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Differences between articles of confederation and the us constitution
Shay rebellions
Differences between articles of confederation and the us constitution
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Imagine this, you are living in the 1700’s and you are trying to make a just document that will give equal freedoms to all citizens of a country. You can only rely on three things to frame the entire Constitution. What do you choose? How do you take what you learn from those three things, and turn it into a nearly 8,000-word document that gives citizens the freedom they deserve? It took 116 days to make the Constitution. That is 116 days of deleting drafts, editing, getting rid of everything, while finally coming up with a good document that can almost never be changed again. Once it is done, it is nearly impossible to edit it. So how? How did they do it? It was not easy, and they had many experiences to rely on including, the colonial experience, …show more content…
government through the ideas of a state constitution, Shays’ Rebellion, and a new national government. The failures of the Articles of Confederation illustrated the idea of having a state constitution because many of their constitutions had features that later showed up in the U.S. Constitution. State constitutions allowed for each state to have their own written document of laws. In the U.S. each state is given their own constitution. A state constitution is the governing document of a U.S. state giving them each more individual rights. The idea of individual rights and checks and balances were shown through state constitutions and in the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Another representation of the failures of the Articles of Confederation was Shays’ Rebellion which was a rebellion led by Daniel Shays who led a group of armed rebellions of farmers to protest economic problems they had against the British Government. After seeing the difficulties of dealing with Shays’ Rebellion, George Washington wrote a letter to the Continental States Secretary of War at the time, Henry Knox, to discuss his concerns with the Articles of Confederation stating, “If government... is unable to enforce its laws; … anarchy and confusion must prevail - and everything will be turned topsy-turvy in that State;” (Document G). The rebellion demonstrated individual rights along with limited government, which can also be shown in the Eighth Amendment. He could not afford to pay the steep taxes they had placed on his farm to pay the state’s massive debts. The idea to have a new national government came from the failures of the Articles of Confederation as well after representatives from the 13 states came together to create a new government that would have the ability to make decisions for the nation as a whole but would leave the states with most of the power to govern. They decided to create
The purpose of a constitution was to remove the royal authority 's institution and still govern the people with a popular sovereignty. Each colony developed their own constitution in different ways based on the economic, political, freedom, and social demands of the people as well as the states ' experiences. The Virginia constitution and the Massachusetts constitution were the two of the many states that created a constitution. Both of the constitutions have their similarity and difference, but they are more in common. In fact, It is said to be that the Massachusetts constitution was often overshadowed by the Virginia constitution. Nonetheless, the similarity between both constitutions is the structure of a commonwealth. That being the case, each state 's government are related to the federal government.
After the American Revolution, America had earned it’s freedom from Britain. In order to govern this new country the Articles of Confederation was created. This document was flawed by the colonists fear of putting too much power into a central government. Knowing the document needed to be fixed a constitutional convention was called. The document created at this convention has been our constitution ever since. But even the Constitution was meet with criticism. One major concern when writing the constitution was how to protect the citizens rights. The Constitution did this through the preamble, the legislative process, the limit of presidential terms, the judicial branch, and the bill of rights.
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.
A constitution is the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation is governed. Our founding fathers created the US Constitution to set specific standards for our country. We must ask ourselves why our founding fathers created the Constitution in the first place. America revolted against the British due to their monarchy form of government. After the American Revolution, each of the original 13 colonies operated under its own rules of government. Most states were against any form of centralized rule from the government. They feared that what happened in England would happen again. They decided to write the Articles of Confederation, which was ratified in 1781. It was not effective and it led to many problems. The central government could not regulate commerce between states, deal with foreign governments or settle disputes. The country was falling apart at its seams. The central government could not provide assistance to the state because there wasn’t a central army. When they realized that the Articles of Confederation was not up to par, they held a convention, known as the Constitutional Convention of 1787. As a result of t...
...e central government had limited power. However, without a powerful governing body, the United States was falling into disrepair. The difficulties in the Articles of Confederation culminated in Shay’s Rebellion and this demonstrated the need for a standing army, ability of the federal government to collect taxes, and for common currency throughout the United States. Therefore, to help the United States reach its full potential as a successful nation, the Constitution was written. It provided for a strong central government. The compromises with the document helped even the power between different branches and large and small states. Shay’s Rebellion let the country become aware that the Articles of Confederation lacked power to provide control the entire United States. Shay’s Rebellion caused the country to become stronger by uniting through the Constitution.
The United States constitution set a foundation for the structure of our government today. The founding fathers went through trial and error, and many compromises in order give order and structure to both the government and to the people. The first initial constitution called the Article of Confederation made the central government weak and gave individual states too much power. In the Article of Confederation, there was only one branch and were not able to collect taxes. The government was only able to receive donations. However, each individual states printed their own currency, and too much money which caused an economic turmoil or inflation. In addition, each individual states had their own army in which caused the mentality of being a union of individual state, instead of union of a country. The national government on the other
The Articles of Confederation set up a government that consisted of a one house body of delegates, with each state having a single vote, acting collectively, could make decisions on certain issues that affected all states. There was no president or judiciary so any decision required nine of the thirteen states’ votes. At this point in time the United States of America ... ... middle of paper ... ... o consider the charms of liberty as imaginary and delusive.”
