Compare The Articles Of Confederation And The Constitution

Govt-2305-113
3/31/16
Articles of Confederation and the Constitution The United States of America has had two constitutions within its lifetime. The first was the Articles of Confederation which was proposed in 1777 at the Second Continental Congress and officially placed into effect in 1781. However the Articles of Confederation was such a failure that it only lasted seven years until it was replaced with the Constitution. The Constitution was the second and last Constitution made in the United States, it was written in Philadelphia 1787, and to this day still stands (America’s first failure). To make the decision two parties battled over which type of constitution should be held. These two parties were the Federalist and the Anti- federalists.

The Articles placed all power in the hands of the state’s leading not only to a bad economy but a lack of leadership. In Article II of the Articles of Confederation “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.” This is one of the most important weakness of the Articles of confederation was the fact that it called for a confederacy which places basically all power in the hands of the states instead of the central government. This came from the fear of another British monarchy which had happened because of the King and the reason the Americans had rebelled and created a new country in the first place. Article IV states that “Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State.” Meaning it didn’t have any independent judiciary (America’s first failure). The article

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