The Articles Of Confederation Essay

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.

With the United States new found independence from Great Britain, its founding fathers realize from their historical experiences that a document of law needed to be crafted and established to preserve its new found independence, while maintaining order. However, the first document crafted by the founding fathers, the Articles of Confederation, did preserve the country new found independence but it did not maintain order. The Articles of Confederation described by many founding fathers to be a document that was crafted to satisfy needs of every state for its ratification, even when the document did not present a responsible democracy. The Articles of Confederation granted all national powers to the congress; however, it allowed each state

1. The Articles of Confederation provided for a loose confederation. The government had one house Legislature. There was no separation of powers within the government. Separation of power keeps one body from gaining too much power.

After gaining independence from England, the Founding Fathers created a government under the Articles of Confederation. This was conceived around an almost powerless central government, and very powerful state governments. However, when the Articles of Confederation failed, they decided it was time for something new. The Articles of Confederation were too weak and created major problems which led to the conception of the United States Constitution. There are two flaws of the Articles of Confederation, and building on the first, how two of the decisions made by the Framers of the Constitution fixed issues of the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation was a document signed amongst the thirteen original colonies that established the United States of America as a union of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. The Articles of Confederation did little to promote colonial unity, therefore independence was granted to 13 new nations, all of which became weak from lack of central government. In the Great Debate the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists debated the inclusion of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution as this allowed to make a compromise to govern our country. The Constitution that is now shaping modern America would have never been formed without first evolving from the flawed Articles of Confederation.

The Founding Fathers of the Articles of Confederation consisted of 13 separate States. They were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The articles were drafted on November 15, 1777 and were later revised on March 1, 1781. During this time the states ran into a large number of problems, one being it was up to the states to enforce taxes on the public and only a small portion of that went back to the federal government. The Articles also left the states with no clear power to a central government. The unset of the shays’ rebellion on August 29, 1786 was a clear indicator of the lack of power between the states and the government. Daniel Shays’ and about four thousand rebels led the Shays’ Rebellion in Massachusetts. The rebellion was caused by financial difficulties and harsh government policies to fix these post-war debts. The protestors shut down county courts and stopped judicial hearings

"Perhaps the greatest service rendered by the Articles of Confederation was the impetus its shortcomings gave to those who favored a strong central government."

The Articles of Confederation already gave power to the Congress. The power was not being forced upon the people of Colonial America. I would want for the government to have the power to protect our rights and freedom. The people have the right idea by having the government ran by them, the people. Even though you still need government officials to be operating the government to give people a better life. A better life with free health care, and equal pay for labor. To do this you would need to spend money. The people did not want to pay the government for they believed, the way Britain did, about John Locke’s Social Contract theory. "...to secure these rights [Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness], Governments are instituted among men,

"The band which at present holds us together, by a very feeble thread, will soon be broken, when anarchy and confusion must ensue." George Washington said this while describing the current government of the United States. With the ratification of Maryland on March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into affect and all seemed well. Even though the Confederation had many accomplishments, it was hardly an ideal government. Problems began to arise soon following the enactment of the Articles. The Confederation lacked adequate powers to deal with interstate issues, while it lacked ample stature to be of an influence on other nations, making the Confederation unable to negotiate easily. Financial

When the U.S. was first established it wasn’t all gumdrops and butterflies, we had to fight for it. And after we won our independence it still didn’t come easy. Now adults may not remember their American history classes but it took more than one try to set up a government. The first attempt, The Articles of Confederation, only lasted four years and it caused so many problems. But the important thing we didn’t give up, we all wanted to be heard and we all had something useful to say. And when we had it all worked out, we all listened to each and got along. We went some rough spots but everyone made it through and people casted the idea of the “American Dream” and how the U.S. was so amazing. Which it was, it truly was at that point in time

It's a fact that people all around the world come to the United States of America to have more capabilities and chances to a better life. This is due to the U.S. government. Although the U.S. government is one of the greatest governments in the world, a lot of people don't know what influenced the U.S. constitution in becoming a great constitution. The thought of the Constitution was brought up after the occurrence of the failures of Articles of Confederation. The founding fathers had a meeting on what improvements should be made to the Articles of Confederation. But the meeting eventually ending in creating the US Constitution. This took place at Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia. While writing the the US Constitution, the founding

The Articles of Confederation was an agreement made between the thirteen original states that was ratified in 1781, and superseded by The Constitution of the United States in 1789 (“Confederation, Articles of”). The Articles of Confederation was the first U.S. written constitution. The need for the Constitution was because it gave basic human rights to all citizens, and The Articles of Confederation did not. The creation of The Constitution began on May 25, 1787, and was made to take the place of The Articles of Confederation.

The first video “The Constitution Project” – creating a constitution of the founding fathers creating and signing the constitution. This is a large piece of history which because of them, the constitution and the articles of confederation are what make makes America what it is today, unified. The major learning theme of this video is to understanding what and how these states came together, taxation, laws, and the people behind it. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison to name a few are the unique founding fathers who helped make America the way it is for years to come. Because of the constitution, constitutional conflicts have become a major focus and resolving them is another. Most of all, it’s significant to see the founding fathers go through conflicts of the constitution and eventually come to a compromise that are doable still today. It’s extraordinary to see first-hand of a group of leaders eventually reach a compromise about its core values, the government, states, and people’s rights.

. Resolved that whenever requisitions shall be necessary, instead of the rule for making requisitions mentioned in the articles of Confederation, the United States in Congress assembled be authorized to make such requisitions in proportion to the whole number of white and other free citizens and inhabitants of every age, sex, and condition including those bound to servitude for a term of years and three fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing description, except Indians not paying taxes [3]; that if such requisitions be not complied with, in the time specified therein, to direct the collection thereof in the non complying States and for that purpose to devise and pass acts directing and authorizing the same; provided

The Constitution replaced the articles of confederation in June of 1788. The founding fathers knew, by looking at historic documents from very prominent civilizations, what they did, and did not, want to add into the Constitution. The Constitution has been used for over two-hundred years to date, the longest constitution used in the world. There are many reasons that the Constitution was able to last for this long. Some of these reasons include the fact that it does not add in religious parts to it, it is strictly legal. Another reason may be that it was unprecedented, that is, having laws that the government could not break written down. The Constitution was also foolproof because it included a way for changing times to allow for a changing document. The amendment process is clearly detailed in the Constitution so that if ever needed, the document may be changed in order to suit the new ages.