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What Are The Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Constitution

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The Constitution effectively addressed the Articles’ inability to tax and failure to represent the needs of the states. One of the main issues with the Articles was its failure to address the representative needs of the states. The citizens of small states wanted equal representation whereas the larger states wanted representation proportionate to population. Under the Constitution, the Great Compromise brought in a bicameral system where the legislature was divided into two houses, the lower by population and the upper with equal representation. The Constitution addressed the weakness of the Article by creating a bicameral system to appease both small and large states. It could be argued that the need for a strong government in the wake of the Revolution wasn’t necessary, however, the unicameral system created tension between the large and small states which the Constitution was able to alleviate by easing issues with population and equal representation. …show more content…

Slave states wanted their slaves to be counted towards population despite their inability to vote or be otherwise governmentally represented. Non slave states did not want slaves to be counted and mostly opposed slavery. The non slave states would obtain less representation slave states, who would receive representation disportionate to the voting population. The Articles didn't address this issue which created turmoil between the states. The Constitution fixed the problem by presenting the ⅗ compromise, wherein each slave counts as ⅗ of a free person in population tallying. This appeased the non-slave states because the slaves weren't fully counted and satisfied slave states because they got more representation for having slaves. The constitution effectively rectified the shortcoming of the articles by creating a solution that was favorable to both slave and non-slave

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