Comparison and Contrast of 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 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.

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.

The Articles of Confederation was created to give the federal government reduced power compared to the states. Before the Articles of Confederation was written, the American Revolution was fought against an authoritarian empire, England. Consequently, the American colonists didn't want another tyrant empire to rule them, they wanted control. A written constitution was constructed to give the states more power over the federal government. States retained control and power over

The simple difference between the Articles of Confederation and US Constitution is that the articles were not strong enough to hold our young nation together. The articles operated the US as separate states. Under the articles, it was very difficult to pass laws since the requirement of 9 out of the 13 states ' approval was needed for ratification. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. The need for a stronger Federal government soon became apparent and eventually led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The members of the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 in

The British controlled everything they did in the colony.They also thought that states would be small, independent countries like the way the colonies were established. In addition, the states thought they would act on their own on all issues except for war and handling foreign relations. Their experience with the British monarchy rule before the establishment of the Articles made them aware of too much power in a single ruler. The states had established a two-house legislature to divide the power. After the Revolutionary War the states also allowed people to vote who were restricted before. Before this time women, indentured servants, the poor and African Americans were not allowed to vote. Therefore, the writers of the Articles kept all of this in mind when writing the Articles of Confederation.

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Congress knew that they would need a stronger and powerful government to beat Britain. During the Revolutionary War, drafts of the Articles of Confederation were presented before Congress, which were then edited and revised into the final draft that was approved in November 1777. After the war, the colonies were left with a central government that was unable to levy taxes and regulate trade. In his YouTube video, “The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism: Crash Course US History #8,” John Green states, “Both the national government and the individual state had racked up massive debt to pay for the war, and their main source of revenue became tariffs, but because Congress couldn’t impose them, states had to do it individually.” Since the central government was unable to pay for the war, the people had to pay for all the

“Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.” (U.S. Articles of Confederation, Article II) This article reflected the resent that the newly independent colonists held for the British Monarch. Hatred of autocratic rule and central power forced the drafters of the government’s template to enact a weak national government, without both judicial and executive branches. The absence of these two powers in the government made it nearly impossible for Congress to enforce acts, leading to states taking actions that only directly benefitted themselves, especially financially. (Kelly) Instead of creating an era of national pride following the recent victory in the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation helped create a of extreme state pride and desire for sovereignty. The Constitution, on the other hand, effectively addresses the lack of central strength in the first and second articles. Article II creates an executive branch, led by the president, that is composed of central departments with the ability to enforce policy established by Congress and the president himself. (US Const. art. II) Article III establishes a national judicial branch with supreme power over state courts. The courts have the power to interpret

Throughout American history, many Americans assume that too much power is given to one party or the other. The Article of confederation was important in the United States because it affected the way over government functions today. Specifically, under the Article of confederation, the United States was intended to be formed on a basis of Federalism. Within this structure of Federalism, states have their own rights and majority of power with its people. The federal government on the other hand, was design to play a small role in the nation. In comparison to individual states, federal government had less power and responsibility under the ideas of the Article of confederation. In sum, then, the issue is whether the Article of confederation had proven to be unstable and inefficient. The limitations of the federal government has sparked the question of why did the framers want to scrap the Article of confederation.

The Articles of Confederation and the U.S Constitution have a lot in common. They were both established by the same people, both were the official government of the united states, both were the laws of the United States Government, both called the nation the United States of America, both where federal United States documents, both could establish an army and declare war on other countries, both had a legislative branch, both could establish coins and set up a federal post office.

“The Constitution devotes the national domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare and to liberty” (Maier 154). This quote, stated by William Henry Seward, displays the strength and stability that the Constitution had over the nation, and the liberty and justice it supplied for all of its citizens. Although the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation have similarities, they have many differences, which proved that the Articles of Confederation were a weaker document in comparison. It can be said that the Articles were the “rough draft” to the final living document, which significantly influenced and “ruled” our government, as it still does today.

After the Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States still had a major task ahead of them. They had to form a new government that would satisfy the demands of the people and ensure the success of their nation. The Articles of Confederation was the first system of government that was proposed and put into effect. This attempt at creating a system that protected the people form a strong central government ultimately failed but was an important step in the development of the current government system. The weaknesses presented by the Articles of Confederation helped lead to reforms that made the Constitution successful. Both the Articles and the Constitution demonstrate the struggles that the colonists went through with the British and

Written in the Articles of Confederation, the states were sovereign, which meant that they were a state that has borders where people live, and where a government makes laws. The people must follow the laws that the government produces otherwise there could be some consequences if not followed. An example of a sovereign state is the United States, the United States is an independent nation, which is governed by the Americans, that control its own affairs. Another thing that was written in the Articles of Confederation was that no federal courts could enforce laws, all the laws will be enforced by state courts. The difference between a state court and a federal court are, that a state court case has an extensive jurisdiction, so that the cases individual citizens are most likely to be involved in are robberies, broken contracts, family disputes and traffic violations which are usually settled in state courts. In the federal court system, federal

There are a lot of differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation called for a unicameral legislature, simply called Congress, in which each state had only one vote, regardless of its size or population. The Constitution however, features bicameral legislature in which there is the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the Senate, each state is allowed two votes whereas in the House the number of votes is based off of the population of each state, granting larger states more votes in certain matters. Under the Articles the representative was chosen by state legislature by whatever means each individual state chose. Each served a one year term and were only allowed to serve three out of every six terms. The states were responsible for paying their representative and salaries varied across states.

The Articles of Confederation was essentially the first document after America gained its independence from Britain that established how the country would run. The Articles of Confederation were written in 1777 but were not ratified by all thirteen states until 1781 (Comparing the Articles and the Constitution). Later these documents would become what we know today as the Constitution.