Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution 1

The United States left the Articles of Confederation behind for a new more adapted constitution in 1788 due to more than one reason, however a main reason for the switch had to do with the power of the federal government. There would be some Libertarians that would hold the Articles to be the symbol of American freedom at its peak, however there were those that would later be known as Federalists that saw the Articles as a failure due to the lack of strong central government powers within the articles. The many differences between the two documents were each important in there own respect, the first one that come to mind would be the power to levy taxes, under the articles Congress could request that States pay taxes, but under the

The Articles of Confederation was first written in 1777. It was passed by the Confederation of Congress. Congress decided that they needed a firm government to organize the states as a whole. At least that was their primary goal. Since each state had separates rules. The Articles of Confederation was later ratified by each state in 1781. It was “America’s first federal constitution” (Keene 138). The confederation had a few strengths but many weaknesses. The nation faced many economic and political issues that lead people to controversy.

The Anti-federalist were the people who opposed the sanction of the constitution. They were Samuel Adams and John Hancock etc. They believed that the ratification of the constitution will lead to corruption and abuse of power by the government. The suggested constitution did not benefit the people as it should and did not have an assurance of the people’s right to assembly or bear arms. Anti-federalist believed in controlling government authority, therefore with the assumption that the new ratification will be most favorable to the wealthy, it was a threat to their beliefs— meaning that the poorer citizens will not be able to exercise their liberty for fear of double standard by the elite rulers. Most Anti-federalist were farmers and lower class citizens, so we could understand why they were intimidated by the rich and powerful Federalist— who had backgrounds of educations and could have easily manipulate the system for their own gratification.

The Constitution and the Articles of Confederation are the same in ways, but they are also, both different. Both of them founded our Government systems, but only one system still remains today. Both systems have their flaws, but also have their advantages. Without the Articles, there would be no Constitution, and the United States would be under the control of a tyrant. The Articles lead us to war, and separated us from Great Britain and now are our own country.

The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States. They were written during the revolutionary war to create a more unified government, and to establish what the national government could and could not do. The Articles let each state keep “sovereignty, freedom, and independence,” and created a very weak central government. For example, Congress could not regulate commerce or impose taxes. The impact that the Articles of Confederation had on federalism for the next few years was: the federal government had very few powers, and most of the authority remained in control of each individual state.

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution are two very important guidelines of government that shaped the political minds of the Americans. Mainly because these guidelines limited, or expanded the powers of the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The Articles of Confederation were a series of laws that gave more power to the state government than the federal government. As a result, the federal government could not enforce laws or levy taxes. After Shay’s Rebellion, the Founding Fathers realized that a change was necessary. So the Constitution was created. The most important change of the Constitution was that the majority of power was then shifted into the hands of the federal or central government. This allowed the federal

It all started after the Declaration of Independence during the time America was busy fighting the Revolutionary War, when Congress realized that they needed to form a plan to move forward and unite the thirteen states as a nation.

For instance, they were both written with the same intentions of creating new country of freedom for many people. It also contains the same ideals of government that the Articles had, just in a different format. Also, both central governments had the right to raise an army and build up a navy. However, this seems to be where more differences start to appear. One glaring difference between the two is that the Articles made the states seem like a friendly cooperation while the Constitution firmly defined the unity of the states. Also, the Constitution resolved the problems that the central government had when referring to levying taxes and controlling trade. Another importance between the two is the number of Congress votes each state had. During the time of the Articles of Confederation, there was only one congressional vote per state. On the other hand, after the Constitution was put in place, each state had one vote per delegate elected into Congress. On a final note, while many of the ideals behind the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution were the same, the two documents were different in many ways and created two very distinct forms of

