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The articles of confederation
Weakness and atrenmght of articles of confederation
Articles of confederation weakness
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Shays Rebellion served as the final nail in the coffin for the Articles of Confederation. Although the Articles of Confederation was America's first national document, it came with many weaknesses. One of the major weaknesses was that the federal government was too weak and therefore could not enforce laws. The Continental Congress borrowed money to fight in both the Revolutionary War and the French and Indian War therefore were in debt.
As it applies to the Articles of Confederation there were many weaknesses in the way it went about governing the United States. For one, the loose federation of the states was too weak to act as a foundation to be considered or act as a central government. In addition the state legislatures had too much power and in turn had the ability to influence economic issues of all kinds. This strong legislature is the same one that allowed for mob ruling and actions by debtors. The Articles of confederation were also weak because the required congress to have all 13 colonies in agreement when a new tax was to be passed.
How did the failure of the State of Franklin demonstrates the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? First of all the, the congress was divided into 13 states and each state had one vote in congress. Congress handled many problems, like how to make the western lands made by the united states i the treaty of paris. Congress failed to solve problems between states due to taxes and boundaries. Most of the citizens felt like the government was too weak.
Federalism Compare state sovereignty under the Articles of Confederation and under the Constitution. States were sovereign under the Articles of the Confederation although they shared no power under the constitution. It is the states that were supreme under the Articles of Confederation that led to the creation of a government that had a weaker national government. The executive arm of the government was not independent, and there were no federal courts since the state courts enacted all the laws (Brest, p.58). Also, neither did the Congress have the taxing power nor did it have the power to control interstate or foreign commerce.
The country needed to focus on bigger issues at hand and have the power needed to respond to larger threats. Federalism has allowed for the government to efficiently respond to the issues of the 21st century, something that would’ve been entirely impossible under the Articles of Confederation. With events such as the tragic occurrence of September 11, President Bush and the other branches of the national government already knew what specific rights they had and were more able to respond to such an attack on the country. People from different states united to fight against terrorism and show that Americans was standing behind the government. Federalism over the years has exemplified that although the national government
The Articles of Confederation failed because the articles offered no solutions. Many of these issues did not propose innovation and were primarily conservative providing each state with its own autonomy with minimal influence by the federal government (Schultz, n.d.). This led to multiple disagreements between each state, with each state viewing its own power as a priority over the unity of the Confederation. This created multiple weaknesses within the articles, which includes the following (Articles of Confederation, 2018). Each state, regardless of its size, only had one vote in Congress.
While with the Articles of Confederation, it was the states that held majority of the power and jurisdiction of the United States; these powers were being granted to the new National Government. The individual state governments would though maintain some of the authoritarian power that was granted in the Articles of Confederation. This was a major concern of our founding fathers, they did not want a national government that would become so powerful, that its’ citizenry would become its subjects such as that they revolted against, England. So of this fear was born the separation of powers between the different branches of the national government. Both houses of the legislature would have to agree on a cause for a law to be enacted, and once approved it would be sent to the newly created executive branch for that elected official to sign into law.
Because the federal government was so weak relative to the states, federal laws could not be properly enforced. The only real power that the national government had was the
The Article of Confederation was made to create a sense of structure in the government of America and advance the economy, resulting in a place where one can be proud to be a part of. The Article of Confederation exhibited lots of weaknesses, including different national governance, financial instability due to inefficient tax collection, and a lack of central authority. thus addressed and corrected by the US Constitution, creating a strong federal government and providing a strong framework for the economy to come. In the article on confederation, a main problem was financial instability due to inefficient tax collection. Following the Revolutionary War, the United States acclimated lots of war debt.
Not everything is done correct the first time around. Surprisingly, this is also true for America’s national government. The Articles of Confederation was the constitution of the United States for the first few years of its existence, however, it had many flaws that jeopardized said existence. These flaws included but are not limited to the fact that the national government didn't have the power to tax the states, it couldn't enforce its own laws, but rather only create them, no national currency, however each state had its own currency, a national army could be put in place, and the same goes for a national court. The voting process for each state was also an issue since each state only received one vote which was not fair to
To the population, war is when you are told what to fight for, and a revolution is when you decide for yourself. On April 19, 1775 was the day that America had decided for itself that we needed to be independent, the start of the American Revolution. The American revolution was over in about eight years. After the war Americans had decided to turn its focus inward and decide on what government they wanted and what America as a country would become. That is how the articles of confederation came to be on March 1, 1781 and of course like everything it had it’s pros, cons and results.
The Articles of the Confederation was the first government constitution that the United States used, and, although there were strength like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, there were major weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation like the following: requiring 9 out of the 13 colonial votes from the representatives from different states to pass a law; having no executive and judicial branch; and the federal government being unable to impose tax revenue onto the states. Such flaws would eventually lead to the Constitution and the repeal of the articles, for the Constitution was a measure to fix the problems of the articles with a stronger government that allowed them to impose taxes and and implement new laws for a more effective government.
After the victory for independence, the United States was formed; however, it still needed to face with another challenge: building its own governance. Making a nation is much easier than sustaining it, so the process of creating the republic by the Framers is worthy to be mentioned. During the years from 1781 to 1789, the United States was ruled under a document called the Articles of Confederations. As the first Constitution of the United States, it led the leaders to gain independence and have a governmental experience for the future powerful nation. Although the Articles created a ruling gate for the Framers, it was barely possible to operate the nation effectively.
Under the articles of confederation the states clearly held the majority of the power first off the states not the federal Government were the ones who created the money. The states were the ones who could tex the people not the federal government and they could also regulate trade between other countries and other states. To amend the articles of confederation all states had to agree. The articles of confederation clearly favored the states but this is not the case for the U.S constitution. The constitution clearly favors the federal government while still being fair to all states.
