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Articles Of Confederation Dbq Essay

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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. Those fond of the Articles and against the Constitution thought that America worked better as a nation where the states had more power than the national, or federal, government. However, seeing that the Articles of Confederation are no longer in effect, but rather …show more content…

There are a few trends that can be seen about Anti-Federalists, as there are surrounding any political group. As seen in a map depicting where the majority of Anti-Federalists and Federalists were, it is seen that most of the Anti-Federalists lived in the South, large states, or both (Document 4). Ultimately, this is saying that states with large populations (be it due to the slave population or the actual area of the state) were in favor of a governing body stating that the federal government would stay out of the states’ ways and let them control matters as they arise. Another opposition that Anti-Federalists had towards the Constitution is the lack of protection over Americans. Anti-Federalist George Bryan spoke out and said “what security does the Constitution of the several states afford the liberty of the press and other invaluable personal rights, not provided for by the new plan” (Document 2)? Many Anti-Federalists carried that belief because the Constitution promised nothing for the people, only instructed how the government and its powers were to be divided. So if this is how a fraction of America thought, what did the rest, the Federalists, …show more content…

Federalists were led by many famous names including Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, George Washington, and The Father of the Constitution, James Madison (Document 3). Federalists can state that the Constitution is better seeing that events like Shays’ Rebellion would not have happened since the federal government could levy taxes and generate revenue. There were many angry farmers, led by Daniel Shays, demanding compensation for their service during the Revolutionary War. However, since the Articles of Confederation stated that the federal government would not be able to levy taxes and pay the veterans. At the same time, the state of Massachusetts was taxing farmers that had no money after fighting in a war for at least a year, posing the threat of losing their property. Obviously learning from previous mistakes, in a letter to George Washington, James Madison said that the national government should have the authority to control any situation that involves a powerful, unified decision “such as the regulation of trade, including the right of taxing both exports and imports…” (Document

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The Articles of Confederation were, in short, a hot mess. Nothing could get done; the power dynamics among the thirteen states and the lack of power within the federal government to intervene led to utter disarray. In Document 3, George Washington admits in a letter that the Articles of Confederation were faulty in that they had “too good an opinion of human nature” and the leniency of the Articles had created “thirteen sovereign, independent, disunited States”. The hopes of creating a nation out of the thirteen colonies were destroyed with the Articles of Confederation, and unity could only be achieved through establishing a stronger national government. Document 1 goes farther in describing the perils of a nation split apart at the seams

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When the Constitution was first drafted in Philadelphia, 1787, there was strong opposition to it from the supporters of the Articles of Confederation, America’s first governing document. One of the starkest Anti-Federalists, Patrick Henry, believed the Constitution was a gateway to power for tyrants, similarly, Thomas Jefferson strongly opposed the Constitution’s ratification, believing the Constitution would strip Americans of their freedoms and liberties. Despite their efforts, the Constitution was signed into law, and is now contrarily viewed as that which protects Americans’ rights. The US Constitution is a more democratic document than the Articles of Confederation because under the Articles there was no proportional representation, Americans did not directly vote for any representatives in Congress under the Articles, and the Constitution implemented federal income taxes were able to fund a government that could effectively protect the rights of American citizens.

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Following the American Revolution, colonists faced the issue of creating a new form of government and order for their newly created country. Delegates from each state, excluding Rhode Island, met in Philidelphia in 1787 to draft the document that would come to be known as the Constitution. Representatives made it their purpose to create a government that would be fair for everyone; the North and South, the educated and uneducated, the rich and poor. After a closer examination of the Articles of Confederation, delegates disregarded the Articles, following the failure of their original form of government. The Articles of Confederation was thought of as a failure after Shay’s Rebellion; an act of dissent by Daniel Shay in which farmers lost their

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