The Articles and the Constitution The Treaty of Paris of 1783 marked a paramount point in the early history of the United States of America. The treaty was obviously important because it marked the end of the American Revolution, as only a few minor battles occurred after the signing of the treaty. However, an equally important yet less recognized accomplishment was achieved that day. Great Britain came to recognize the United States of America as an independent nation. At this point, the new country needed a way to organize and govern its people before it turned to anarchy. This led to the first constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation. Although the Articles served their purpose at first, they quickly proved to be …show more content…
an inadequate system with which to run the United States. A new constitution came to replace the Articles of Confederation and it was simply called the Constitution. The belief that Great Britain was abusing its authority was a key reason that the American Revolution started.
Because of this, many Americans were originally hesitant to have any central government, as it could become too powerful. However, people later agreed that some sort of an organizational force was required to keep the states organized. A Committee of Thirteen wrote what would become the Articles of Confederation on June 12, 1776. Under the Articles, a relatively weak government that had limited powers was established. Each state had one vote in the new Confederation Congress. The Confederation Congress had the power to make coins, borrow money, negotiate with other countries, make treaties with other countries, settle interstate conflicts, and it could ask the states for taxes and troops. In the short term, the Articles of Confederation served its purpose, but soon it began to fall …show more content…
apart. The Confederation Congress could do little to protect the country and its citizens from foreign threats.
The Articles of Confederation made it abundantly clear that the Confederation Congress could only ask the states for troops and could not really force them to provide any. Therefore, protection of the country’s citizens like Thomas Amis, a man captured by the Spanish for unjust reasons, proved difficult. This is just one example of the many downfalls of the Articles of Confederation. Another downfall was that Britain, Spain, France, and other countries took advantage of the weak United States by closing rivers, ports and even placing unreasonably high export taxes on the United States. In addition, the Country was having trouble at home with interstate commerce. Many states owed war debts after the Revolutionary War and to pay them off, they printed more paper money. This led to inflation. Massachusetts, on the other hand, tried to handle its debts by collecting taxes on land. However, some farmers refused to pay them and this led to the infamous Shays’s Rebellion. The government’s inability to handle the rebellion mortified many of the country’s founding fathers. In fact, George Washington said “I am mortified beyond expression…the United States must look ridiculous…in the eyes of all Europe”. The country began to see that the current system had issues and needed fixing. In February 1787, the Constitutional Convention took place for the presumed purpose of making some
changes to the Articles of Confederation. However, this was hardly the case. The Constitution of the United States completely replaced the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution uses a system of checks and balances within the federal government. Therefore, the government has three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. The legislative branch, or Congress, is responsible for proposing and passing laws. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the Congress in the Constitution consists of two houses: a House of Representatives, and a Senate. The executive branch is responsible for executing the laws and the judicial branch interprets laws, punishes criminals, and settles disputes between states. This contrasts with the Articles because they do not have an executive or judicial branch. One of the most important effects of the Constitution is that it gave the government the power to collect taxes as well as “…raise and support Armies”. Many of the rights of the original Articles however, did carry over to the Constitution. For example, both governments based on the different constitutions could borrow coins and set up a federal post office. As great as the United States of America is, it has only had two constitutions throughout its history: the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Both served their purpose. However, because of weaknesses in the central government in the Articles, the Constitution replaced it. Both were important documents in history but they were very different. For example, the Articles of Confederation discussed a unicameral Congress while the Constitution deals with a bicameral Congress. American creativity has in fact proven itself though, as the Constitution of the United States is the longest living charter of government in the world.
The unpredictable failure of the Articles of Confederation to the continental congress was a huge problem. The Articles of Confederation was made so the states would have more power, And limit the powers of the national government. Main contributors for this action was the fear that the national government will gain too much power and overstep its authority.This would have a negative effect on the nation, because tensions will start to rise for the ineffectiveness of this new system of government. A Rebellion best known as Shays rebellion, took place shortly after The adoption of the Articles of Confederation. The states, in which shays rebellion has taken place, were becoming unjust/unfair the way in which the state collected taxes. Since the Articles of Confederation was a complete failure
During the American Revolution the not yet established United States, held two Continental Congresses that eventually help defeat Britain. The First Continental Congress informed the local militias to prepare for war. The Second Continental Congress helped end the war and issue the Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental congress sought out to create a national government for our new country named the Articles of Confederation. However, The Articles of Confederation had many problems, for example, Congress and the states shared the right to regulate currency and issue money. This led to an excess of currency, which pushed down the value of currency and created inflationary pressure on the Continental dollar. The downfall of the Articles of Confederation ultimately sparked a political conflict between
In the Summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates representing 12 out of the 13 states in Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation. They met in philadelphia because the Articles of Confederation was too weak. Shay’s rebellion was the end of the Articles of Confederation bringing down the whole network calling for a change of government. They did this to prevent a tyrant or tyranny. A tyrant/tyranny is when someone or a group abuses their power. The Constitution guarded against tyranny through Federalism, Separation of powers, Checks and Balances, and The Great Compromise.
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 should be a unicameral legislature, without an executive branch or a separate judiciary. Under the articles, there wasn’t a strong independent executive. There wasn’t any judicial branch but Congress had the authority to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was responsible for conducting foreign affairs, declaring war or peace, maintaining an army and navy and a variety of other lesser functions. But the articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws. Because of this, the central government had to request donations from the states to finance its operations and raise armed forces.
The thirteen American colonies were under the British control until they declared their independence from British in 1776. A year after the declaration of independence, the continental congress established the Article Of Confederation, which was the first constitution in the United States. According to manythings.org, “During that war, the colonies were united by an agreement called the Articles of Confederation”. It was later ratified in 1781, but it had many negatives because it was very weak. According to manythings.org, the Articles Of Confederation did not: organize a central government, create courts or decide laws, nor provide an executive to carry out the laws, and all it did was just create a Congress. This congress was very useless
The year of 1776 was a time of revolution, independence, and patriotism. American colonists had severed their umbilical cord to the Mother Country and declared themselves “Free and Independent States”.1 The chains of monarchy had been thrown off and a new government was formed. Shying away from a totalitarian government, the Second Continental Congress drafted a document called the Articles of Confederation which established a loose union of the states. It was an attempt at self-government that ended in failure. The Articles of Confederation had many defects which included a weak central government that lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, required equal representation and a unanimous vote to amend the Articles, and had only a legislative branch. As a result the United States lacked respect from foreign countries. These flaws were so severe that a new government had to be drafted and as a result the Constitution was born. This document remedied the weak points of the federal government and created one that was strong and fair, yet still governed by the people.
When the United States declared itself a sovereign nation, the Articles of Confederation were drafted to serve as the nations first Constitution.Under these Articles, the states held most of the power; but due to an almost absent centralized government, colonists were ill-equipped to deal with such practices as regulating trade both between states and internationally, levying taxes, solving inter-state disputes, negotiating with foreign nations, and most importantly enforcing laws under the current notion of "Congress". Realizing that there were several deficiencies in the current system of self-government, the states appointed delegates to ratify the situation and come up with a way to attain the aforementioned practices they needed to be a functional independent nation.
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.
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 move from the Articles of Confederation to the United States Constitution caused several people to be unhappy. For 6 years the Articles weakened the United States in more ways than one. In the summer of 1787 a new form of government was created, a radical move from the Articles of Confederation.
In comparing the Articles of Confederation with the U.S constitution that was produced by the federal convention in 1787, it is important to note that the U.S operated under both documents. During March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into effect when it was ratified by Maryland. However, the U.S constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as soon as it was ratified on June 21, 1788 by New Hampshire. The main difference between the Articles of Confederations and the U.S Constitution is that the constitution didn’t force the laws, but established the why of the constitution. In establishing the why, it warranted the farmers to work on the government being better than the Articles of Confederations. They wanted the government
The Articles of Confederation were incapable of providing the United States with an effective form of government. The Articles of Confederation presided weakly over the government as it allowed little or no power to tax, control trade, and branches of government were missing. In addition to this, the thirteen states acted as separate nations and the national government had little control over them.
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 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.
The Articles failed to provide a solid monetary system to ensure that taxes would be paid or to protect commerce. Congress had no way to collect taxes to pay off pre-war debts. This led to chaos and anarchy when soldiers realized that there is a delay in what they requested (Document C). Each State had its own money, but there was no national money system. Since the money had no value from state to state, the people began to use the barter system of trade. This reduced the amount of trade and importation of goods. There was very little economic progress and growth during this period even though the population was increasing. (Document B). Self interest of the States and of individuals added to the cause of the problems. For example, John Jay tried to create a treaty with Great Britain that would have been bad for the merchants of the United States but it would have paid off the war debt.