...Articles of Confederation. Describe what they were and how they came about and what they were designed to address in the new American government. Why did they require replacement? Was the process of their replacement controversial? Was it necessary that the Articles were replace? The Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution of the US, it written on November 15, 1777 and formally ratified in 1781. The articles created a platform for a new government without an association between 13 states, this original constitution did not have a central government to oversee the workings of the states as a whole and instead operated on a “firm league of friendship”. The articles were known as a confederation since the system gave...
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...The Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States that established the functions of the national government. Under the Articles of Confederation, our national government possessed countless issues over money, land, and the vulnerability of the government. As a result of borrowing arms during the Revolutionary War, the United States were in debt to other nations. Congress could request funds from the states, but they often refused as they were not forced to. The Continental Congress thought of a solution to raise funds would be printing paper money. Though, continental dollars became worthless as it was not backed up by gold or silver....
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...Congress then adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777, but was later ratified in 1781. It was the first constitution in the United States that provided the colonies a government system for their new beginning. While some the patriots agree with the new system, the loyalist were not pleased with it and insisted in a stronger central government. Thus the Articles of Confederation did not give an effective government system in the United States because it had no economic resources or control over the colonies, and had terrible effects...
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...1)The Articles of Confederation, approved by the Continental Congress in 1777 was the first charter for the government of the United States. 2)What is a confederation? Who has the power in a Confederation? A Confederation is a defensive alliance of independent States. The power is held by each state in a Confederation. 3)How many votes did each state get in Congress? How many states had to approve the law before it went into effect? Each state had 1 vote and 9 states had to approve of it. Changing the Articles required all of the 13 state's approval. This made it tough for the Congress to pass laws when there was any disagreement. 4) Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had the power to declare war, appoint Military officers,...
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...Harjinder Kaur USSO 10100 Prof. Gillooly 03/06/2015 The Significance of the Federalist Papers The Federalist Papers, is a compilation of 85 articles, advocating the ratification of the proposed Constitution of the United States. These series of articles were published by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay between October 1787 and May 1788. The overall intention of the Federalist Papers was to explain the advantages of the proposed Constitution over the prevailing Articles of Confederation. The Federalist Papers impacted the ratification of the Constitution by making some of their most important objections, including the significance of having a Constitution, acknowledging to the disagreements made by the Antifederalists, and defending conflicting arguments made against the attributes of the executive and judicial branch as specified in the proposed Constitution. Before the ratification of the Constitution, the central government under the Articles of Confederations was very weak and in jeopardy of falling apart. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, who were Federalists believed as well that the Articles of Confederation was too weak to maintain a powerful central government and needed to be restored by the U.S Constitution. The fundamental goal of the U.S constitution was to secure the rights of the U.S citizens and for the federal government to strive for the common good of the individuals. The Federalist Papers illustrates how ...
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...Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, the new nation arranged on the eastern seaboard of North America expected to design some type of administrative framework. The Articles of Confederation speak to the principal established assention made between the 13 American states. There was a requirement for solidarity among the new expresses that were made because of the American Revolution. The relative forces of the individual states and the Continental Congress additionally should have been characterized for the youthful nation. These substances drove Congress to depend John Dickinson with the drafting of a government constitution. This government constitution was known as the Articles of Confederation...
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...to connect with the new United States’ form of government (OpenStax, 2014). Americans attempted to define the meaning of American equality by holding several constitutional conventions that defined how the government would operate and who could participate in political life (OpenStax, 2014). The basic principles of democracy, giving majority the rule, struck fear into those who believed this would bring ruin of the hard-fought struggle for independence (OpenStax, 2014). The forming of a republic, which constructed a government where the important affairs would be entrusted only to representative men of learning and refinement, eased several minds (OpenStax, 2014). Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation The Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation confirmed the break with England, but did not establish a form of government to replace the monarchy, the only system known by most English colonists (OpenStax, 2014, p.186) After the break from the...
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...According to the US History Scene website, the Articles of Confederation gave the states full ruling power over themselves on any matter that was not explicitly mentioned by Congress; and that was where all of the Articles of Confederations’ problems began. Because the states had so much self-governing power, there were problems with economic disorganization, legislative inefficiencies, and a lack of central leadership (Brackemyre, n.d.). The US History Scene website told me that there were three main organizational problems. First was the fact that they could not levy taxes to raise funds. The states were permitted to create taxes to pay for their self-government, and to pay the government the fees owed, but the government itself was not allowed to create taxes to pay off the military and other debt incurred during the Revolutionary war. This was a problem because even though the states were supposed to pay the government monies based off of their land value, often it was not paid. Next was fact that the government had little control over trade. The only control granted was in regards to the Natives, and only then if it did not infringe with the states. The government dealt with foreign treaties (as long as they were not trade related), and the states had complete control over all things trade related (except treaties). This caused problems because each state did what was best for them, and there was no unity as a country. The third and final problem was that there was no universal...
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...against the central government if pushed to do so. He realized the federal government had to be sensitive to the people’s rights. Not to go down the European path they fled once upon a time. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION: * Before the Articles of Confederation States had too much power over the federal government. * States had the power to create own currency * Form their own militias * Regulate their own trade CONSTITUTION: * The purpose of the original union of 13 colonies was to protect themselves from outside attacks. * The constitution was created to not limit states right but to them to reasoning that can better benefit the union. * The powers granted to the federal government are few and specific and will be exercised towards external parties. Powers granted to the states are many and general and focused solely on internal affairs. The federal government will be the most important in times of war and danger, the state government in times of peace and security. The more powerful the federal government is to deal with war and danger, the less likely the will need to be most active. * The proposed plan of government does not propose new powers, but a strengthening of the original powers that were vested in it under the Articles of Confederation. The change does not enlarge...
