ipl-logo

How Did The Articles Of Confederation Developed As The First Form Of Government

1635 Words7 Pages

In 1781, early American Revolutionaries created The Articles of Confederation as the first form of government in the new country. At this time, the Revolutionary spirit was still strong and very much alive as it floated throughout the country. The Revolutionary spirit sought freedom, plain and simple. It believed in the equality of all men and sought the most natural form of government. Americans at this point still feared an overpowering central government and wanted the states to remain sovereign. The Revolutionary spirit was embraced by many, but particularly a lower societal class made up of artisans and laborers. These revolutionaries were driven and determined to create their ideal government. The Articles appeared to be perfect however, …show more content…

Paine believed, “government even its best state is but a necessary evil.” Many of his ideas were expressed throughout the Pennsylvania Constitution Convention. Paine like many other early revolutionaries wanted the states to hold the majority of the power. Therefore, he rejected the complexities of a balanced government. Due to these ideals states often created a government with a single legislature and replaced the current governor with a “weak, veto-less and plural executive council directly elected by the people. This form of government did not contain a complexly balanced, strong, and independent executive.” This was the exact form of government many revolutionaries wanted; a government where the majority of the power rested with the people, instead of one overpowering …show more content…

Under the Articles of Confederation, “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.” The general idea was for the states to enter into a “firm league of friendship.” If the states were to remain sovereign then the people would no longer have to fear a powerful national government like Great Britain. Nevertheless, the idea of state sovereignty was not realistic and if the country wanted to remain in tact they would need a stronger central

Show More
Related
414 Words | 2 Pages

In eighteenth-century America, the idea of a generally limited national government force and each state having its own powerful government was prominently accepted. However, the Continental Congress did not accept these ideas, and had already created the Articles of Confederation in 1777. It was not yet ratified, but it was an idea clashing with individual state governments; this conflict was the basis of the post-Revolutionary American search for government. The emerging state governments held a strong belief in conducting their own affairs.

Read More
1199 Words | 5 Pages

The people wanted more control of the decisions in their government. Also the governors lost power because some saw him as a small king that ruled them. -The Pennsylvania constitution let men who paid taxes vote and run for political offices. Also the people were capable to govern themselves through a small united body of government.

Read More
907 Words | 4 Pages

Instead of a revision though, the delegates met and decided to create a new government and ratified its guidelines, the Constitution, with only nine states’ approval. This was illegal according to the Articles of Confederation, where it stated, “nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them [articles]; unless such alteration be agreed to in a congress of the united states, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state.” This blatant disregard for the law and the wishes of the general public shows that the American government at that time was more tyrannical than the republic it portrayed itself as. Thomas Paine, a popular Revolutionist writer of the time, wrote on law and monarchs, “For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king.” Despite Paine voicing the opinion of the public, that is not what happened when they called for a rewrite of the Articles of Confederation.

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

Many people today believe that the federal government has too much power, but can you imagine living in a time where the national government had too little power? The United States claimed its independence from Great Britain in July, 1776. And so it was up to the now free colonists to create their new nation’s government. In fear of living under another tyrant, the Americans wanted to set up a government that would be equally just to all citizens. The Articles of Confederation became our first national constitution in November, 1777.

Read More
263 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
530 Words | 3 Pages

Noah Stevens Professor James Maggio POS 1041 30 September 2016 Over three-hundred years ago The United States had to quickly make a constitution, and decided upon the Articles of Confederation. The United States started out like an experiment for the World. This experiment was what our Government will become, there was not a defined path on what our future will behold. The path to present day for The United States was a rough one, but the experiment turned out to be a success in the end.

Read More
585 Words | 3 Pages

Following the Revolutionary War, America had just gained independance from Great Britain and needed to form a new government. The Articles of Confederation were established as an attempt to create a government that was unlike Britain’s. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had several weaknesses. When in the process of repairing those weaknesses, the Federalists and the Anti-federalists formed. The Articles of Confederation were very weak as well as useless to America and because of this, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists could not agree on a new type of government.

