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Problems With The Articles Of Confederation

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The United States ratified the Articles of Confederation in the year 1781. The Articles were the first system of national government of the country. Because it was the first national government, the Articles of Confederation had multiple problems that made it a poor form of government. These problems would lead to the calling of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where a new system of government would be created. The new system of government was provided by the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution supplied a better foundation for a national government than the Articles of Confederation, but it still created divisions among the delegates that were to ratify the document. The delegates were subdivided into the Federalists and the Antifederalists: …show more content…

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was given limited powers. Two major problems that made the Articles of Confederation a weak government were Congress’s inability to collect taxes, and also the lack of a national court system (political cartoon titled “Rough Sailing Ahead?”). Since Congress did not have the power to collect taxes, it was unable to pay off the country’s war debts. As a result of unpaid debts, property owners began to lose their possessions. These property owners, mostly farmers, began to conduct uprisings such as Shays’ Rebellion. Another problem that made the Articles of Confederation a poor government was the absence of a national court system. Without a national court system, there was no way of enforcing laws and punishing those who broke them. Furthermore, without a national courts system, the farmer uprisings could not be suppressed. As stated by George Washington in his letter to James Madison, “ If there exists no power to check them, what security has a man for life, liberty, or property?”, which basically means that if there was no form of enforcing laws, then the security of the nation was under …show more content…

One major difference between both groups was that The Federalists supported the creation of a strong federal government, but the Antifederalists wanted more power for the states (Debate over Ratification of the United States Constitution). Moreover, the Antifederalists believed that the Constitution would limit the power of the people and give more power to the government. A second important difference between the two groups was that the Antifederalists demanded the inclusion of a bill of rights but the Federalists opposed the idea. The bill of rights was called for in order to protect the individual liberties of American citizens, which was not already included in the Constitution (The Constitution Webquest). Before being able to ratify the document, the writing of a bill of rights was

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The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, but there was a grapple for its ratification that went on until about two decades after the ratification. Members of Congress believed that the first government of the United States or the Articles of Confederation, needed to be adjusted while others did not want anything to change. After the Revolutionary War, the people did not want a strong central government, because it reminded them too much of what they were trying to escape from. Under the Articles, each state had their own laws, and the need for a new Constitution was desired by many. The Constitution of 1787 created huge debates, arguments and splits in the nation that lasted for several year after its ratification between people who

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Analyzing the Documents On the day of November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation was created, a few years later on March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation was ratified. The Articles of Confederation, which used to be called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual union served as the first constitution of the United States. The articles were a list of agreements the thirteen colonies could follow to become a unified nation. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation failed, because the government were too weak, some efforts were put in to try to strengthen the government but it failed.

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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.

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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.

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With the Article of Confederation, this agreement among the 13 colonies in the United States as a confederation of sovereign states which served as the first constitution in America (Schultz, 2010). Under the Articles of Confederation had a weak government with a one-house legislature, while the states remain powerful. Although, designating a president and national court did not exist, however, the central government’s power was kept limited. During this time the country main problems consist of debt, humanity and authority over the lack of control of the western expansion, dubious foreign relations with other countries and debt accumulated during the war (Schultz, 2010). On an account of the Articles, the government had no way of raising money, due to no taxations allowed, which cause the government not to repay the debt owed, such as promissory notes were given to landowners to aid in the war, and members of the army wanted payment for their service

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