Articles Of Confederation Dbq

(1) During the years 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation were created in order to provide a means for an effective government for the United States. Since they were a newly formed independent nation, they required in having a stable government that help keep the country organized. The eleven states would create a document that would become the Articles of Confederation. From the start it would only crash and burn for it had a weak central government that did not contain an executive or judicial branch that we do today, which would make the state governments handle their own affairs. The reason behind such a poorly implemented document was due to the fact that the colonists did not seek to have a government that would merely replace one

The reason behind a divide of political power is to prevent any forms of Tyranny that could, in the eyes of the early American people, mimic George III. Which would lead to a control of administration and the military/police forces, and would imprison those who would stand in their way, this would lead to oppression and death, as was demonstrated in the Revolutionary War. The best way to prevent such a centralized government in the United States so that it would not repeat such a cycle would be to divide the state’s power up into three parts. Each would remain separate in order to keep a balance, each focusing on an aspect of government in order to keep the government from collapsing on itself. While each has a job to perform there is still the threat of having one of the three branches that could over throw the other two, the Constitution creates a series of “Checks and Balances” that are issued for each branch in the off chance there is a power struggle between them. Some examples are: The Legislative Branch; has the authority to overrule a president’s veto but requires a 2/3rd vote, they are also permitted to approve treaties and impeach a president if the cause is just. For the Executive branch, they are able to appoint federal judges for the Supreme Courts, and capable of vetoing bills from passing if he or she sees fit. For the Judicial Branch, as they are to interpret the Constitution they would be free from the influences of the executive branch in order to make sure the president him/herself is following the laws of the land. The U.S’s Checks and balances