Since the birth of the United States, the issue over how strong the national government should be has always been a controversial one. While some believe that decentralization will inevitably lead to chaos, others contend that a powerful central government will inevitably become a tyranny. Although the United States would wholeheartedly embrace the idea of a loose alliance of independent states at first, the many glaring problems that the nation faced under the Articles of Confederation would quickly change the minds of many Americans. Indeed, the nation 's confederal system of government was eventually rejected and replaced by federalism, a political philosophy that calls for a sharing of power between the national government and the …show more content…
The Constitution, however, would be able to solve all of these economic problems by granting Congress the right to tax the states and by allowing only the federal government to print and control the circulation of money. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, the Constitution was able to ensure that the nation would always be safe from outside forces and internal forces. While the United States had a confederal system of government, a lack of security was a frightening reality. The state governments did not have to provide the central government with any soldiers and most of the state militias were extremely inadequate. This lack of preparedness became evident during Shays ' Rebellion, an uprising of farmers from western Massachusetts who attacked courthouses in Massachusetts in order to prevent judges from taking their land away from them. The rebellion was eventually crushed, but it was so close to succeeding that it is considered by many historians to be the event that sparked the Constitutional Convention. The Constitution successfully addressed the country 's military problems by requiring states to provide the federal government with soldiers in the event of a war and encouraging the states to establish militias that would deal with internal problems. Because of the Constitution, the many problems that came with extreme decentralization, such as heated conflicts between states, economic disorder and turmoil, and a pitifully weak and inefficient
A progression of tax revolts by Massachusetts ranchers against the Massachusetts law making body in 1786-1787. Shays' Rebellion, the post-Revolutionary conflict between New England ranchers and traders that tried the unsafe organizations of the new republic, debilitated to dive the divided states into a common war. The Rebellion emerged in Massachusetts in 1786, spread to different states, and finished in a failed assault on a government munitions stockpile. It slowed down in 1787 with the decision of a more well known representative, a financial rise, and the formation of the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia.
The Articles of Confederation was the first U.S. Constitution written during a time when the American feared a tyrannical government. This led the new nation to an organization that would help hold states together to prevent any future attacks and build a stronger economy. In this case, the Articles Of Confederation seemed to be the best answer to keep the country unified.
Shays’ Rebellion occurred because the lower class backcountry farmers felt oppressed by the more wealthy gentry farmers that had control of the state governments. The gentry held control because of the ability to attend the governmental meetings, as the gentry lived were closer to the cities where the meetings that took place and also had servants to do the work on the farms for the wealthy gentry class. This control of government allowed for the gentry to create new laws and bills in order to assist the agendas of the upper class, while the lower class, who could not attend, had no say and could not vote otherwise. These previously mentioned laws and bills often resulted in the repossession of land owned by poor farmers who could not pay off their own debts.This oppression of by the upper class led Daniel Shay to gather a militia of his own to march on the United States Army arsenal in Massachusetts. While Daniel Shays’ movement itself was not successful, it led to rapid change because it spawned the Annapolis Convention and ultimately led to the revision of the Articles of Confederation, which resulted in the Constitution in place during the present
Following the independence from Great Britain, the United States government decided create a written document that would function as the “guidelines” for America’s government. This first written form of the government was called the Articles of Confederation. However, the Articles of Confederation, had many weaknesses within it. First of all, the most serious problem, was that there was no national unity. The states primarily wanted to function independently, pursuing their own goals and interests, rather than the nation as a whole. Secondly, the next weakness of the Articles of Confederation, was that they borrowed loads of money to fight in the Revolutionary War. This meant that they were largely in debt. They borrowed money from foreign countries, and then later had
Farmers were being taxed highly and faced debts. The rebellion started in Massachusetts however it spread across the many small farms in America. Most farmers across America were in danger of losing their farms. The farmers rebelled and took up arms against local law enforcement. The Rebellion was only put down when Washington sent several local militias to suppress it. After the Rebellion politicians saw many flaws in the Articles of Confederation. Politicians who first created the articles came together to change them. However in the end it was easier to completely restart from scratch and the Constitution was created as a
There were many problems with the Articles of Confederation that led to its replacement by the U.S. Constitution. The states had more power than the federal government, leaving the federal government was weak. The federal government could not levy taxes, and the Articles gave major responsibilities such as negotiating treaties, coining money, and declaring war to state governments. Each state had one vote despite its population, and this angered many of the larger states who felt under-represented. Finally, the Articles lacked a judicial system, and required a unanimous vote to pass any legislature, which often proved difficult to achieve. The turning point that led to a demand for change was Shay’s Rebellion. Daniel Shay along with other farmers
What were the central problems of the Articles of Confederation? How did the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention address them? Finally, how did the delegates resolve the three contentious political issues: the representation of large and small states, slavery, and state sovereignty?
