Compare And Contrast The Articles Of Confederation And The Constitution

The Articles of Confederation was the first federal foundational laws of the United States. It was composed due to the conflicting views of the politicians at the time and the need to unite the States during the war. Its development and resoluteness had a sluggish inception due to some Americans uncertainties of the government’s substantial central power and property demands by States. The Articles of Confederation was finally sanctioned on March 1, 1781. Under the Articles, each States stayed autonomous, with Congress having the final say over disputes. Congress was also given the ability to make accords and agreements, uphold armies and currencies. The Articles of Confederation did best with territorial expansion in the West, thanks to the Ordinances that were written for the Articles and the benefits they had. However, under the Articles, the central government had no power to impose taxes and manage commerce, because of this the government was consistently short of funds. Despite the lack of funding, money was still required for the war effort, and Congress' meantime solution was to print nearly $250 million paper currency, this led to major inflation in the States. This deficit urged legislators to find a solution; the Constitution of 1787. Both the Articles and the Constitution worked to preserve a free government, different from the tyrannical rule they have experienced from the British Parliament. Also, both documents allowed states the power to manage mercantilism,

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.

In the Articles of Confederation, the States are sovereign but in the Constitution the people as a whole nation are sovereign. Concluding that the sovereignty is divided among the states and the central government (Utah State University, 2008). Meaning that the federal government may have laws but the states have their autonomous decision in making laws too. This ratification does at times clash with one another but that issue is settled by the Supreme Court of the United States for resolution. In the Articles of Confederation, it was written that there is no independent executive with power but compared with the Constitution it was agreed that the “independent executive is chosen by the Electoral College” (Utah State University, 2008). The Executive Branch is headed by the President who has the power to choose his cabinet and has checks & balance on powers of the judiciary and the legislature. In the Articles of Confederation, there were no federal courts. All laws were enforced by the state courts but comparing this to the Constitution, there is a separate Federal Court System with the power to resolve issues among citizens and states. Another issue was that there was no taxing power given to Congress but later on Congress was granted the power to “lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises” (Heritage Foundation, 2012). Congress before would request that specific state to pay taxes but now Congress has the right

The Articles of Confederation, Adopted by Congress on November 15, 1777, for all practical purposes was the United States’ first Constitution. Created to establish a bond between the newly formed states, “...the Articles purposely established a "constitution" that vested the largest share of power to the individual states” (Early America). This ensured that the government did not have the majority of power. “...the Articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws...allowing the states retained their "sovereignty, freedom and independence” (Early

In "Address to the People of the United States," Benjamin Rush states, "The confederation...[was] formed under very unfavorable circumstances. We had just emerged from a corrupted monarchy...most of us were ignorant of...republics..." During this time, the government had too much power and Congress did want to make the citizens feel oppressed. The Articles of Confederation gave the government the power to make decisions and pass laws. However, the states could reject the laws because the government had no way to enforce them. The delegates amended this conflict in the Constitution by creating federalism, therefore balancing the power between the states and the federal government. The single branch of government was divided into the executive, judicial, and legislative branches to ensure that the power would be distributed evenly and there would be no corruption.

First, the Articles of Confederation were viewed as an overall weakness. It did not allow congress to obtain really any power over the people; therefore we had a weak central government. Congress was not granted the power that they needed in order to keep things in order,“Probably the most unfortunate part of the Articles of confederation were that the central government could not prevent one state from discriminating against other states in the quest for foreign commerce.” (Ginsberg, et. al. 2014: 35). States were rebelling and our new found country was in chaos and our Congress was not able to prevent states from discriminating against other states. For example, another downfall to this document was that, “The Articles of Confederation were concerned

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 first constitution and served to form a type of government for the 13 colonies at the time. ”The Articles of Confederation is the original framework for the government of the United States, adopted in 1781 and superseded by the U.S Constitution in 1789. It established a “firm league of friendship” among the states, rather than a government “of the people” (Dye 66). When the Articles of Confederation were established the federal government lacked power, but most of the power was held within the states. “The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments” (Primary Documents in American History). The articles of confederation failed by giving state more power than the federal government. U.S. feared that if the federal government had

The Articles of Confederation was the first form of Government the United States of America. Since this form of Government failed, the Founding Fathers of the United States of America met together to create a new form of government. There was no other government that was similar to the one they had created. Their new government gave power to the people. This meant that people living in The United States of America could vote and have a say in how the government worked.

They would also only have a single house in the national legislature. It also required confirmation by every state legislature as opposed to the three-fourths of the state conventions or legislatures. However the views under the Constitution of 1787 held two houses of congress, a house of representatives chosen by the people for a term of two years versus the annual term of its counter parting document. The U.S. senate would also be selected by the state legislature and serve terms of six years. By having longer terms and a non-unanimous vote there was more consistency with governing tactics and cut down on petty problems due to disagreements. The articles of confederation also allowed congress to regulate foreign commerce by treaties as did the Constitution, however the Articles held no check on conflicting state regulations, but the Constitution states that all state regulation must obtain congressional consent.

An article of Confederation was adopted by the Continental Congress, on November 15, 1777. It was the first constitution of America. Though, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not take place until March 1, 1781. After some all the states realised that article of Confederation is inadequate to resolve the national and international issues. As a result on March 4, 1789, Articles of Confederation was replaced by the new Constitution of 1787. This new constitution was signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia. In new constitution, members tried to strengthen the central government. The new constitution was the demand of time. It was more practical. It was broader than the article of Confederation. Under article of Confederation, states were free to form their military. But under new Constitution of 1787, this power was taken from states and given to centre. In new constitution, foreign affair and defence department was given to federal government. No state was given power to sign treaties with other nations. Some changes were also brought in the composition of congress under new constitution. Now, seats in congress were decided on the basis of population of each state.

Both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution have many similarities and differences. First and foremost, the Articles called for a unicameral legislature while the constitution calls for a bicameral legislature, which allows for a greater amount of representation and checks and balances in congress. Furthermore, in the legislature, the Articles has between two and seven representatives per state whereas the Constitution has two senators per state and a house representatives based upon population. These representatives each have a vote in the Constitution where as in the Articles; each state only had one vote. This allows for equal representation in legislature to ensure each state has a voice in law making and that states will a larger population have a great say, but are not overbearing on smaller states.

The United States has been governed under two constitutions. The first one was the Articles of Confederation which was ratified in 1781, the second constitution which replaced the article after being ratified in 1787. There are certain similarities and differences between the article of confederation with the new constitution of 1787, and strengths and weaknesses of the Article vis-à-vis the constitution. Haven compared the Article of confederation and the 1787 Constitution, we will look at the drafting of the constitution and the compromise made by various states to come out with an effective draft of the constitution, and finally compare the debate over ratification between the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist.

Compare and contrast the Articles of confederation and the Constitution, especially in regard to the specific powers granted to the national government.The formation and ideals of the Articles of Confederation and its successor, the Unites States Constitution, varied from each other in terms of a stronger or weaker federal government in dealing with issues. The Constitution gave more power to the federal government, while the Articles of Confederation involved a very weak government with primary rights interests of the individual states as the focus. Both gave Congress legislative power and set up departments that would eventually be incorporated into the president’s cabinet. The formation of the Articles of Confederation was of the

The United States ran under two important documents. The first, was the Articles of Confederation, it was ratified in Maryland and it was on effect on March 1, 1781. The second, was the Constitution. The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation, when it was ratified on June 21, 1788 in New Hampshire.