Two questions: What would happen if we went back to the original Constitution?

Question

(of the U.S.) with just the Bill of Rights, like in the beginning. Would there be anarchy? Do you think it was anarchy then, more or less?

Second question: Do you think we would have made the same Bill of Rights if we had it to do all over again, given what we know now?

(I know this isn't the politics section, but I like it here!)

Answer 1

The original Constitution was a nearly perfect masterpiece of reform. It was hammered out to protect as many as possible..the minority and the majority. I doubt we could EVER repeat this process today, for far too many special interests are involved in our Government process. The original work took into account the times in which it was written, and at that time, women were more than chattle, but less than full citizens. Amendments along the way cured the ills of that time. A few of the Amendments should never have been passed (prohibition does NOT belong in a constitution, and another amendment had to be made to the constitution to reverse the mistake). Could we do it today? Well, it would certainly seem to many that the original is not very well adhered to, for even today, many do NOT think all men were created equal...it would seem that some are equal, and some are more equal. Yet, when it comes time to pay tax, suddenly, all are equal...just once a year. We have a long way to go in our journey, we have come a long way. I will not see the day when the ills of our society are healed, but I hope to see progress. Love and peace, Goldwing

Answer 2

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are living breathing entities. As such they must grow and change. To rewrite either of them now would bring about much different documents. I never believed our government was an anarchy. An anarchy is what we had under England and that was not what anyone wanted. Anarchy then meant Tea Time in Boston. The Constitution meant freedom at least for the white male land owners. So you can see how even that small part has changed.

Answer 3

The Eleventh through the 26th Amendments to the Constitution were mostly needed. For example, I can't imagine this republic without the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery. We were almost in a state of anarchy under the Articles of Confederation, which our current Constitution replaced.
As for your second question, back in 1960 a friend of mine and I polled 300 people at random on the streets of New York City and asked them their opinion of a certain document. Comments ranged from wondering where we got this commie garbage to threats of resistance if the government ever tried to stuff the document down our throats. They were looking at a copy of the Bill of Rights with the title cut off.

Answer 4

I don't know why there would be anarchy if we only had the Constitution and the first Ten Amendments. They are extraordinary documents. For the second question, protected rights could be viewed differently today, but it's hard to improve on the original in this case.

Answer 5

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ♪♫ ♪♫ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
No, it wouldn't be anarchy, but a whole
lot of work would be erased, most good,
some irrelevant. That work would
certainly have to be redone, as there
will always be fighting as long as the laws
of the land are not fair to everyone.
Why go back and have to redo it all?

We would surely change it a bit here and
there, but again, why would we redo
what would surely end us up in the very
same place?
~~~ ~~~ ♪♫ ♪♫ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Answer 6

It was a different time, different circumstances. Times change, but the basics of it should still stand today. It just needs a little tweaking

Answer 7

The original Constitution didn't consider you a person. Why would you want to go back to that?

Answer 8

Goldwing said it so well, there's nothing I can add except "Amen."