ James Wilson was pleased after the Constitution was finished. Many of the ideas in this great document were of his own. He was one of the soul contributors to the Constitution. One of the ideas that he incorporated into the Constitution that he stood by was the idea of popular soverignty. Popular sovereignty is the idea that all of the government's power lies in the hands of its people. Wilson realized that the reason the country needed government was its people. They were the reason that the US needed a strong government. By incorporating the idea of popular sovereignty into the Constitution, he gave the power to the people. He knew that in order for there to be a strong government, the people needed to like it. If people were not pleased with the government, the U.S. could be in some serious trouble. The majority of the beginning of the Constitution (including the Preamble) talks about and relates to James Wilson's idea of popular sovereignty. __** Bill of Rights: **__ If you had to pick one amendment that James Wilson would most like, it would be the first amendment. Wilson was a man who believed that a country and its government is only successful if the people who live in it feel safe, are happy and agree with the the way the government is being run. If the people had no right to say what they want and the right to petition, they would not be able to tell the government if they were doing something wrong. The government could possibly turn into a monarchy if there was no freedom for the people to act the way that they want to act. James Wilson saw first hand what happened between England and the United States. He wanted to make sure that the same thing never happened again within the U.S. The first amendment is clearly the amendment that represented James Wilson the most.

__**Sources Cited**__

**__ Pictures __** "FlamingText: Logo Design and Button Generator Tool." //FlamingText: Logo Design and Button Generator Tool//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. .

"James Wilson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

"Constitutional Convention Webquest." //History Teacher//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. .

**__ Information __** "James Wilson." //ABC Clio//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. < http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=22&entryid=248191&searchtext=james+wilson&type=simple&option=all&searchsites=4>.

[|"America's Founding Fathers - Delegates to the Constitutional Convention." //National Archives and Records Administration//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. "The Constitutional Convention as a Four Act Drama." //TeachingAmericanHistory.org -- Free Seminars and Summer Institutes for Social Studies Teachers//. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2010. .

" James Wilson - Further Readings ." //Law Library - American Law and Legal Information//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. [].

James Wilson (1742-1798), University of Pennsylvania Archives." //University Archives and Records Center, University of Pennsylvania//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. .

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