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Weaknesses Of The Articles Of Confederation

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Overcoming the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation The United States constitution overcame the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and provided for the organization of the new government. After the American Revolutionary War in America, the colonist needed a government so no one could take away their power. Continental Congress adopted the Articles in 1777 and later ratified then in 1781. Two main focuses under the Constitutional Convention was representation and voting. The Debate over the Constitution was mainly over making a stronger government. Nine states had to ratify for the Constitution to go in effect, not all agreed with the ratification. The United States Government overcame the weakness of the Articles of Convention …show more content…

Independant states voluntarily came together with the same purpose of independance. A huge chunk of the power gained from the Articles went to the states. The states held their “freedom, independence, and sovereignty”. Under the government there was one branch that was the unicameral legislature. In order for the Articles to be amended, all thirteen states had to agree on the Articles. In order for a law to be passed nine of the states had to agree with the law. Congress has limits such as they could not regulate trade, enforce laws, and collect taxes. Under the Land Ordinance of 1785 land was divided into six square mile townships that consisted of one square mile properties. In every six square mile township, one one mile square was set aside for a school. Slavery was banned and settlers were guaranteed basic rights under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set up a three step process for the beginning states. It went from the states having a chunk of power to figuring out who really has power and who represents the …show more content…

Each state held a convention to ratify the Constitution. A total of nine states had to ratify the Constitution in order for it to go into effect. When the Constitution was first brought to light, not everyone agreed that it deserved to be ratified. The federalists favored a strong government. In favoring a strong government, the federalists felt that for the Union to last, the government had to be strong. Central government did not have the power the federalists wish it would have had under the Articles. Due to the constitution, the central government was too strong in the eyes of the anti-federalists. The Constitution didn’t provide any power for the states and individual freedom. Anti-federalists were scared that if a president was reelected, he would act more like a king. Many people's ideas contributed on the Debate Over the

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As said before, the Articles of Confederation had many imperfections. They gave the National Government too much power and the State Government hardly had any individual power. We solved

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But many problem still challenged this new nation. After the Article of Confederation failing due to the weakness of the central government, the different states had to develop a new a form of government. But the different states did not seem to be agreeing on one single plan, the bigger states want the government to work in their favor, and the smaller states wanted equal representation in the government despite of size, wealth and population. All the delegates from the different states had to work together and make many different compromised to all agree one a well-drafted constitution. However, the ratification of this Constitution still faced many issues, some states wanted more individual state power and rights granted to individual American citizens.

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The reason that the Articles of Confederation established such a weak government was because the colonists were afraid that a strong central government would become tyrannical and oppressive like the British were towards the colonists. However, instead of leading to the downfall of America, the deficiencies that were evident in the Articles of Confederation furthered the definition of the principles of America because the insufficient government of that time voiced a need for a stronger government. To answer this need, the colonists passed the Constitution of the United States. The founding fathers ratified the Constitution in 1787, and it established a much stronger government than the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution founded the laws that would govern America for centuries; it was a crucial factor in the development of the identity of America.

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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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The Federalists of the convention were in favor of the ratification of the Constitution. They believed that the national government must be strong in order to function and to control uncooperative states, which could protect the rights of the people. They also believed that the Constitution and state government protected individual freedoms. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists opposed a strong central government, particularly a standing army. They believed it threatened state power along with the rights of the common people.

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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.

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Before the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, many states own land in the area that was considered in the Northwest, is east of the Mississippi River and North of the Ohio River. When all the states were in debt from the American Revolution, the Central government offered that if the states gave up their land in the Northwest, the central government will pay their debt. This was named the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This also created rules on creating a new state. The land that the states gave up cannot have slaves and in order an area to become a state, they must have a population of 5000 males or 60000 people.

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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.

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The United States Constitution was ratified in response to the weaknesses present in the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States and it intentionally gave the central government very little power. The colonists had just escaped life under the British monarchy where they had no representation and no way to legally protest the way they were being treated. The colonists were forced to pay unfair taxes without representation, forced to house British soldiers, and many other things that they had no choice in. Because of this experience, the articles of confederation was drafted to make the central government weak and to protect the people from the government.

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All these financial and political problems were due to a loose union of thirteen states known as the Articles of Confederation. Although the Articles of Confederation was a big help to make our new nation, it failed in many ways. The national government was unable to solve all the problems mentioned in the previous paragraphs. As a result, in 1787 a meeting was held in Philadelphia by Congress and asked each state to send their delegates to discuss about how to improve the Articles of Confederation. They wrote a new constitution even though they gather to improve the Article of Confederation.

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United States Constitution Ever since 1787, the U.S. constitution has remained one of the most influential and important documents in the history of the United States. It set the foundation for which this great nation could be built upon, and there have been more than one hundred countries that have used it to model their own constitutions upon (Constitutionfacts.com, n.a.). There were a lot of very critical elements and circumstances involved in its creation. The Revolutionary War (1775-1783) that we fought against Great Britain resulted in the Treaty of Paris being signed, which gave the U.S. the authority to govern itself in 1783.

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Contrary to popular belief, the United States has two constitutions: the Articles of Confederation and the present day constitution. So, what happened to the Articles of Confederation? The Articles of Confederation failed for many reasons: the reluctancy of the individual states to surrender their powers to a national government, the impotence of Congress to tax the colonies in order to pay off war debts or pay veterans of the American Revolution, the inability to back up the currency coined by Congress, the institution of multiple currency as states began to coin their own money, and the lack of power to regulate trade and commerce among the states or foreign nations. In addition, the Articles of Confederation limited the executive and judicial

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As reported by many history books, the Constitution required the approval of 9 out of 13 states to win ratification. The Federalists where the group that favored ratification. Mostly the Federalist were wealthy people. Many Americans who were not wealthy supported the Constitution was because they believed that the United States needed a new and stronger national government.

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“Before the Constitution could become "the supreme law of the land," it had to be ratified or approved by at least nine of the thirteen states” (Costly, 2002). The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation introduced a great deal of interstate conflict, something that delegates, through the drafting of the Constitution, tried their best to solve. When the Founding Fathers signed the Constitution in 1787, it needed the ratification from nine states before it could go into effect. There were two sides to the Great Debate. The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.

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