Prof. Kevin Muir HIST -405 Tarun Chauhan DeVry University ARTICLE OF CONFEDERTION vs U.S. CONSTITUTION America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation was United States's first constitution ratified in 1781. At that time every state acting as an independent nation where there was no control from central government due to which the country was losing its unity. There was no president or judicial branch and the government was just a single legislature which was controlled by Congress of the Confederation. The Articles of Confederation gave Congress the power to govern foreign affairs, conduct war and regulate currency; however, in reality these powers were sharply limited because Congress had no authority to enforce its requests …show more content…
During that period, every state was free to take its decision without taking in consideration of the central gvernment because of weak government and delay in communication. The U.S. Constitution established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. Under the presidentship George Washington, U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. "At the 1787 convention, delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government with three branches–executive, legislative and judicial–along with a system of checks and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power. The Bill of Rights–10 amendments guaranteeing basic individual protections such as freedom of speech and religion–became part of the Constitution in 1791. To date, there have been a total of 27 constitutional amendments."( …show more content…
From May 14th through September 17th, they considered plans and proposals for creating a stronger, more centralized system of government. They kept the secret to avoid protest. Nevertheless, a number of delegates, in particular James Madison of Virginia, did take notes of the proceedings. This confidential documents carry information about the actions and the intentions for the participanting scholars and students. On June 29, 1787, Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut reintroduced an earlier compromise that he and Roger Sherman (also of Connecticut) had devised. The plan provided for equal representation for large and small states in the upper house and a lower house in which representation would be apportioned on the basis of population.On July 16, 1787, the convention adopted the Great Compromise (sometimes known as the Connecticut Compromise because of Ellsworth and Sherman’s role in framing it). The Great Compromise solved one of the most difficult issues facing the convention: the struggle over representation based on population versus equal representation among the states.( KEENE,