More handpicked essays just for you.
Strengths and weaknesses in the articles of confederation
Strengths and weaknesses in the articles of confederation
Strengths and weaknesses in the articles of confederation
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Unit 3 Initial Writing Task In the aftermath of the successful American Revolution, the Founding Fathers were given the responsibility of creating a new national government for their newly independent nation, the United States of America. Fearing the oppressive capabilities of a strong government as a result of their struggles with Great Britain, the Founding Fathers initially decided to create a weaker central government called the Articles of Confederation. Before long, the Founding Fathers discerned that the Articles of Confederation were failing. An enduring issue which connects to this time period in United States history is the enduring issue of “conflict” because there was a plethora of conflicts created by the weakness of the Articles, as evidenced by documents 1 and 2.
The Articles of Confederation was written by Congress. Benjamin Franklin was the first to make up an article and to present it to Congress in July 1775, his draft was never fully considered. John Dickinson from Pennsylvania was the fourth to submit a draft for the Articles of Confederation. Dickinson’s third summit was presented to Congress.
Two contradicting ideas in one document, how is that possible? The Constitution was created in 1787 to replace the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was a unicameral legislature, led by the Confederate Congress, that caused many problems between the government and the people. It failed for many reasons, including the fact that all thirteen states needed to be on the same page to ratify the Articles and it was not able to create a united, powerful nation. Congress also did not have the power to “enforce taxes, regulate commerce between states, and compel state cooperation,” to escape debt (Benson 1).
As it applies to the Articles of Confederation there were many weaknesses in the way it went about governing the United States. For one, the loose federation of the states was too weak to act as a foundation to be considered or act as a central government. In addition the state legislatures had too much power and in turn had the ability to influence economic issues of all kinds. This strong legislature is the same one that allowed for mob ruling and actions by debtors. The Articles of confederation were also weak because the required congress to have all 13 colonies in agreement when a new tax was to be passed.
The first event that led to the creation of many different political factions began from 1787 to 1815. It was known as the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was first set in motion in 1781. The Articles of Confederation was created so that the government didn’t have all of the power. Since the Articles of Confederation split the power, 13 members of the federal government had was the right to declare war.
Following the Revolutionary War, America had just gained independance from Great Britain and needed to form a new government. The Articles of Confederation were established as an attempt to create a government that was unlike Britain’s. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had several weaknesses. When in the process of repairing those weaknesses, the Federalists and the Anti-federalists formed. The Articles of Confederation were very weak as well as useless to America and because of this, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists could not agree on a new type of government.
The Articles of the Confederation was the first government constitution that the United States used, and, although there were strength like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, there were major weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation like the following: requiring 9 out of the 13 colonial votes from the representatives from different states to pass a law; having no executive and judicial branch; and the federal government being unable to impose tax revenue onto the states. Such flaws would eventually lead to the Constitution and the repeal of the articles, for the Constitution was a measure to fix the problems of the articles with a stronger government that allowed them to impose taxes and and implement new laws for a more effective government.
The articles of confederation were not truly democratic because of the leadership and the voting policy. The central authority of a confederation is usually a weak body appointed by the member states who usually will focus on joint foreign policy and defense matters, but rarely will have the power to do much more than that.. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States was a Confederacy. The whole Government of the United States was vested in one body, The Congress Assembled, no official, no legal. The capacity of law authorization and judging law went by Congress was left to the States.
Ratification DBQ The Constitution is a document that still stands as America’s governing body, proving its strength and ability to stand the test of time. Although some aspects of the document are debated and the argument of what is and what is not constitutional is discussed often, it has proven to be right for America and its people. However, in the late 1700s, not everyone saw the Constitution as strong and supported its state-power-heavy predecessor, The Articles of Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the thirteen original states of the United States that served as the first constitution. The Articles had first been introduced by Richard Henry Lee in the Second Continental Congress. Although the Articles of Confederation has made its contributions throughout history, the Articles, however, did not last very long and had been proven inadequate from the very start. I agree with this statement based on the examples and analysis of the Constitution I will soon provide. The Articles of Confederation were written during a time when the American people feared a strong national government.
In 1777, the Continental Congress completed the first written American constitution, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was created to form an alliance between the 13 colonies. It was working out well in the beginning until serious problems started to appear. Those were money problems and most importantly, a weak government. One issue the Articles of Confederation had, was the major money issues inflicted upon the union which harmed the coherency of our country.
Based upon analysis of the documents and my knowledge of social studies it is my belief that the weaknesses of the articles of confederation led to a debate among the delegates over individual rights and representation which was ultimately resolved by the compromises in the U.S constitution. The main weakness of the Articles of Confederation comes from the fact that it was called a confederacy which placed all the power in the hands of the states. Back then the central government was basically like a charity, so it could only go around and asks for money not being able to get the right amount of funds to have thing like having a army or a national court system brought a lot of chaos to the state. Massachusetts was one of the main states that
In one hand, the Articles of Confederation had a weak central government, differing form the strong central government in the Constitution. The Constitution’s government had a structure of three different branches; the legislative, executive, and judicial branch; unlike the Articles of Confederation that had no structure whatsoever. The Articles of Confederation had many problems like, the poor international trade, poor foreign relations and a weak economy in contrast to the Constitution that only had one problem, the struggle over the ratification. the Articles of Confederation achieved the Northwest Ordinance and the Northwest Territory and according to a history website, the Constitution achieved that we had a system of checks and balances, that we had a bill of rights, and, eventually, the survival of a bloody civil war intact. Lastly, the Constitution had three compromises: the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Slave Trade compromise.
n the late 1770’s the Revolutionary War was in swing. As the Founding Father’s met at the Second Continental congress, ideas were thrown around about the issue of leadership in a developing nation. They needed to create something that 13 states could stand behind and unite to fight off the tyrannical rule of Great Britain. Thus, the Articles of Confederation were born. But, like any first edition, it came with flaws.
The Articles of Confederation were a document seen as the “first” constitution of the United States. This document granted the new national government power to control the military, declare war, and create treaties between the states. However, the Articles had holes in it considering the government did not have the power to tax, create laws without at least nine states’ approval, or change the Articles of Confederation without a unanimous vote. This means that the country soon fell into debt and petty arguments between state, the new government had no control. It was time for a change.
