Articles Of Confederation Perpetual Union Essay

Zachary Gertner

Midterm Essay 1 The United States adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union in November of 1777, as the first written constitution. The Articles of Confederation established a fairly weak central government. It listed the powers that would be given to the Federal Government such as ability to declare war, establish treaties, levy taxes, assured citizens that they had the right to travel freely from state to state, etc. It turned over all rights not exclusively given to the Federal Government to the States. Many problems arose from this weak central government. States did not always abide by all the laws and there was little the Federal Government could do. Also there was no currency. The money they

The first seven sections of the Article I establish the House of Representatives and the Senate. It established the requirement for each member elected to the Legislative Branch. The members of the House were elected directly by the people, had to be at least 25 years old, (American Government page 34) and a citizen of the United States for at least seven years. The Senators were appointed by the state legislature, had to be at least 30 years old and live in the United States for at least nine years. The officials in the House served two-year terms and in the Senate they served six year terms. Article I described the powers of the legislature which were the ability to (page 35) ratify treaties, collect taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce, to print money, declare war, to establish a post office, declare war, build roads, to maintain a Navy and Militia. It also gave special responsibilities to each body. All bills regarding revenue must originate in the House. The Senate has the ability to approve presidential appointments and would preside over any possible impeachment trial of a sitting President. Article I allowed each body of the legislature to establish its own rules and elect its own leaders. It established that in order for a bill to become a law it must be passed by both Houses and then signed by the

When writing the Constitution the framers had some concerns about giving too much power to the Federal government and wanted to guard against abuse of liberty and property (American Government page 37) of this new government. Article III allowed for the creation of other courts throughout the country but the Supreme Court of the United States would be the highest court in the land. It would preside over disputes between the Federal Government (Page 37) and the States and would be the final word in these disputes. The Supreme Court members had lifetime appointments which would help make them immune from politics. The nine members would be nominated by the president with the approval of the Senate. The Chief Justice would preside over the court’s public sessions and lead the discussion with the other eight justices. As the country developed an economy it came to rely heavily on the Supreme Court (Page 37) to settle any