The largest associated problem with the pre-constitutional government was its lack of authority. The Continental Congress had no authority to compel, only recommend. Moreover, the states had increasingly become noncompliant with congressional requests over time. Shays Rebellion (1786-87) truly highlighted this lack of judicial enforcement. Thenceforth, the state leaders genuinely understood their vulnerability and need for an able-bodied central government. The Constitutional Convention was quickly called to order and the resulting Constitution proposed a cardinal authority to govern American citizens. However, as stated above, the Constitution was met with copious resistance especially from a group of diverse, but like-minded Americans deemed as the anti-federalists. Many anti-federalists feared that a consolidated nation would abolish state republics and infringe upon their individual rights. Madison rebutted this contention by identifying a republican government's tendency to
The new Constitution fixes the problems that we have had under the Articles of Confederation. We have not had anyone oversee and make sure that laws are carried out. The Constitution sets up a president to do this. Do not fear that he would be a king, though, for he is not to have all power. It should be shared with two other government branches. One of these branches, called the Judicial Branch, adds national courts, which will help people settle disputes too big for a state court. Congress was left very little power at all under the Articles of Confederation. With the Constitution, Congress will be able to control the printing and sending of money in the States. This will allow Congress to pay off their debts remaining after the war. Congress
The Articles of Confederation were developed after the Revolutionary War, and were a good idea to help set standards for America. However, they had some major problems that needed to be solved in order for America to become a strong nation. After these problems were addressed the Constitution was developed.
The national government of the United States had many challenges under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles caused money problems and the most essential detail, a weak government. This also caused America conflicts among each of the 13 states. These problems greatly impacted the United States and it’s government as well.
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
However, an uprising led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays that took place in western Massachusetts in 1786 was the event that got the attention of the founding fathers. The Shay’s Rebellion demonstrated to the founding fathers that the Articles of Confederation brought commercial problems, threaten civil order, and conflicts between states. Likewise, at the constitutional convention the founding fathers crafted and ratified the U.S constitution to address the problem the Articles of Confederation could not tackle. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the divided the powers of the national government into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Furthermore, the constitution established a one true currency system and presented the job duties and requirements the three branches and individual states. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the constitution presented the rights of its people (Bill of Rights) and a system of check of balance and separation of powers that the United States as democratic country. The Articles of Confederation was a popular democracy with its chaotic results and the constitution was a responsible democracy with its civilized outcomes.
In the Unites States of America Federalism is the basic structure of the American government; it is the distribution and balance of powers between the National government and the States government. In order to obtain a compromise between those who wanted stronger state government and those who preferred a stronger national government the founding fathers arranged and settled for a federal system rather than the alternatives of a unitary or confederal system. While both National and State governments each have specific powers and authority, they also share certain powers and must be able to cooperate effectively with each other.
Last year, our new government was formed. We agreed to what the Articles had said. It seems that now we are having issues with what we had once agreed with. In this newsletter, I will only address four of the most problematic things in the Articles of Confederation. However there are many more that will not be brought to light today.