...| Historical Essay: | Confederation and Constitution | | Jason Sherman | | | The Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, was adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. However, sanction of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, which resulted in most of the power residing with the state governments. The need for a stronger Federal government soon became apparent and eventually led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The present United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789 (Researchers, 2013). Some weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that ultimately resulted in failure were the fact that each state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of size, Congress did not have the power to tax, Congress did not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce, there was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by Congress, there was no nation court system, Amendments to the Articles of Confederation required a unanimous vote, and laws required a 9/13 majority to pass in Congress. Under the Articles of Confederation, states often argued amongst themselves. They also refused to financially support the national government, who was also powerless to enforce any acts it did pass. Some states began making agreements...
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...The Confederation and the Constitution | | | | | Shortly after Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the delegates at the Second Continental Congress agreed that a new government was necessary to govern the now-independent colonies. After much debate, they drafted and adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777. Although the Articles were not officially ratified until 1781, they served as the actual constitution until that time. Under the authority of the Articles, the states created a national Congress comprised of annually elected delegates from all thirteen states. Each state had one vote in Congress, and, in most cases, decisions were made based on majority rule. The National Congress’ powers over the states were specific and definite: it had the sole power to negotiate treaties, declare war, and make peace. It also reserved the right to maintain an army and navy and regulated interaction with Native Americans in the West. The delegates also granted Congress the power to resolve interstate disputes, grant loans, print money, and operate a national postal system. Eventually, Congress was also authorized to govern western territories until they achieved statehood. All powers not granted to Congress were reserved for state governments. Congress had no power to levy taxes. For example, it could only request that the individual states raise revenue to cover their share of national expenses. Furthermore, any amendments made to the Articles...
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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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...Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=American+History http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_history.html There were many differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. At the end of the American Revolution the free states needed some sort of control that would generate to a unified country. Issues arose such as: How should power be divided between local and national governments? How should laws be made, and by whom? Who should be authorized to govern those laws? How could the government be designed to protect the unalienable individual rights? Their first attempt at solving this issue was the Articles of Confederation, which was a failure for the most part, but not completely. After the failure of the articles, the state delegates tried to revise the articles, but instead, constructed the Constitution. There were so many changes made and very little remained the same. The thirteen states formed a Confederation referred to as the “league of friendship” in order to find a solution for common problems such as foreign affairs.The Articles of Confederation was the nation’s first Constitution. The articles created a loose Confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to the central government. Each state would have one vote in the house of Congress, no matter the size of the population. Members of the one-house Congress, such as Pennsylvania, agreed that the new government...
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...1. What are three main differences between the Articles of Confederation and the current Constitution? a. One main difference between the Articles of Confederation (AoC) and the current Constitution was that there was no judiciary branch and because of the federal government couldn’t enforce its laws which allowed states to interpret these laws freely thus causing disputes between states which was Congresses power at the time. But in the Constitution under Article III the Judicial branch was established with the Supreme Court which primary responsibility is to interpret the Constitution would be the highest-ranking court in the nation with lesser courts to support it. b. Another difference is that in the AoC Congress had very little power...
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...The Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution DeVry University The Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution are the historical documents that have been the building blocks of democracy that America is known for today. The Articles of Confederation are in many way an extension of what makes up the United States Constitution. In 1777, there wear a combination of thirteen states that came together to mold a type of government document that the United States could determine as “central” style of government. These states included New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. By late 1787, the Articles of Confederation were replaced by a more complete United States Constitution. There are several differences and similarities that lead to this American government transformation. The origination of the Articles of Confederation were a dynamic that was set into place in order to safeguard the union of states from any foreign control. It was a time in which the newly born states were yearning to be a set of sovereign states but stay independent from British colony control. Thus, the Articles of Confederation were originated. There were several important aspects of the Articles of Confederation that helped the United States reach a somewhat government goal. In the articles, states were allowed to collect taxes from its citizens...
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...The Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution have many similarities, but have some differences also. They are both very important to our country. To begin with, The Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution have a lot of similarities. The Articles of Confederation led to the making of the U.S. Constitution. It was written over a time period of 17 months. They both shape how the United States is today. In the document “The Articles of Confederation” states that Congress has the right and power to declare war and so does the Constitution. However, the two documents have more differences than you would suspect. The Constitution has a Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branch and to amend the U.S. Constitution it only needed...
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...Historical Essay: Confederation and Constitution By History 405 Professor Aimee James January 26th, 2015 Historical Essay: Confederation and Constitution Confederation and Constitution As Colonial America moved from civil disobedience to open war with Britain, the States, at the behest of the Colonial Congress, started drafting constitutions and in the process “became laboratories for constitutional experimentation” ( Keene 120). The need to ensure a strong union and to ensure that it was strong enough to deal with both internal and external issues drove the colonies to send delegates to Albany to draft the Articles of Confederation. Ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation framed a new United States of America. The Articles of Confederation did not create a national government, “but rather a firm league of friendship” (Keene 121). Ultimately a fear of recreating the issues that were driving them from British rule shaped the Articles of Confederation and created a weak government with little power. It setup a national legislature called Congress where each state had one vote. It had no power to levy taxes, regulate commerce or otherwise interfere with the States. It could create money and declare war or peace. Notably any changes or amendments required a unanimous vote of Congress and “because of its weaknesses, Alexander Hamilton and other delegates called for a convention to be held in Philadelphia to improve and amend the Articles” (Articles of confederation 2014). The...
