Explain these two quotes- worth 80 points!

“as the british constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from the womb and long gestation of progressive history, so the american constitution is, so far as i can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.”
— w. e. gladstone

“i am exceedingly distressed at the proceedings of the convention—being almost sure, they will lay the foundation of a civil war.”
— elbridge gerry (massachusetts delegate), 1787

— W. E. Gladstone

You must note that the US Constitution is heavily based off of the British Constitution, with a few tweaks (for example, allowing slavery, which was later overturned after the American Civil War). Gladstone believed that the British Constitution was well-made and organized, and that, because most of the US Constitution was based off of it, that the US constitution would also be good.

— Elbridge Gerry

Gerry, on the other hand, believed that it would cause a Civil War (which did occur during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. In this context, we must know that while the Southern Colonies wanted slavery, most Northern Colonies did not believe that slavery was needed. This argument, as well as future expansions both territorial and belief, led to the American Civil War. Gerry essentially believed that the U.S. Constitution should not be based off of Britain's constitution, and that he did not support the outcome of the Convention.

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after the civil war, and with the termination of slavery, the south was faced with a big problem; what was supposed to happen and how they were supposed to deal with the freedom and the rights that black people and freed slaves had gained as a result of the north defeating the south and forcing the end of slavery. first, most, if not all, of the workforce of the south came from slaves and they did not have an option to replace the loss of said workforce. second, particularly in the south, people were convinced that black people were lesser, less intelligent, less capable and less smart than whites. this posed a huge problem for them. also, southerners were faced with another issue; freed slaves now had a say in how their lives would be lived and the right to politically choose the way they would be governed. people in the south did not want to accept this, none of this and this opposition and the conflicts that arose from it, not to mention the afereffects of the war, forced the congress of the time to enact and enforce the reconstruction plans that had been proposed by president andrew johnson.