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...American Intercontinental University Abstract This paper addresses the literature that followed soon after the Revolutionary War. One of them being The Articles of Confederation which served as a written document establishing the functions of the national government of the United States after it was declared independent from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that mostly, prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy, (EB 2012). The Articles of Confederation mentions the Albany Plan which was an earlier, pre-independence attempt to join the colonies into a larger union. However according to the book (EB 2011) this had failed somehow because of the individual colonies being concerned about losing power to another central institution. That being the case though, it helped the American Revolution gain momentum and this lead to many political leaders see the advantages of a centralized government that could coordinate the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin went on a drew up a plan for “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.” Some delegates, however, like Thomas Jefferson, supported Franklin’s proposal even though many others strongly opposed Franklin’s plan. Congress however did table this plan. (EB 2012). The Articles of Confederation therefore went on to mention how after the Declaration of Independence Continental Congress members realized the necessity to set up a national government and...
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...HISTORICAL ESSAY #1 Confederation and Constitution The Articles of Confederation was agreed to by Congress on November 15, 1777 and was ratified and in force on March 1, 1781. By the year 1787, this new government had fallen short of the expectations of the people it was intended to govern. The weaknesses in The Articles of Confederation were numerous and had, in the thinking of many prominent men of that time, failed and would lead to a state of anarchy. There was such a sense of urgency to amend it that there seemed to be an atmosphere of panic among many of our Founding Fathers. John Dickenson and fellow members of the 2nd Continental Congress, weary of monarchy rule, had created the Articles of Confederation as a listing of twelve specific Powers given Congress by which to govern. Legislation required nine votes to pass. Each state had only one vote and this was problematic to the larger states, as their problems, more often than not, were based on a larger population and it was not unusual that the smaller states didn’t understand or want to pay for the solutions. Some lesser acts did not require nine votes to pass, but simply a majority of those present. Acts of Significant Consequence did require nine votes. The trouble with all of this was that even if nine votes could be achieved, there was no enforcement of law to be implemented by Congress. Congress could make law but not enforce it. It could charge states for their share of national...
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...Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in 1775 along with Thomas Paine’s “Common sense” pamphlet in 1776 greatly influenced the ideas of American colonists when they began questioning their role in the empire of England. The declaration of resolves of the first continental congress in 1774 and the declaration of independence, devised in 1776 had the same effect on these American Colonists. About a year after the declaration, the articles of confederation were published as the first actual constitution, having it’s own effect on personal feelings of colonists. On one hand, the American colonists had a self government which could have influenced their mindset during the 17th through 18th century. On the other hand, a speech by Patrick Henry, a pamphlet by Thomas Paine, two different declarations, and the articles of confederation all lead up to questioning in terms of authority in the empire of England and are what truly caused the mindset of American colonists to change. In March 1775, at the third Virginia convention, held in St. John's Church in Richmond, Patrick Henry gave his iconic “give me liberty or give me death” speech to discuss the latest relations with Great Britain. During Henry’s speech, he states "There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged...
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...In recent events, the delegates and I found the existing document, the Articles of Confederation, very problematic. With no executive or judicial branch, the Articles of Confederation is proving to be extraordinarily restrictive. In addition, the Articles of Confederation is preventing us from taxing and regulating interstate as well as foreign commerce. Moreover, we need nine out of thirteen states to enact laws and thirteen out of thirteen votes to make amendments to the Articles. The problems with the Articles and with our ongoing controversies between states force us into many difficult situations and we delegates have come to a mutual agreement. One thing all thirteen of us share in common is our need for change. Slavery, slave trading,...
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...constitutional governments and autocratic or dictatorial governments. • What are the characteristics of the "higher law" of a constitutional government? • Describe two areas of citizen's lives with which you think the government should not interfere. Explain why you think the government should not intrude in these areas. What term describes these areas? • What branches do many modern constitutional governments have? What are the functions of each branch? • Why are powers divided among separate groups? • In constitutional governments, one branch is often checked by the other branches. Why? Give examples of some checks. • The separation and sharing of powers means that decisions are not made quickly. Explain at least one way that this could be an advantage. Then, explain at least one way it could be a disadvantage. • What did the Founders think might happen if there were no government? • What are some examples of how our government protects people's rights? • Why did the Founders choose a republican form of government? • What are some examples of how our government today serves the common welfare? • Is the U.S. government a constitutional government? Give examples to explain your answer. • How well has the U.S. been able to maintain a republican form of government? • Should the U.S. intervene in countries that do not have constitutional governments to protect the rights of the people? UNIT 2 PRACTICE Follow-up Questions for Congressional Hearing • How and why did the feudal kings...
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...As stated in prompt one, there were several challenges that America had under the Articles of Confederation. Three that I would like to expand on are challenges with managing the northwest territory expansion, failure to secure the borders of the country, and repaying the debt that was incurred during the Revolutionary War(Shultz 2010). The most immediate challenge was managing the state's desire to expand westward and claim the land was up to that point free for the taking(Shultz 2010). The western expansion of some states caused others that were landlocked on the east coast to become disillusioned with the process, believing it was unfair to certain states. These states wanted the federal government to step in and mediate for these territories. These disputes continued until 1787 when, under the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance Act of 1787 the government set up policies for purchasing predesignated plots of land and setting of local government when the population reached a certain level. This act...
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