The Constitution is highly honored today, at home and around the world. However,<span> w</span>hen it was originally written many Americans were against it. They were upset that th<span>e </span>document contained<span> no Bill of Rights to protect their individual f</span>reed<span>oms. </span>Ma<span>ny </span>felt that the Constitution<span> w</span>as<span> t</span>he work of rich men who meant to weaken what the American<span> R</span>evolution<span> h</span>ad<span> achieved.</span>
The Constitution of 1791, France’s first attempt at a written constitution
On June 20th 1789 the newly formed National Assembly gathered in a Versailles tennis court and pledged not to disband until France had a working constitution. Their desire for a constitution was a product of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution. The deputies of the Third Estate believed that any reforms to the Ancien Régime must be guaranteed and underpinned by a written framework. A constitution would define the authority, structure and powers of the new government, preventing the abuses and injustices of the old order. With this in mind, the National Assembly set about drafting a national constitution almost immediately. The process was a long and difficult one, hampered by differences of opinion, growing radicalism and the events of 1789-91. Their deliberations eventually produced the Constitution of 1791, which was ratified in September that year. This document established a constitutional monarchy and incorporated several political ideas from the Enlightenment. The fate of the 1791 Constitution, however, hinged on the attitude and actions of the king.
After the war, the Radicals demanded civil rights for freed slaves, including measures ensuring suffrage. They initiated the various Reconstruction Acts as well as the Fourteenth Amendment and limited political and voting rights for ex-Confederate civil officials and military officers.
President Roosevelt's New Deal was designed to improve conditions for people who were suffering in the Great Depression. It gave so many people hope because it promised new jobs and to pull people out of their horrid living conditions.
The death toll included 265 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors), 2,606 in the World Trade Center and in the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon