Confederation Dbq

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In order to have a strong nation, Americans required a capable government. However, the Articles of Confederation failed shortly after its creation and the need for a new system was met with differences of opinion. Although the government clearly needed to be strong enough to enforce its laws, the question of how strong this new system should be created some difficult standards. The Constitution restricted American liberty because it was written by elites, for elites and as such, it could not protect the average American; the dismission of a large population, the limitation of democracy, and the need of the Bill of Rights demonstrated the new strains on the American's freedoms. The Constitution starts with a bold, clear mission of serving "We The People," however, only a small amount of people were there to create the document. Fifty-five educated, wealthy men were privileged enough to be those who wrote the foundation for what America would be, and still is today (Schwartz, 10/11/16). "We the People" becomes a hollowed-out shell as about half the population is made up of women, and around one-fifth of the population was made up of African-Americans at the time, yet women, Native Americans, and African-Americans were all …show more content…

The separation of powers and the creation of the electoral college moved the power from the people to the states to the federal government. The layers in the system of checks and balances made it more difficult for the people to create change. The slow system was a problem in its own, but with the voter qualifications that were paired with property ownership and then the Three-Fifths Compromise, who could vote and what a vote was worth changed from something plain and democratic to something that was less direct, more representative

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