Articles Of Confederation Dbq

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In November 15, 1777, the Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation which served as the first Constitution of the United States and it was sent all the 13 states for ratification. It took almost 4 years before all the 13 states agreed on the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. Maryland was the last state to ratify which made the delay. The Articles of Confederation was finally ratified on March 1, 1781. In the Articles of Confederation, the states remained independent and self-governing, and the Legislative body was the last resort when the concern was the appeal of disputes. The Legislative branch has greater power than the Executive branch or the Federal government over making treaties, maintaining the military or armed forces, …show more content…

However, in 1786, all the States invited by the Virginia Legislature for the discussion regarding the ways to reduce conflicts in Annapolis, Maryland, thought about doing a Grand Convention of all the States to have a deeper conversation about how to improve the Articles of Confederation. The next year, 1787, they held the Constitution Convention in Philadelphia. At the convention, there were two plans presented which were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan pushed for relative representation among states in the legislature, a national government that has the ability to act directly on individuals, and a federal government more powerful than the states. On the other hand, the New Jersey Plan pushed for equal representation among states in the legislature, a national government that has the ability to act on states – and the states act on individuals –, and states are to be stronger. Aside from the two plans, Roger Sherman, proposed a two-house legislature, which consists the Senate and the House of Representatives. This plan worked for all states since, there are large and small states. With everything settled, the convention approved the Constitution and it was sent to the states for ratification. Then, each state began the ratification conventions to decide whether to ratify the Constitution or not. The advocates of the ratification of the Constitution were called the Federalists, while the opponents were known as the