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Comparisons the articles of confederation and constitution
The constitution vs articles of confederation
Strengths and weaknesses of articles of confederation
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To start off, the Articles of Confederation was an influence for the US Constitution which is the reason for their similarities. One of these similarities is that both documents established a form of a national government and according to page 182 of “The American Pageant”, “powers that were to be exercised.” Although they both established a national government, the thing that made the two contradict each other was the power it had. Within the Articles of Confederation, the central government was made weak, the states being sovereign due to a fear of a strong central government abusing its power like Britain did prior to the American Revolution. However, in the Constitution, the central government had power over all the states instead of making them sovereign.
Written in 1787 and established in 1788, The Constitution is one of the most famous government systems in the world, laying down the foundation for the world we know today. It’s predecessor, the Articles of Confederation, was not nearly as long-lasting, being scrapped after just 10 years. However, both documents had a similar idea: giving power to the people and preventing the rise of a king. One huge difference is that the Constitution established a much stronger government than the Articles of Confederation. With the Articles, there was almost no government, leading to big problems.
Constituion The Articles of Confederation was the first written Constitution of the United States and it tells how the national government was established in. The Articles of Confederation was ratified on March 1, 1781. Without the Articles of confederation Congress felt as if we had a weak union and this would make it stronger. The Constitution is needed because it gives us the basic rights people of the United States have today.
The differences between the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution are massive with there being little in common between the two besides the fact that there were both forms of government for the former British colonies. However, that is where the similarities end. The differences start with the branches of government. There was no true executive branch and even if there was there no way for the government to enforce the law.
The Constitution united the states in a more structured and governed body, while allowing the states to have some individually, and protected all rights of people specified in the Bill of Rights. The main fear in the constitution was that the central governing power in federal government would create a tyrant, something the colonists feared from their experience as being part of the British empire. Because of this, the founding fathers divided all the powers in the federal government into branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is in check with the others, and makes it extremely hard for the country to fall into
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.
The Constitution is better than the Articles of Confederation because the Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses. The Articles did not give Congress the power to place tariffs on foreign goods, hurting American businesses that could not compete with cheaper British goods. The U.S. government had no chief executive so there was no one to enforce the laws that were passed. The new Constitution addressed many of the problems created by the Articles by creating a federal system of government with a much more powerful national government. The Constitution made a stronger Federal government that could unite the States, taking many of the powers held by the States: the right to tax, the right to raise armies, the right to regulate trade and
The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution are two important documents in American history that established the foundation for the current system of government in the United States. While both documents aimed to establish a functioning government, they differ greatly in their approach to governance and the protection of individual liberties. The Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1777, were the first constitution of the United States and provided a framework for a loose confederation of states. Under the Articles, the central government was relatively weak and had limited powers, with the states retaining most of the power. The government had no power to regulate commerce, levy taxes, or enforce laws.
The Articles of Confederation are a huge piece of the United States History as we know it. The Articles of Confederation were the very first constitution that we had in the United States and were spoken into existence and introduced in 1777 and the Articles became actually ratified in 1781. They are most well known for being the precursor to the Constitution, which was what replaced the Articles in 1789. The Articles were written rules that helped distribute power within the states and Congress. The main thing that the Articles of Confederation served as doing as being the “written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain.”
The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution are vastly different, yet both exhibit what was scene as essential to the success of the nation when they each were written and enacted. It is no doubt that the Articles of Confederation were weak, otherwise citizens and legislative bodies would still be answering to them. However, the Articles served as the nation’s first constitution during the Revolutionary War, of which the United States was the victor. Therefore, despite the differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, both documents are essential to American history and the progress of this country. At the time of ratification in 1781, and well before that, the Articles of Confederation were established to
Following British General Charles Cornwallis’ surrender at the Battle of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War, the United States, now no longer under British rule, was in dire need of a new government. Consequently, the Articles of Confederation government was formed in November of 1777, and was finally ratified by the states in 1781. The Articles of Confederation created a loose alignment of sovereign states, where the central government was incredibly weak, with almost no powers. After Shay’s rebellion, in which a group of farmers revolted against the over taxation and underrepresentation of those on the American frontier, and the subsequent failure of the government to do anything, a new, stronger government was created in the form of the United States Constitution. The United States Constitution is a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation because of it centralized the
We still use this form of government today. Powers that retain only for the federal government are called enumerated powers. The federal government was made up of the legislative branch and Congress. One power the federal government possessed was the power to regulate trade; this included interstate and foreign trade. Even though, the federal government had the power to regulate interstate trade, they could not regulate trade within the state itself.
In one hand, the Articles of Confederation had a weak central government, differing form the strong central government in the Constitution. The Constitution’s government had a structure of three different branches; the legislative, executive, and judicial branch; unlike the Articles of Confederation that had no structure whatsoever. The Articles of Confederation had many problems like, the poor international trade, poor foreign relations and a weak economy in contrast to the Constitution that only had one problem, the struggle over the ratification. the Articles of Confederation achieved the Northwest Ordinance and the Northwest Territory and according to a history website, the Constitution achieved that we had a system of checks and balances, that we had a bill of rights, and, eventually, the survival of a bloody civil war intact. Lastly, the Constitution had three compromises: the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Slave Trade compromise.
The most important difference between these documents was that the Articles of Confederation gave very little power to a central government and the Constitution created a strong central government. The Article of Confederation was written to unite states after the American Revolution. People had the fear of the government having too much power. This document established
Articles of Confederation vs. U.S. Constitution The Articles of the Confederation and the U.S. Constitution are two articles that where written and accepted by the United States as a foundation for their new government. They are both very important documents that have similarities and differences. Some of the main things the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution have in common is that they addressed the needs of its constituencies.