The Articles of Confederation became the first guiding principles of the original thirteen states. However, the weaknesses embedded in the articles became obvious, outweighing its positive impact and they were ratified in 1781. George Washington sated that the articles were "little more than a shadow without the substance."1 They limited the central government’s ability to work smoothly and adversely affected the economy. Lack of power left the government in dismay and they sought a fix to their problems without becoming a tyrannical monarchy. The founding fathers believed that replacing the articles with The Constitution was the best way to give the central government enough power to carry out its tasks. In 1787 delegates from all 13 states met in Pennsylvania to begin amending the articles. This process revealed many of the similarities and differences that were contained within The Articles of Confederation and The Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation, which was considered the first constitution of the United States of America, and the US Constitution, which acts as the supreme law in the United States today, both are poles apart. In fact, it was only because of the weaknesses of the Articles that the present-day US Constitution was drafted. The Articles of Confederation or Articles was a written agreement which laid the guidelines for the functioning of the national government. It was drafted by the Continental Congress and sent to the thirteen original states for ratification in November 1777. Within a few years of its ratification, the Articles was subjected to severe criticism by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Problems with the document existed in plenty; the biggest issue being the fact that it left the national government at the mercy of states. Eventually, it was decided that this agreement had to be revised to suit the needs of the nation as a whole. The delegates at the Philadelphia Convention came to the conclusion that it was better to draft an entirely new constitution instead of revising the existing agreement, and thus came into existence the new US Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation was the United State’s first constitution, it was written in an effort to unite the states after the American Revolution and served as a blueprint for the modern constitution. In order for the Articles to become official, they had to be approved by all thirteen colonies. Although Congress sent the Articles of Confederation to the states around the end of 1777 to become ratified, they were not officially adopted until March 1, 1781. Under these Articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. The American people feared a strong national government and as a result of this, the Articles of Confederation were specifically designed to be weak in the sense that each state maintains its own sovereignty and all rights to govern themselves, with the except of the rights exclusively granted to Congress. Since the Articles lacked many necessary components to keep a nation properly structured, they were eventually revised into the constitution we recognize today. Although, the Articles of Confederation seemed as though it only contained weaknesses, within the document, many strengths and accomplishments were made. Overall, the Articles of Confederation were proven to be both efficient and non-efficient during the time period they were in effect.

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention chose to write an entirely new constitution rather than fix the Articles because they needed a stronger central government and the current one was created with weak intentions. The Articles of Confederation was originally created to have a weak central government because the United States did not want to be like Britain. After fighting a harsh war with them, Americans did not want an overpowering government like their past ruler. Additionally, the government the Articles made was only unicameral legislature, so there was no separation of powers. No judicial nor an executive branch was there for checks and balances and to balance power. In addition, congress could not levy taxes and maintain a national

George Washington called for a convention in late May 1787; in order speak about the nation 's political and economical problems and revise the Articles. Delegates from eleven out of the thirteen states attended this convention. They decided on a government consisting of three branches: legislative (Congress), executive (the President), and judicial (Supreme Court). These branches were under the checks-and-balances in order to maintain balance in powers and to prevent tyranny in the country. The Great Compromise solved the issue that arose between the delegates that believed the separation of powers into three different branches would ensure that the United States would not become another monarchy.

There have been two different documents that the United States has operated under. The first document was created on November 15th, 1777 and ratified March 1st, 1971 and is called The Articles of the Confederation (Klos, 2013). The second document was created on September 17th, 1987 and ratified on June 21st, 1788 and is called The Constitution (History.com staff, 2009). There are many important differences between these two documents. There were also differences in the country at the time each was written which made each document more appropriate for its time in history.

While their inexperienced ideas at creating a new republican government were practiced, the articles proved to be very weak. George Washington called for a convention in late May 1787; in order speak about the nation’s political and economical problems and revise the Articles. Delegates from eleven out of the thirteen states attended this convention. They decided on a government consisting of three branches: legislative (Congress), executive (the President), and judicial (Supreme Court). These branches were under the checks-and-balances in order to maintain balance in powers and to prevent tyranny in the country. Delegates believed this separation of powers into three different branches would ensure that the