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The articles of confederation
The articles of confederation
The strengths and weaknesses of the articles of confederation
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Essay IV
The Articles of Confederation was one of the first official documents of the United States. The purpose of the Articles of Confederation was to create a confederation of states whereby each state retained its sovereignty, freedom, and independence. Every state was as independent as possible with the Federal government only responsible for the common defense, security of liberties, and the general welfare. There were many problems that soon became evident as the Articles took effect, the Articles contained more weaknesses than strengths which let the authority to get rid of them and create a new document.
The strengths of the Articles were few. Some of the goals it managed to accomplish was to bring the states together and establish a strong legislature. The people were very pleased with the legislature as it gave them a voice in the government. One of most important achievement of Congress, was settling of the people in the northwest, a committee chaired by Thomas Jefferson. The plan combined Republican theory with Enlightenment idea about Geography of the region. He stated when the population reached 20,000 a constitutional convection would set up a permanent state government. The plan also banned the slavery and land was made available in parcels, small enough for average American to purchase. Land was to be sold for no less than one dollar an acre in hard currency. This was known as Land Ordinance of 1785. Government passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which allowed the Northwest Territories to organize their own territorial legislatures when the population reached 5000 adults. When the population reached 60000, including women the territories could...
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... because nobody wanted to create a government that had full power over everything, and everyone wanted to live freely. I would have to counter argue that the articles of confederation was not entirely a weak document. The articles of confederation also brought with it many strong benefits to the new country. It was the first document that really separated the states from any other country and laid out how Americans wanted to run their government. Even though it was not perfect it did provide the base for the American Government. Another positive that arrived with the signing of the Articles of Confederation was that people now had the freedom to move where they wanted and no longer had restrictions as to where they have to live. Though it doomed to fail but Congress learned many things from their previous mistakes which helped them not to repeat these in the future.
With these different balances to control the powers throughout the new government, the problem of tyranny wasn’t as such of a problem as it was when the Articles of Confederation were in place. The states were now represented justly, the national and state levels of government fairly empowered, and the three branches within the national government were balanced. Even the three branches within balanced each other out, so one wouldn’t become too under or over powered. The new government created by the Constitution was a good answer to protect against
For five years after Revolutionary war each state basically governed themselves. Although there was national government in place, it held little power over the states. It soon became apparent that the Articles of Confederation needed to be readdressed to combat the increasing problems that were brewing in the country. The first attempt to redress was dismissed by many of the states. Nevertheless, a second attempt produced results with twelve of the states sending delegates to redress the Articles of Confederation. Several delegates submitted plans for consideration that would strengthen the national government two such plans were the Virginia and the New Jersey Plan. Despite much of Virginia’s plan being accepted, if a compromise had not been reached the New Jerseys plan would have been more workable because it offered: equal representation of the states, provided operational means to congress, and was not a radical departure from the Articles of the Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation allowed congress to create successful land policies for the Old Northwest. Several states had large western land claims, such as Massachusetts and Virginia, made small landlocked states without western land claims feel inferior. These states ceded their land to the Congress of the Confederation. (Document E). Doing so, it showed that the states were capable of giving to the common good, following the republican idea of civic virtue that the Articles relied on. In dealing with the land of the Old Northwest, the Congress of the Confed...
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 should be a unicameral legislature, without an executive branch or a separate judiciary. Under the article, there wasn’t a strong independent executive.
The Articles set out to construct a substantial government and to merge the colonies to...
The Articles of Confederation was America’s first constitution. The Articles of Confederation failed to create a strong central government, however. With the demise of the states in sight, the need for a stronger and more structured central government became apparent. An invitation was sent to all thirteen states in February 1787 by the Confederation Congress to resolve the matter. The events that took place over the next several months would create the United States Constitution. Going down in history as a revolutionary form of government, the U.S. Constitution would give life to a country that is still running strong over 200 years later.