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the thirteen original states of the United States that served as the first constitution. The Articles had first been introduced by Richard Henry Lee in the Second Continental Congress. Although the Articles of Confederation has made its contributions throughout history, the Articles, however, did not last very long and had been proven inadequate from the very start. I agree with this statement based on the examples and analysis of the Constitution I will soon provide. The Articles of Confederation were written during a time when the American people feared a strong national government.

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

He argues that the american elite class “molded laboring-class opinion… into action” by shaping their behavior. The rich saw that in order to have a successful revolutionary movement that they would need the support of the lower class because they made up the majority of the American population. He gives two examples of things that helped to influence the lower class’s opinion: the popular pamphlet called “Common Sense”, and the Declaration of Independence. Common Sense was a popular pamphlet that emphasized a central government.

Read More
657 Words | 3 Pages

In 1776, our union is finally independent from Great Britain. Now that our country is an independent nation, our founding fathers are deciding which government system it is going to rule under. Certainly, our founding fathers did not want this country to be rule under a monarchy system because of the conflicts they faced with Great Britain. The founding fathers all sat together at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to create a new kind of government that will have a minimal amount of problems. At first, the founding father created the Articles of Confederation, which is, each state maintains its own sovereignty and all rights to govern, except there were certain rights that were granted to Congress.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

For example, the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 mentions that, “the commonwealth or state of Pennsylvania shall be governed hereafter by an assembly of the representatives of the freeman of the same, and a president and council”. As previously stated, the idea of the “common people” in positions of power within the government flabbergasted the gentry and other members of the wealthy elite. Most argued that the common people were not educated in the affairs of politics. Therefore giving them the right to elect their own people in Congress would be catastrophic to the state. Similarly, many gentry felt that the common people “are more easily led by specious appearances” (Governor Morris, to Thomas Penn).

Read More
599 Words | 3 Pages

LEQ Between 1776 and 1790, the United States was developing their own government system as a new, independent nation. The colonies had just seceded from Britain because many believed they had outgrown English domination. The leaders of the colonies wrote a constitution to represent a fundamental law. After the revolution, the states showed the ideals of representative government by forming a federal government where states had representation and there was no king.

Read More
1617 Words | 7 Pages

The argument arose that of whether the American society should be ruled over by a centralized government, or state led. In 1789, another document was ratified, replacing the Articles of Confederation, named the Constitution. People such as James Madison, quoted saying: “the powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in state governments are numerous and indefinite” (Madison, 45), argue that the constitution would protect the liberties that of the people, while making a more centralized government. On the other hand, people such as Patrick Henry, quoted saying: “The rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press, all your immunities and franchises, all pretensions to human rights and privileges, are rendered insecure, if not lost, by this change” (Henry) , argue that the introduction of the Constitution would bring

Read More
1353 Words | 6 Pages

Some change have potential to become monumental ones, those taking combined efforts of people. When presented with a major conflict, the combined efforts of those people towards this revolution aimed to reach a goal, in which it did. Though with a crowd of people, there is no fail-safe way of creating a method of success that appeases each and every one of them, simply due to the fact we as humans all have different wants, needs, and ways of thinking. Much like the French Revolution, not all goals have been met, but more prevalent ones have been, which gives way slowly solving the other ones. Problems identified by the revolution include the mistreatment of superior powers, abuse of tax, and failing governments to name a few.

Read More
918 Words | 4 Pages

Slavery in the U.S. Constitution After the Unites States declared Independence from Great Britain in 1776, they greatly feared a strong national government that would be like a monarchy like the one Great Britain had. To prevent this tyrannical government from happening in the U.S., a convention of delegates from all thirteen states were brought together to create the U.S.’s first written constitution: the Articles of Confederation. This convention was called the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation focused on having a federal government, or a loose alliance of the states.

Read More

More about How Did The Articles Of Confederation Developed As The First Form Of Government

Open Document