Woody Holton, a history professor at the University of Richmond, gave the keynote address at the Virginia Library Association 2008 conference on this topic. He claims that the founding fathers thought the U.S. was too democratic and they got together in 1787 to hold the Continental congress to make it less so.
Pennsylvania (PA) was an illustration of this problem. In 1787, PA had only 1 governing body rather than 2 (such as a house and a senate). PA had no governor and they had elections every year. Since most of the residents of PA were farmers and the state was so democratic, much of the laws were designed to benefit the farmers for instance making it difficult to get your money back if you loaned it to a farmer. On the other hand, these laws made things harder for people who weren't farmers such as the money lenders.
If you are interested in reading more about this, read Holton's book Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution.
Pennsylvania (PA) was an illustration of this problem. In 1787, PA had only 1 governing body rather than 2 (such as a house and a senate). PA had no governor and they had elections every year. Since most of the residents of PA were farmers and the state was so democratic, much of the laws were designed to benefit the farmers for instance making it difficult to get your money back if you loaned it to a farmer. On the other hand, these laws made things harder for people who weren't farmers such as the money lenders.
If you are interested in reading more about this, read Holton's book Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution.