Jacksonian Democracy Between the years of 1775 and 1825, the United States government was hypocritical with respect to their Native American policy. The government, at most times, claimed to be acting in the best interest of the Native Americans. They claimed that their actions were for the benefit of not only their own citizens, but for the Native Americans, too. These beneficial actions included relocation from their homeland, murder in great numbers, rape, and a complete disregard for the various cultures represented by the Native Americans. While the nation was still very young, it issued the Northwest Ordinance. This document told the Native Americans that they should not feel threatened by this new nation because good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians. The United States told the Native Americans, with this document, that they were dealing with a just and humane country. Despite these humane intentions, in 1790, Native Americans pleaded with President Washington about the cruel treatment they were receiving. The Indian chiefs wrote to Washington to inquire as to why they were being punished. They referred to the American army as the town destroyer. Obviously the Untied States was not acting in the good hearted manner and just way it had declared it would in 1787. Americans, as they moved westward, tried to rationalize its brutal treatment of the Native Americans. In 1803, Jefferson set two goals in regard to dealing with the Native Americans. His first goal was to convince them to abandon hunting and become educated in the ways of the white man (i.e. agriculture or raising stock). He said that they would see the advantages of this better life. In reality, Jackson wanted to control the amount of land the Native Americans occupied. He also spoke of leading them to civilization and to the benefits of the United States government. Jefferson presented these goals as being advantageous for them. In actuality, these goals put the Native Americans at a sizable disadvantage. In 1811, an Indian chief
The Articles of Confederation were approved by Congress on November 15, 1777 and ratified by the states on March 1, 1781. It was a modest attempt by a new country to unite itself and form a national government. The Articles set up a Confederation that gave most of the power to the states. Many problems arose and so a new Constitution was written in 1787 in Independence Hall. The new Constitution called for a much more unified government with a lot more power. Let us now examine the changes that were undertaken.
The Articles of Confederation were developed after the Revolutionary War, and were a good idea to help set standards for America. However, they had some major problems that needed to be solved in order for America to become a strong nation. After these problems were addressed the Constitution was developed.
To say that the Articles of Confederation provided the United States of America with an effective government would be quite an over exaggeration. For most people in modern day, an effective government would be one that can govern mass numbers of people and still be politically correct in overruling decisions on matters while keeping the law in mind, yet keeping the benefit of common good front and center. But, the Articles of Confederation were not written in the present day, so these ideals of a competent government were not quite applicable. For most people, an effective government was one that could govern mass numbers of people, still giving the states and the people many rights, while still being able to keep all under control. This would have eliminated any possibility that a federal government could become too strong or resemble a monarchy.
Yes, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was essential to preserve the Union, as the Articles of Confederation did a meager job establishing a stable America. Only a handful of people from the entire nation were pleased with the issues addressed in the Articles of Confederation. This document didn’t unite the nation, but created more differences among the people. The Articles of Confederation failed to properly allocate power between Congress and the states, giving the states supreme control, rather than Congress. This unbalance in society left each individual state on their own, besides the alliances they could form within each other (creating even more rifts within the country). The Congress didn’t hold the power to tax or create a national military, navy, and army, which didn’t allow America to strengthen as a nation. By vesting these powers in the state, the Articles of Confederation technically created thirteen small countries. After the Revolution, the United States became even more susceptible to foreign invaders and if a minute state militia was responsible for warding off these trespassers, the state would be easily attacked. This is just once consequence that could have occurred, if the Constitution of 1787 wasn’t accepted.
First, the formation of the Articles of Confederation was the first constitution in the United States. The Articles of Confederation was not the best constitution out there since congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. There was a requirement for unanimous approval before any modifications
budget and to guarantee interest payments on the war debt. In (Doc. A) a letter
The Articles of Confederation was a plan of government that was based on the principles that were fought for in the American Revolutionary War. Even though The Articles of Confederation were based upon principles we fought for, it contained major flaws. The government had no power of national taxation and had no power to control trade. The biggest weakness of The Articles of Confederation was that it had no direct origin in the people, the states were in control. Each and every state had the power to collect its own taxes, issue currency, and provide for its own military. The Articles of Confederation was a transition between the Revolutionary War and the Constitution. Without The Articles of Confederation it would have been impossible to create the United States Constitution, mistakes were made with the first, and fixed later with the Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation was the first government of the United States. The Articles had created a very weak national government. At the time the Articles were approved, they had served the will of the people. Americans had just fought a war to get freedom from a great national authority--King George III (Patterson 34). But after this government was put to use, it was evident that it was not going to keep peace between the states. The conflicts got so frequent and malicious that George Washington wondered if the “United” States should be called a Union (Patterson 35). Shays’ Rebellion finally made it evident to the public that the government needed a change.