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...Historical Essay #1: Confederation and Constitution Anthony Snow DeVry University 08/01/2015 HISTORICAL ESSAY #1: CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION As with anything in this world there are always strengths and weaknesses when people are comparing two different items, as no one item can be a perfect solution; there are always compromises. The same happens when we are comparing the Articles of Confederation and the New Constitution of 1787. Both of theses two solutions each have their own strengths and weaknesses. First we have the Articles of Confederation that when written gave each state a lot of individual powers, and because of this was one of the main reasons for the New Constitution, and I want to show how these two solutions are different, and how the New Constitution uses some of the same concepts that make up the Articles of Constitution. I would first like to take a look at the Articles of Confederation, and explore some of the strengths and weaknesses that came as a result of adopting it. The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777. One of the main weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was that although it was able to produce a confederation of sovereign states, it was also responsible for weakening the central government, as the Articles of Confederation gave almost all of the power to the individual state governments. With the individual state gaining more power, the national government found it extremely difficult...
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...The Constitution stated how our government should have been set up once our country separated from Great Britain. The Articles of Confederation created a loose confederation of strong state governments and a weak central government. There are similarities and differences to both of these documents. They were both made to help form this country’s government when our nation was just starting out. The Constitution and the Articles of Confederation both laid out some guidelines for how our country’s government should be formed. The Constitution is mostly about the three branches of government, how those positions should be appointed, and power distribution. While the Articles are mostly about how power should be distributed. The Constitution was written in 1789 (rev. 1992) and ratified in 1788. It was written about 200 years ago but it is still very important to our nation. It established our government and lay out the limited powers and enumerated powers. That is one thing the Constitution and the Articles have in common....
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...The Articles of Confederation was the first type of operating system that the United States operated under. It first took effect in 1781 and then was replaced by what is the Constitution known today. The U.S. Constitution took effect in 1788. The Constitution shifted a lot of decisions, laws, and military authorization from the state level to the federal level, thus making every state have similarities. There were many simulations and differences between the two doctrines that ruled America. However there were more differences between the two then there are similarities. The major similarities between the two was that they were both written by the same people, just at different times. Both doctrines state that one state cannot enter into war by itself, the central government is in charge of the value of the money, term limits to the...
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...Articles of Confederation and The United States Constitution are two documents that essentially are the backbone of the structure and system that America relies on. The Articles of Confederation was a document instituted as a declaration of independence from Great Brittan by the thirteen colonies. The Articles of Confederation, as Sage (2016) states, designated no executive power and congress had very little power over the states. The Articles of Confederation strongly believed in small government and limited powers. According to Winkler (2012), The United States Constitution was implemented as a progressive, innovative document. The United States Constitution expanded on the idea of government and designated more powers to congress in order for them to handle national affairs efficiently. Despite the differences between the two documents, they relate in the idea that for a nation to function a government must be established. When the Articles of Confederation were in place, an executive did not have powers. Though Feldmeth (1998), says that the President would manage the congress. It is evident that the Articles of Confederation wanted nothing to do with powerful government that threatened their newly claimed...
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...The Article of Confederation was a scripted arrangement, which was approved by the thirteen original states of the United States. The Article of Confederation contains procedures as to how the United States government was thought to operate. The Article of Confederation is sometimes called Articles; it was created in November 1777 and approved by thirteen original states in March 1781 (Cheek, 2016). The Founding Fathers of the United States subjected a severe criticism a few years after the approval of The Article of Confederation. This led to a decision for the Article of Confederation to be altered to satisfy the nation. The delegates from the thirteen states met in Philadelphia in May 1787 to review the Article of Confederation. In concluding, the delegation members made a common decision that reworking the whole Constitution was better than reviewing the current Article of Confederation (Cheek, 2016). The United States Constitution is reflected to be the supreme law in the United States of America today. It specifies the standards for the association of the United States government. The foundation of the new constitution was created because of the several complications with the Articles. The...
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...needed a “Supreme Law of the Land” they first came up with the Articles of Confederation which had a multiplicity of flaws, such as its inability to enforce laws. But because of these flaws and inabilities, they decided to write the U.S Constitution. The U.S Constitution had a much more specified set of laws and regulations. When it comes to the Articles of Confederation, it did have some good things about it such as creating a peace treaty with Great Britain, it had many flaws. Although both of these important documents helped make our government what it is today, there are also many differences between the two. Both of these documents shaped what our government is today. They both do have many differences but they also have some similarities. Such as they both list congresses rights and duties. Also they both specify that only the government can send and receive ambassadors, not the states. Both had lots of power over the United States, and listed many rules that helped control the people of the U.S. While these two documents had some similarities, they had quite a few...
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...Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution of the United States The United States has been run under two constitutions since the beginning. It was first operated under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was ratified by Maryland and brought into effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles lasted a little over seven years until it was upheld by New Hampshire on June 21, 1788. It was replaced by the Constitution of the United States. In the Articles of Confederation, the legislature was Unicameral. Each state had two to seven members in congress during the Articles. Under The Constitution the legislature was Bicameral, or broken into two sections, which was the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each state...
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