The United States government was founded on a written set of principles known as the Constitution. There have only been 17 amendments, or changes, since ratification. While the United States has evolved with time the role and function of the government, and the way the government guarantees civil rights and liberties, has also evolved. These changes have resulted from changing or broadening of the interpretation of the constitution. Although the core of the constitution has not changed, it has expanded and its interpretation has changed to keep up with societal demands.
The document I chose to write about is the United States Constitution. When the thirteen British colonies in North America declared their independence in 1776, they laid down that “governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The “colonies” had to establish a government, which would be the framework for the United States. The purpose of a written constitution is to define and therefore more specifically limit government powers. After the Articles of Confederation failed to work in the 13 colonies, the U.S. Constitution was created in 1787.
The American Revolution stirred political unity and motivated the need for change in the nation. Because many Americans fought for a more balanced government in the Revolutionary War, they initially created a weak national government that hampered the country's growth and expansion. In the Letter from Abigail Adams to Thomas Jefferson, Mrs. Adams complained about the inadequacy of power that the American government had to regulate domestic affairs. The Articles of Confederation was created to be weak because many had feared a similar governing experience that they had just eliminated with Britain. The alliance of states united the 13 local governments but lacked power to deal with important issues or to regulate diplomatic affairs. Congress did not have the power to tax, regulate trade, or draft people for war. This put the American citizens at stake because States had the power to refuse requests for taxes and troops (Document G). The weakened national government could not do anything about uprisings or small-scale protests because it did not have the power to put together an army. The deficiencies of the confederation government inspired the drafting of the American Constitution. The document itself embodied the principle of a national government prepared to deal with the nation's problems. In James Madison's Federalist Paper, he persuades the American public to adopt the Constitution so that the government can protect humans from their nature and keep them out of conflicts.
The Constitutional Convention took place on May 25 to September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.George Washington presided over the convention. The purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to decide the way that America were going to be governed. The Convention was officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention acknowledged the complications of the frail central government that prevailed under the Articles of Confederation.
If someone asked you what document most significantly affected America, what would your response be? In early 1787, Daniel Shay led a rebellion in Massachusetts in which the response time to put it down caused a meeting for the complete re-evaluation of the efficiency of the Articles of Confederation. The final result of that meeting was not an amendment of the Articles, but an entirely new draft called the Constitution of the United States. Since then, this document has not only been referred to as the “supreme law”, but as the cornerstone and foundation of the United States government. Time after time in American history, its guidelines and effectiveness have proven that the Constitution is not a document to be disregarded. Therefore, the Constitution of the United States should be looked at as a paradigm and fully relied on for all political decisions of this country.
The winds of frustration with the government swept through the states. The public was tired of the unreliable continental dollar, the inability to repay soldiers for war service, and the overall insufficiencies of the government. Angry, emblazoned citizens voiced their feelings through uprisings, like Bacon and Shay’s rebellions. Shockwaves of perturbed feelings resonated strongly in the minds of the leaders of the states and national government. It was time for the well bred, well fed, well wed, well read, and well read, to go back to the drawing board and supply the nation with a democratic, republic that worked. The Constitutional Convention that is so widely renowned throughout history, (and rightly so), was summoned to meet in Philadelphia, behind closed doors, to re-work the framework of our land.
Ratified in 1787(IIP), the American constitution became the supreme law of the land under article VI of the document: and when the Supreme Court has appropriate jurisdiction, they have the definite power to determine what is says. However, under special circumstances this can be refuted due to article III of the constitution states that congress has the power to make exceptions to the court 's appellate jurisdiction(Heritage). Ergo, while the Supreme Court has the power to say what the constitution is, Congress has the power to grant or remove jurisdiction from any appellate case that is not considered original jurisdiction.
When the Constitution of the United States was first created in 1787, its purpose was to unify our country. However, by 1850, the United States had become 'source of sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created.' What happened during the 63 years after it was first established to 'contribute to the failure of the union it had created?' One must look at what the Constitution promoted to make the country unified and what it did to make it disunified. Compromises such as 3/5, the Missouri, and the tariff of 1850 all helped to unify and shape our country. However, compromises such as the Fugitive Slave Law, Popular Sovereignty, and the slave trade all led to disunify our country. The large populous states naturally wanted the number of representatives in the new Congress to be based on population. The Virginia Plan provided that there would be two houses of Congress and that in each one representation would be based on population. Like many other ideas that have made history, it was remarkably simple. Why not divide the Congress into two houses? In one house (the Senate) each state, regardless of population, would have the same number of representatives. In the other house (the House of Representatives) each member would represent the same number of people. 'Quite appropriately this came to be called the Great Compromise. Other major compromises came on slavery and on the control of commerce. The southern states, where the slaves were really treated as property, still wanted the slaves counted as people for the purposes of representation in the New House of Representatives. Some delegates argued that if one kind of property was counted f...