The Constitution Of The United States National Government

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.

Following the United States’ independence from Great Britain, delegates from each collective state set out to establish a body to govern the newly formed nation. From this came the Articles of Confederation, which was officially ratified in 1781. The Articles of Confederation proved to be a landmark in government for those days because it was a model of what a loose confederation could be. However, this soon failed because the official

They were not immediately ratified because there were land disputes and there had to be a unanimous decision. Everybody hat wanted and claimed more land than they had. New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware all had no claims. These states were the ones who initially refused to ratify the Articles; they were not prepared to ratify a constitution which gave them no say in any matters. The larger states on the other hand felt that they were underrepresented. They were hoping for more equality in size (document E). Eventually, Maryland changed their minds about ratifying the constitution because they ceded the land.

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.

Shortly after America gained independence from England, Americans were faced with the trouble of setting up a strong central government. Several delegates representing their respective states were called to the Continental Congress, where they decided to put together a constitution for the new nation. Delegates agreed that the powers of the government must be limited, so that they wouldn’t resemble the British government. The constitution created by the Congress became known as the Articles of Confederation (1777). Although the government under the Articles of Confederation proved to be useful in establishing western lands, they provided an ineffective form of government due to the economic failures that plagued America.

The Articles of Confederation was drafted and adopted in 1777, but not officially ratified until 1781, after the delegates at the Second Continental Congress granted that a brand new government was needed to rule the now-independent colonies. The main purpose of making the Articles of Confederation is to restrict the powers of the central government, which was based in a congress. Under these Articles, the three individual states have a lot of dependence and power. Each of these states only has one single vote in the congress. In most of the situation, majority rule makes all the decisions. Those states have the rights to levy taxes, regulate commerce and recruit their own military, while the central government has almost no military power

The Articles of Confederation helped establish the first form of government in the United States. John Dickinson’s wrote them in 1777. They were ratified in 1781. A constitutional convention in 1787 was called to revise the articles. This convention developed a completely new form of government.

The Articles of Confederation provided a good establishment for the government to set rules. Eventually the Articles of Confederation wasn’t working anymore to keep the colonies under control. The colonies didn’t agree with the way the Articles of Confederation set the rules. All of the states only had ones vote no matter how big or small they were. This was a big deal for them because out of the 13 colonies Virginia had the biggest population and Delaware had the smallest. So when Delaware got its one vote it would account for a good majority of the people. But when Virginia got its one vote it was unfair because that one vote had to represent all of those people. So, because of the unfairness and the complaints the people of the thirteen colonies go rid of the Articles of Confederation and replaced it with the Constitution. The larger states wanted votes based on population but the smaller states wanted one vote per state. So the constitution helps solve this problem. It made a law that everyone would have the same amount of votes. The Articles of Confederation weakness influenced the constitution because of the way the Articles of Confederation failed. So the people in the thirteen colonies decided to make a better system and create the

"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 first national government of the United States is the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was approved by the Continental Congress in 1777, it was adopted and written by John Dickinson. However, there was a delay in ratifying the articles by the states. It all came down to property out West. States like Virginia and Massachusetts had claimed numerous land stretching from the East Coast all the way to Pacific Ocean as a part of their colonial charters. States like Maryland and Pennsylvania, who did not have these land claims did not agree on ratifying this

US Constitution The Articles of Confederation, which was approved on July 9, 1778, established a friendship among the states. Although it brought the states together for a better defense and welfare, the Articles were far too weak to be able to bind all of the states together. Some of the major weaknesses were that each state only had one vote, regardless of size, and there was no national court system. The Articles were made to bring the country together while still providing individual freedoms, but it resulted in the states constantly arguing with each other throughout the 1780s. This created feelings of jealousy between the states.

The Articles of Confederation were a great start to shaping and unifying our country, but it was just that, a “start”. It needed to take the country as a whole into consideration in order for it to hold this unity in place. The Articles of Confederation led to the Constitution of the United States. Although similar in some aspects, very different in others. The articles had many weaknesses that were changed in the Constitution. There were many compromises made between the states in order to effectively draft the Constitution. Roger Sherman’s Plan kept the Constitutional Convention together which was later known as the Great Compromise. The

It is a common misconception that the this country’s first attempt at establishing their own government with the Constitution was a success. And although the Constitution certainly has proven to be a success, it was not in fact the first attempt at creating a national government. That came with the Articles Of Confederation. A document which despite proving to be ineffective. still laid the foundation for the creation of the Constitution.

Our founding fathers were trying to set up an entirely new style government that had never been attempted before. Our founding fathers had to figure out how to make a strong government, but yet flexible government, to last the test of time. Not only were the Articles of Confederation the first document of its kind, but I feel as if it were a “trial and error” style of document. What I mean by “trial and error” is the founding fathers were trying to figure out who got powers and what type of power did they receive. It was not realized until after the end of the Revolutionary War that the founding fathers had separated the powers unevenly. Once the founding fathers realized that they did not distribute power evenly they knew that the Articles either needed change or a new constitution was needed. This is why I feel as that having the Article of Confederation before the Constitution was a greatly important part to every American

The Articles of Confederation was ratified on March 1, 1781. Under these types of articles, “the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress, serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes” meaning that the colonies will have to govern their own differences unless it’s substantial to contact their colony’s delegate. (Foner, Garraty) The Articles of Confederation had many flaws or weaknesses in which the colony/state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of size, “small states and large states had the same voting weight in Congress and there was no proportionality in voting matters.” (Brackemyre) This was a major situation, many states with larger populations felt cheated and felt as if it was unfair. They also did not have the power to tax in any situation “only the states, not Congress, (has) the authority to impose taxes and raise revenue” how the money was raised within each colony/state was up to the state legislatures. (Brackemyre) Time after

In the 1700s when the United States had detached itself from British rule it was then seen as a plutocracy. The U.S established as a democracy; a government of the people and by the people. However, this establishment was in favor of the rich, educated, and powerful and anyone who was categorized or known as elites and it has remained in favor of these people ever since. Yes we can say we have witnessed variations and seen a semi-democratic rise in the past two centuries, but we have remained a plutocracy hidden behind the word that people use to cover its true identity, democracy. Those like the framers, the public opinion role, interest groups, and money all portray our hidden plutocracy.