The Articles of Confederation and the Consitution

The Articles of Confederation was the first system of government that the united states ever put into force, and is the only one they ever wrote besides the constitution. The articles was created due to a need for the United States to unite during the american revolution, and was basically a loosely bound union of states, so it was obvious that this was essentially just to semi-unite the states in order to fight the british, and they would form a more stable form of government after the fact, which they did when they wrote the constitution. I will now list the provisions of the Articles of Confederation.

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

The Articles of Confederation was first written in 1777. It was passed by the Confederation of Congress. Congress decided that they needed a firm government to organize the states as a whole. At least that was their primary goal. Since each state had separates rules. The Articles of Confederation was later ratified by each state in 1781. It was “America’s first federal constitution” (Keene 138). The confederation had a few strengths but many weaknesses. The nation faced many economic and political issues that lead people to controversy.

After America shocked the world by defeating Great Britain in the War for Independence, the new nation needed a document that established their governments- state and national. After failed attempts with the Articles of Confederation, which gave the state governments too much power, the Constitution was eventually drafted. This contract established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for the citizens. The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia, conducted by George Washington. Said authors of the Constitution intended this document to rule our nation for eternity, yet a widely debated topic in the political science world, is whether or not the Constitution is still relevant in today’s

The most significant issues that the United States had under the Articles of Confederation were: “managing the western expansion, foreign relations, and debt.” The first significant issue was with the western expansion as Americans relocated to the Nashville, western Pennsylvania, and Kentucky areas in mass numbers in the 1780s. The result of this meant that the areas were enhanced greatly that had western charters. At the time, the northern and southern areas (in the Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi River) had specific boundaries based on the original colonized charters which meant that the western area was the Pacific Ocean. The states that did not have part of the western area resented the condition and as a result, Maryland protested by not approving the Articles of Confederation unless the state of Virginia yielded its western land to the federal government which they did in 1784. However, their yielding was not without strings attached as they demanded that they be allowed to keep a small portion of the land reserve for their own use as a part of the deal which Congress had no choice but to accept. Eighteen years later in 1802, every state had yielded their western land to the federal government.

The topic of this paper is the Constitution. The paper will cover the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation, which was addressed in the Constitution. The paper will cover the how the Constitution addressed the complaints in the Declaration of Independence. Another topic of the paper will be the Great Compromise and how the representation of states in Congress was determined. Finally, the paper will view the treatment of slaves for the purpose of representation and the effects thereof.

It all started after the Declaration of Independence during the time America was busy fighting the Revolutionary War, when Congress realized that they needed to form a plan to move forward and unite the thirteen states as a nation.

The Articles have brought the United States to the point of humiliation. The vast majority of the people believe the state of the nation is in turmoil. A list of issues has been compiled such as large accumulation of debt, territories possessed by foreign powers, lack of a military, lack of money, decrease in property value, no credit available, lack of commerce, and over all lack of respect as a nation. Hamilton’s first and most important complaint is how the “principle of legislation in a collective manner creates multiple authorities” (Hamilton 2009, 15); therefore, the laws under the national government become merely suggestions to the states, and any changes that should be necessary have to come with the approval of all 13 states, essentially limiting any change. Secondly, congress has no army, and cannot enforce taxation laws over individuals. In Federalist 23, Hamilton argues for what powers the national government should have in order to provide for the nations defense, preserve peace, and regulate commerce, but in order to accomplish these, the government should be able to, with limitless goals, raise an army and a navy, and “the person charged with attaining the end, ought to possess the

The articles of Confederation were the first attempt at a federal government for the United States. They only lasted for about seven years (1781- 1788) until they were they were thrown out and replaced by the Constitution As a whole, they did not lay out a very strong or effective central government. Some positive things were accomplished, but the biggest accomplishment of the Articles was that they pointed put what would not work for the United States and they paved a was for the writing of the Constitution.

The first approved document of the United States was the Articles of Confederation. However, after a few years, the Bill of Rights replaced the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The Articles began the Constitution but the articles had contained a lot of weaknesses so they had to create a new document.

We of this country want only the best for our budding nation, do we not? We all want our country to grow strong, to prove that it will be strong, not only in spite of its newness but because of it. We are an innovation, an ingot in the forge—we are ushering in the dawn of an era with little more than philosophical ideals to guide us, and it is inevitable that we stumble as we blaze our trail through history. Yet every mistake comes with lessons learnt, so that each step is better-grounded than the last. Such is the matter of our Articles of Confederation and the proposed Constitution. The Articles did well to solidify our nation as an independent and sovereign entity, but managed little more than that. Our states squabble amongst themselves,

“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,”

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