The Articles Of Confederation And The Constitutional Convention

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.

Most of the Philadelphia Convention participants were veterans of the Revolutionary War. George Washington, highly respected for his success in the war, was unanimously elected president of the convention by his peers. And James Madison, with an acute knowledge of government systems, came to be known as the “Father of the Constitution” due to his promotion of two key concepts: officials elected by the people and a preference for a large republican government. Madison’s copious notes have served historians as the most accurate and complete record of this

When the war finally came to an end in 1781, the economy was still suffering due to the lack of knowledge the states had on both economic and political matters. Since it was agreed upon that the nation wanted to be a democracy, the Constitution was shaped accordingly. The Articles of Confederation where written in order to establish a national government among the thirteen original colonies. There were many factors that caused of the crisis but the main reason was because of the Revolutionary war. The United States had taken on a substantial amount of debt in order for them to fund the war and the British Navy had targeted to destroy American ships, which led to a disruption in trade. The concerns that the colonists had with the Articles

Although, the war was won and there were lots of flaws in the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution started shaping the laws and government in the nation. Democracy was something that may be hard for the people to handle according to Alexander Hamilton of New York, and it would also make them confused by the challenges of running the nation. The nation was on the European economic system which it had trouble and struggled. The people got married, raised families, bought slaves, they moved west and built new homes while daily life was going on. In the 1790 's the Politian 's was faced with a lot of questions such as could the leaders pulled the nation together and was the independence temporary? They all preached liberty and equality, but they went to great lengths to safeguard both slavery and taking control of Native American lands. During Thomas Jefferson 's reign as president stabilized and the land acquired helped start an economic revolution.

Both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were legal documents documenting the specific powers of the congress and the individual states. These documents both had their weaknesses and strengths. They both caused controversies and debates between both America’s new leaders and the everyday citizen.

The Articles of Confederation was one of the first official documents of the United States. The purpose of this article was to create a confederation of states whereby each state retained its sovereignty, freedom, and independence. Every state was as independent as possible with the Federal government only responsible for the common defense, security of liberties, and the general welfare. There were several problems that soon became obvious with time, as the Articles took effect. The Articles contained more weaknesses than strengths which let the authority to get rid of them and create a new document.

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.

Prior to the adoption of the constitution by the United States the formal and legal document used to govern the United States was called the Articles of Confederation. This draft was finalized in the summer of 1777 and was adopted by the Second Continental Congress. This document was deemed ineffective rather quickly due to the lack of several issues not being addressed like the government not having the authority to tax the people of the United States. Another issues with this document was that it gave all of the national government’s power and duties to a single chamber legislature known as Congress. This raised many concerns and caused the delegates to convene and work on a new plan that would be more effective. The Virginia Plan was created

The Articles of Confederation was the first order of government established within the United States of America from March 1st, 1781 and lasted until March 4th, 1789. This written document established the functions of the national government of the United States after gaining independence from Great Britain. In order to not follow in the footsteps of Great Britain and become a tyranny, the Articles of Confederation declared that each state was independent and sovereign; each state had an absolute veto that essential provided undisputed power. Despite being the first government in the United States that unified the thirteen colonies, its inability to flourish was the result of the lack of power it was provided by the states. The Articles of Confederation paved the way for a well-balanced governmental structure through its few significant contributions that would eventually lead to the government in today’s America.

To understand what the benefits and drawbacks  were, it is important to compare and contrast the positions in which the documents differ. I believe that they are thus:

The aim of this paper is to talk about the different actions taken to replace the Articles of Confederation to bring about a new Constitution. I will first start out by giving some background on the Article of Confederation as to what it was and why it was important for the US? Secondly, I will provide the reader with some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Article of Confederation. Why did the Article of Confederation fail? Third, I will talk about the actions that were taken to replace the Article of Confederation and how these actions were worked out.

There were many differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. At the end of the American Revolution the free states needed some sort of control that would generate to a unified country. Issues arose such as: How should power be divided between local and national governments? How should laws be made, and by whom? Who should be authorized to govern those laws? How could the government be designed to protect the unalienable individual rights? Their first attempt at solving this issue was the Articles of Confederation, which was a failure for

The Articles of Confederation, is the first written constitution of the United States. The Articles of Confederation consists of a Continental Congress, to maintain the Articles and serve as a government of the thirteen American colonies. The Continental Congress is made up of delegates from the thirteen colonies. These colonies include: Delaware, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts Bay, South Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were named the first constitution of the united states. Even though they were adopted on this day, they did not become approved until 1781. The Articles did not give congress power to enforce its requests to the states for money or troops, and by the end of 1786 governmental effectiveness was broke down. The states had too much power, and the articles had many things that made it weak such as : each state had only one vote in congress, regardless of size, congress did not have the power to tax, there was no court system, and many other problems.  Although the Articles had many downfalls, there were a few achievements, which were : state claims to western lands were settled, and the Northwest

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