The United States has been progressively influenced under two foundations, better known as The Articles of Confederation and the U.S Constitution. The first being the Articles of Confederation, which was established on March 1, 1771. Henceforth, The Constitution restored the Articles on June 21, 1788. The differences and similarities between the two are pronounced, and they merit thorough analysis.
Beginning with the Articles, this was the very first endeavor that systemized a national government in the New World. After the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, the Articles served as a written testimony which generally prohibited the states from carrying out their own foreign diplomacy. The Albany Plan was a failed attempt
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Directed by George Washington, the delegates signed the Constitution in 1787 in hopes of creating a more stable and secure national government; securing fundamental rights for citizens. This well-founded plan implanted the government with three branches (executive, judicial and legislative), in addition to a checks & balances system that certified no particular branch would have more power over another.
While both documents were created in hopes of unifying our states, they have several dissimilarities and correlations. The biggest disconnection being that the Articles gave power to states respectively with very little government dominance, whereas the Constitution granted prime authority to the central government. Additionally, the Articles allowed one Congress to be given power, alike the Constitution, yet not limited to. The Constitution allowed one power given Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the process of ratifying both documents, consent was necessary. However, the Articles necessitated an undisputed (unanimous) approval while the Constitution needed compliance from only 9 out of the 13 states. Congress had to prepare a Bill of Rights to gain the support for many of the states to adhere to the Constitution. From the voting, to the taxes, as well as the amendments, and the laws, the Constitution serves as an upgrade of the Articles. On the other hand, both documents were established
Though the articles did account for a President, he did hardly more than preside over the Congress, there was no power in the Presidency. The Constitution on the other hand gave power to the executive branch headed by the President to choose the Cabinet and be another check to the judiciary and legislature. The Amending document was changed as well between the two, before 13 out of 13 colonies were needed to amend an article, while later 2/3 of both houses of Congress as well as ¾ of State legislature or National Convention were needed. The representation of the States was drastically changed, under the articles each State received one vote regardless of size, in the Constitution the upper house (Senate) has two votes from each state and the lower house would be based upon population.
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
The Articles of Confederation established the first national government of the United States after it declared independence from England. The American Revolution heavily influenced this document, as the American people refused to have another tyrant rule their country. From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an ineffective government because of its lack of power to tax, raise an army, or regulate trade; however, it redeemed itself with the creation of the land ordinances of 1785 and 1787, and keeping the states united after the American Revolution.
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 provided no executive branch,so Congress had the complete authority to govern the U.S. The Constitution provided a president who would enforce the federal laws (Doc 5). The legislative branch was represented by one house, with each state having one vote. Also, no votes were needed to begin an important legislation. The Constitution created a bicameral legislature, and each state had equal representation in the Senate (Doc 5). Unlike the Articles where no votes were needed to enact a major legislation, the Constitution required a small amount of authority to proceed with a major legislation. The Articles of Confederation created no federal court system, so no states could sort out major affairs. The Constitution created national court system that could sort out the affairs between states and citizens. the different states had a changing population of Federalists and Antifederalists. One example of power regulation added into the Constitution is the checks and balances governmental system.This system of government in the branches made it so the three branches could regulate each other’s power. Another example of power regulation, is the addition of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments of the Constitution which protected the individual rights of people. Again, the most major difference between the two guidelines of government was the shift of power. This shift of power altered the political environment of the United States as a young
When the Framers of the Constitution met in Philadelphia, they came together with one common purpose in mind. They needed to form a fair and solid system of government that would stand the test of time; one that was both fair for the people and would not involve a monarchy. Each of these men had their own ideas on what would constitute this system, however, so many compromises had to be made. Together, the men gathered in Philadelphia created a federal system of government and drafted a constitution outlining this government. They took care in developing three branches of federal government with a system of checks and balances so that no one branch would gain too much power, thus avoiding any
The following year the Constitution was composed on September 17, 1787. The idea of the constitution was seen as ownership papers for citizens. The constitution provided the “checks-and-balances” idea which limited powers between the three branches created: Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive. As well as provided a “Bill of Rights”, which James Madison promised to the people in order to get the Constitution ratified. The executive branch lead to the position of a President and for the President to make appointments and treaties.
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 and the Constitution are only six years apart in history. Knowing this you would think that they have very few differences but it is the complete opposite. As soon as the Articles of Confederation were ratified, it got everyone thinking about how to create a good system of government. That is where the Constitution came in. The Constitution changed almost everything from the Articles of Confederation making the national government a lot more powerful.
The Articles of Confederation was a start for what America would become. They were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States ' first constitution, and was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present day Constitution went into effect. The Articles of Confederation were a strong beginning for America however it had its flaws. The Articles of Confederations rigid and non flexible characteristics hindered American. The Constitution improved all of the trending problems in the Articles of Confederation. It helped form the strong structure of the government that America has today. The Articles of Confederation help show Congress exactly what America needed to become a
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 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 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.
Initially, the Articles of Confederation was the first form of written constitution the United States had established. However, the Articles of Confederation had many flaws, one of the major flaws was it was establishing a weak government. Therefore, many important delegates through a committee decided to construct a new form of law that will inculcate a strong government. The result was the ratification of the Constitution (1788); the supreme law of the land. The constitution is broken down in three branches the legislative, executive, and the judicial branch all for the purpose for tyranny doesn’t surpass. Likewise, the constitution is constructs first with the preamble starting with the famous words” We the People of the United States,”
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 and included new amendments and articles of the newly formed Federal Republic government (Dickovick &Eastwood 557-559). However, fast forward to 2017 we still have the same Federal Republic system with Democratic elections. The constitution ensures a liberal democracy that serves and protects the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Although it has had its up and downs the framers of the constitution had set forth a separation of powers that involved checks and balances. This separation of powers required that no one entity have all the power to rule or run this country alone. It divided the powers between three branches Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.