Article Of Confederation Research Paper

On July 3rd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously declared the independence of the thirteen United States of America from Great Britain. Determined to unify the thirteen colonies, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. Although the articles did not prevent the United States from winning independence, the innate flaws of the articles became apparent in the years following the revolution. The problems of the weak, purely legislative national government became too prevalent for agents of the revolution, such as James Madison and George Washington. Madison and Washington were strong supporters of a federal, or national, constitution, and on June 21, 1788, congress ratified the Constitution of the United States. And in doing so, violated the “Revolutionary Ideology” and the will of the American people.

After the colonies gained independence from England on July 4, 1776, they acknowledged the need for a new form of government. Their current government (the Articles of Confederation) was defective and needed emendation. For instance, Congress had the legal right to declare war and perform on foreign policy, but don’t have the right to demand revenues from the states. This was, in fact, an issue that needed to be solved because it endangers the existence of the country. For example, since Congress lacked the power to raise military funds, it could not provide sufficient support for the armed forces. Congress was forced to demobilize the Army after the revolutionary war. It would have been very terrible for the newly formed country (The United States) if the British or the Spanish had attacked (page, 39). Another weakness of the Article was demonstrated by the Shays Rebellion. It illustrated how the central government could not protect the citizens from armed Rebellion. The colonists called for a constitutional convention to discuss how to correct their flaws. The Virginia plan was introduced, which advocated that representation should be based on population. It basically called for a legislative branch with one house that also has the authority to regulate trade and taxation. It called for a separation of powers, leaving three branches in charge: the legislative, the executive, and the Judicial branches. The Virginia plan would allow big States to control the presidency which

From 1781 to 1789, the newly created United States of America put its trust in the Articles of Confederation to adequately govern itself in times of war and distress. The Articles of Confederation was the United States’ first attempt at a guideline for creating an effective federal government. It was efficient in holding the new country together during the Revolutionary War and managed to help the country attend to pressing foreign and economic problems right after the war. Although the Articles helped bring about momentous and significant change in one decade, it was not the suitable framework for the federal government to effectively govern the new country over a long period of time.

During the time of the Revolutionary War, the American Colonies were upset about the England’s tyrannical rule and exploitation through harsh taxes. Eventually, the colonists revolted and split from England. They wrote the Declaration of Independence and created a new government whose outlines were written in the Articles of Confederation. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had an overall negative impact, as it created a weak central government, a poor financial system, and inadequate militias. There are more disadvantages than advantages to this document.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are two significant documents that transformed the history of the United States. The people of the “New World” went from being ruled by British law and living in the thirteen colonies, to becoming an independent nation with a democratic government. The Declaration was written to ensure that all official ties with its mother country, Great Britain, were suspended indefinitely. It then went on to describe the concepts and ideologies behind a just and fair government. The Constitution, however, outlined how the newly democratic government would operate. In 1776, after the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, a verdict was made that the only constructive way to ensure independence as a nation would be to declare independence from King George III, Parliament, and Great Britain. The colonists sought to fashion a clear, detailed document, known as the Declaration of Independence, which stated why the people chose to move in this direction as well as providing several arguments to support their case. This world-renown document is a symbol of the unity between the 13 colonies during their fight for independence during the American Revolutionary War.

The topic of this paper is the Constitution. The paper will cover the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation, which was addressed in the Constitution. The paper will cover the how the Constitution addressed the complaints in the Declaration of Independence. Another topic of the paper will be the Great Compromise and how the representation of states in Congress was determined. Finally, the paper will view the treatment of slaves for the purpose of representation and the effects thereof.

"Throughout the years the constitution and the laws have made a tremendous impact in society. White men were privileged with all their rights since they were born. Women and men of color however were not, and they had to fight for their rights throughout the years. The Articles of confederation showed how the states had more power than the government did. In document two it states, “ urging to reject conservative attempts to repeal a law that set in motion an end to slavery.” (E,126) This shows how African American’s had to wait many years for laws to pass and give them freedom. They had the same rights as the White men after the 13th,14th, and 15th amendments were passed. Women had to wait longer and finally got their right to vote when

The Virginia Plan is a document created by James Madison, presented on May 8, 1787, to the Constitutional Convention by Edmund Randolph (Munson). It entailed a proposal for a bicameral legislature, a plan to separate the legislative branch into two chambers, “the National Legislature ought to consist of two branches” (Madison). The Virginia Plan also suggested that the powers of the government be separated into branches, executive, legislative, and judicial. The significance of the Virginia plan was its call for a proportional representation of the states, which would result in a strong national government. This planned upstaged the smaller states, such as New Jersey, since they feared that the states would no longer have a voice in their society, creating the New Jersey Plan.

The United States of America first followed what was written in the Articles of Confederation, however instead of leading the country to success it lead the country to failure. Some of the articles were dreadful towards the nation, such as the fact that all states needed to agree on a change for the Articles of Confederation, the congress did not have power to tax citizens, and there was no national court system. The Articles of Confederation was very deficient that it was not able to support the country. One of the features of the Articles of Confederation was that all states needed to approve the changes to the Article of Confederation.

In, 1777 the continental congress drafted the Articles of confederation. This has become a significant change. The Articles of constitution became the government's plan under leadership of John Dickenson of Pennsylvania, the Articles were a confederation o thirteen colonies that had very little problems given to the federal government. The United States used the thirteen colonies to defeat the British during the American Revolution. The British during the American Revolution. The Articles thought it was their only option to build unity at that time but unfavorable during this period of

In 1775, America began one of the most important moments of its life as well as history overall, the America Revolution. This war was fought to free the new colonies from the tyranny of the British monarchy and the unfair way it treated them. The fight was long and hard, but in the end the battle was won and the colonies became their own nation, left to rule under their own circumstances and set up their own government. Ironically when it came to setting this up, was in some ways, more difficult than the physical battle that came and went. The first attempt at a government blueprint came as “The Articles of confederation” which was the first written constitution and attempted to unify America under a set of rules that the citizens would better follow and appreciate. Martin Kelley quotes it as a creation of a “confederation of states whereby each state retained "its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right . . . not . . . expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." (Kelley). The failure came from its creation of independent states and as Ted Brackemyer puts it “…the lack of a strong national government in the Articles of Confederation led to three broad limitations.” These limits were economic disorganization, lack of central leadership, and legislative inefficiencies (Brackemyer).

The meetings, drafting, and approval of the Articles of Confederation were timely, innovative, and challenging. The Articles of Confederation, as the first constitution of the U.S., tied the states together in a loose “perpetual union’’ (Sage, 2010). A proposal for a national confederation was introduced by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia in May 1776. Lee stated on that day, “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States” (Swindler, 1981). Richard Lee’s resolution focused on three national proposals: to declare the United Colonies independent from Great Britain, to seek foreign alliances for the evident and eventual war with Great Britain, and to establish a plan of confederation to officially unite

Early colonists needed to have a written document that recognized the purposes and roles of their national government. This need arose soon after they declared their independence from Great Britain. Because of their experience, they feared strong national governments but needed a constitution to bind their states together & protect them from future assaults and to strengthen their economy by trading with each other and other nations. The document that was adopted by the continental congress was the Article of confederation. But because of its weakness, the colonists needed a stronger federal government which forced them to adopt the new Constitution. (Keene, Cornell, & O’Donnell, 2011).

After declaring independence from the British monarchy, the colonist believed they should set the new form of government on paper. With the failure of the first constitution, Articles of Confederation brought together James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and many more to contribute to the new form in which the new country would operate. The founding fathers understood that if they had too much nation government it could lead to the same form of government the British had