Major Turning Points in U.S. History (1492-1820)

The United States Constitution overcame the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and provided for the organization of the new government. After the American Revolutionary War in America, the colonists needed a government so no one could take away their power. The Articles of Confederation overcame the weaknesses by creating settling in the Western Lands, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Constitutional Convention provided for the organization of the new government by creating The Great Compromise and The Three-Fifths Compromise. Every state had to ratify the constitution, and not every state would agree for the Constitution to be ratified, this provided for the organization of the new government. The United States Constitution

The American Revolution set the ground work for a major change in the New England colonies. It was a time of significant governmental changes on political and social levels, and a growing ideology on the obedience of a women and the dissolution of slavery.

The Articles of Confederation were like a loose contract between the states. There was deepening debt, no power of the government to levy taxes to pay for the cost of the war, some states had a navy while others did not. Shay’s Rebellion, in which the government raised the taxes against farmers to help pay off war debts, caused the farmers to rebel. Hamilton and Madison decided that something needed to be done and so they called together representatives from each state to draw up a new version of the Articles. Instead of another Articles of Confederation being drawn up the United States Constitution was written. The new Constitution had a “weak” central government with strong state powers. It also ensured each state that they would be equally represented in the national government. In one house the representatives were based on the state’s population and in the other house each state gets two representatives. New ideas to the Constitution included: an executive branch

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 Article of Confederation was ratified in 1781. This Article was part of the formation of a national government in the United States. But, by 1787, a reform convention was held to address the Article’s weaknesses. This event also brought about tension in the country between two groups, the Federalists and Antifederalists. Federalists were a group of people that advocated for a system of government, while Antifederalists opposed the creation of a stronger America. The Article of Confederation  was designed as a loose confederation of 13 states, and reflected principles of the Declaration of Independence. But, difficulties began to arise with the new Constitution when economic weakness and farmers revolt proved the Article was a poor form of government, along with opposing views from Federalists and Antifederalists, verifying that an inadequate document had been created.

After fighting for our country against Great Britain in the American Revolution, the United States gained independence. We had to figure out how to govern ourselves since we would no longer be under the power of the monarch. The Articles of Confederation was the answer to our problems; even though it established a very weak central government and had many problems, it was our first constitution and our first step towards a solid government. Some of the problems with the Articles included that the Congress had no power to tax, no power to regulate commerce, no power to regulate domestic affairs, no power to enforce laws, and many more. The problems lead to troubles with the States which convinced the Continental Congress to create a convention of delegated people to revise them; this convention was called the Constitutional Convention. The Convention fixed these problems by throwing the Articles out altogether and creating a new Constitution.

With the creation of the Articles remained the lack of a strong central authority to resolve disputes between the states. To organize the states for the collective good, including the organization of a militia, was crucial to the development of the Constitutional Convention (Hamilton et al., 2008). The aftermath of Shay’s Rebellion reinforced the fears of national leaders about the dangers of ineffective state governments and of popular democracy out of control. In the climate of economic turmoil and repressions, the Philadelphian convention was conned to prescribe solutions to the Articles of Confederation. Although the initial thought was instructing delegates to propose revisions for the Articles of Confederation, instead, they wrote an entirely new constitution instead (Hamilton et al., 2008)

The New Constitution formed a stronger government for the new country after the Revolutionary war, and declaring independence from England. As the Articles of Confederation was written in a hurry due to the war, the New Constitution would be made of three branches: the Judicial Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Legislative Branch. The New Constitution would instill checks and balances so that no branch would have the capability to have too much power. With the methods and usage of taxation and national affairs. After the war, this New Constitution was a great need for the country to have further development. (History.com, U.S. Constitution signed)

Since the creation of the United States Constitution, the many leaders of our nation took different roles in trying to attain perfectionism for their country. From the federalist views of John Adams to the democratic views of Jefferson, America was experiencing the endeavor that was being a young nation in the midst of the 19th century. The emergence of John Quincy Adams in 1820 started an “Era of Good Feelings” with exceptional political advancements and economic achievements. While Jackson’s democratic views were not always what were expected, during his presidency, the country grew national and world attraction. Through periods of boom and bust, political and economic changes in America undeniably helped reshape society between the years 1820 and 1848 with the emergence of new and innovative advancements.

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.

Although the Articles of the Confederation became known as the United States’ first written constitution, it did not became ratified by all states until after four years after it was adopted and only lasted for 12 years until it was later replaced with the Constitution we used today. The Articles did set a foundation for our modern day constitution but in its early stages posed serious problems that lead to the drafting of a new constitution. Some of those problems included vesting the entire central government within just Congress (lack of Executive, and Judicial Branch), giving central government very limited power on how it handled state to state affair, and lack of national army because the army was composed of state militias. The articles

By the late eighteenth century, America found itself independent from England; which was a welcomed change, but also brought with it, its own set of challenges. The newly formed National Government was acting under the Articles of Confederation, which established a “firm league of friendship” between the states, but did not give adequate power to run the country. To ensure the young nation could continue independently, Congress called for a Federal Convention to convene in Philadelphia to address the deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. While the Congress only authorized the convention to revise and amend the Articles the delegates quickly set out to develop a whole new Constitution for the country. Unlike the Articles of

After the Revolution, the States adopted their own constitutions, many of which contained a Bill of Rights. The Americans still faced the challenge of creating a central government for their new nation. In 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781. Under the Articles, the states retained their “sovereignty, freedom and independence,” while the national government was kept weak and inferior. Over the next few years it became evident that the system of government that had been chosen was not strong enough to completely settle and defend the frontier, regulating trade, currency and commerce, and organizing thirteen states into one union.

After the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, it was voted that Constitution would become the new foundation of the national government, not the Articles of Confederation. At the time, there were thirteen individual states that had to vote to ratify or reject the Constitution. Within these thirteens states, there were two groups that consisted of the Federalists and the Antifederalists. The Federalists supported the Constitution; however, the Antifederalists opposed the Constitution.

Similarly, the new Constitution also made provision for executive and judiciary branches of the government, something which the Articles of Confederation didn't facilitate. When the Articles were the supreme law of the land, the national government required approval from 9 of the total 13 states to pass new laws. This was also changed in the new Constitution