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Why The Articles Of Confederation Failed

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Articles of confederation, the first try at government; failed miserably for the colonists. In order to fix the wounds made by the Articles of Confederation a convention met in order to build a new government. The constitutional convention occurred in the months of of May to September 1787; this meeting was probably the most important in the history of the United States of America. Till that point America was separate states not a united country. Various state representatives met to talk about issues such as slavery and representation per state. One of the main issues was the power of the national government and the bill of rights. Colonists were terrified of a tyranny after the strict ruling of the King therefore many of them revolted against the idea of having a national government. Federalists were those who wanted a strong national government while Anti-Federalists fought greatly against a new government to rule over them. This power struggle lasted the whole convention, and the powers of the national government and our rights are still a major topic in the birth of …show more content…

That’s a huge difference between these two parties except they both created systems in order to ensure the government couldn’t possess too much power. The federalists created checks and balances which split the powers of the government equally therefore no one party had too much overbearing powers. Federalists created this to ensure the government couldn’t become tyrannous. On the other hand the Anti-Federalists fought for a bill of rights therefore ensuring their rights couldn’t be robbed by a tyrannous government. Both sides were scared to trust a government after the strict British rule while one was more willing to make a new government than the other. Along with that similarity both sides refused to ratify till there needs were met which means they both made comprises before they embraced this new

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When it came to the The Articles of Confederation There were a lot of flaws when it came to leadership and taxes but some people did gain some type of benifit from the Article. For example the Congress could not request states to pay taxes. So all the money that they gained, they got to keep it all and didn't have to give any of there money to the congress of the Government. Also there would be no President that would ruler over the states. There would be a Republican government, which a Leadership or Government in every state.

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The first overseeing report of the United States was the Articles of Confederation, embraced by the Continental Congress in 1777 amid the Revolutionary War, before the United States was formerly a nation. This structure laid out a powerless national government and solid state governments. The national government couldn't charge, couldn't uphold laws it passed, and couldn't direct business. These and different shortcomings, alongside an expansion in national feeling, prompted the Constitutional Convention, which met from May to September 1787.

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Considered one of the most important documents in United States history, the Constitution was the basis of a government still functioning today. In the summer of 1787, 55 delegates from eleven of the thirteen states gathered in Philadelphia to fix the first attempt at a constitution, the Acts of Confederation. The government set up by this functioned so poorly that the entire document was scrapped thus making way for the Constitution. This provided a functioning government organized in a way that would eliminate any chance of a single party or person becoming a tyrant. The Constitution created an outline for a government with powers fairly distributed between the federal government, state governments, three branches of government and small

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It starts with the failure of the Articles of Confederation (adopted in 1781) to provide the necessary framework of a national government that could protect its rights as an equal among others. To be more specific there are three issues facing America in 1786. 1) In Foreign Affairs; the failure to prevent the both the closure of the Mississippi River by Spain at New Orleans and the failure in gaining control of a series of forts along the Great Lakes that under the Treaty of Paris (1783) were suppose to be turned over to the United States after the Revolutionary War ended by England. 2) Within America there was a growing issue of both currency control and out of control inflation. With NO centralized government to control both the growth of currency from the states and inflation throughout the nation.

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The Federalist main argument was stated based off the opinion that the government would never have complete power over the citizens, but the citizens would also have a little more power and a say in the things that involve them. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists believed in limited powers specifically stated, they wanted strong state governments, and wanted a Bill of Rights added to the Constitution to protect the people from the government (Document 4). This was their point of view due to the fact that they believed that the individual states know and can act more based on their people that on federal government can. They focused their argument on the rights of the citizens. For the Federalists and Anti-Federalists to agree on a new government, they created a compromise that combined each of their ideas.

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In 1777, the Continental Congress completed the first written American constitution, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was created to form an alliance between the 13 colonies. It was working out well in the beginning until serious problems started to appear. Those were money problems and most importantly, a weak government. One issue the Articles of Confederation had, was the major money issues inflicted upon the union which harmed the coherency of our country.

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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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Under the Articles of Confederation, The U.S. government was ineffective, as a result of the little power granted to Congress, along with weak relationships with other nations, and prompting the need for a centralized government. The biggest reason for the ineffectiveness of the U.S. government under the Articles of Confederation was the lack of power granted to Congress. The lack of power granted to Congress led to a disrespect of Congress’s rulings from the state governments. Whenever a law was passed, mainly, the state governments chose to do what they wanted, neglecting the laws and other commands, which ultimately lead to the disunity throughout the nation. As a result of thes disunity, many nations, Britain included, saw the Americans as weak and unorganized people.

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Multiple issues faced the members of the Constitutional Congress as they attempted to write a new constitution for the United States. Representation for the colonies in Congress was a major issue at the time, and was resolved by the Great Compromise. Also, the writing of the new constitution formed two different groups of people, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Their beliefs conflicted with each other, One group believing in a strong federal government and the other believing in strong local governments. A compromise was reached, the compromise known as the Bill of Rights.

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The constitution was able to address the problems with the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution created a Federalist government with a strong central government at the national level and weaker governments at state and local levels. It gave the national government the power to tax, draft troops, control interstate commerce, etc. Also because of the failure of the Articles of Confederation the Bill of Rights was established. With the Bill of rights in place and all the news laws into order the constitution was able to repair the failure that the Articles of Confederation

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The rebellion in Massachusetts raised questions about building a stronger central government. Therefore, leading to the constitutional convention. At first, this convention was thought to revise the Articles of Confederation, although most delegates agreed to create an entirely new document and government. This is the birth of the constitution, yet there is some disagreement among some of the smaller states. The smaller states wanted equal representation, along with the larger states.

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218 Words | 1 Pages

The Articles of Confederation was written by the founding fathers of the USA, and they worked for a long time, and wrote it very well, but there was complications towards the Article. For instance, in the Article, it says that each state would have only one vote in Congress, regardless of its size and population. The bigger states, such as Virginia, did not like this rule because Virginia was a much bigger state and was home to a large population of the 13 states. The people of Virginia thought that they should have more than just one vote in Congress since there was more population in Virginia. Another example of a problem with the Confederation would be that it says in the article that nine states have to agree with the Congress before it

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200 Words | 1 Pages

After the failure of the Articles of Confederation, numerous delegates met for a convention, now known as the Constitutional Convention in 1787. At first, the convention’s purpose was to fix the Articles of Confederation. But, the delegates ended up making a new document called the Constitution. This document set the base of the United States’ government, as it established various laws and basic needs for the government.

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1278 Words | 6 Pages

The events of the American Revolution affirmed the colonists’ anxieties over an inordinately centralized government that infringed on their natural rights and autonomy. Such rights were inalienable since they belonged to each individual on account of the laws of nature, and could not be taken away without consent. After the Revolution, the colonists adopted the Articles of Confederation to grant the states considerable sovereignty. Unfortunately, the Articles precipitated a new set of problems in creating a weak federal government with a limited role in enforcing the law and maintaining unity between the states. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 addressed these and other issues by establishing a new government that asserted the Constitution

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The Articles of Confederation were a document seen as the “first” constitution of the United States. This document granted the new national government power to control the military, declare war, and create treaties between the states. However, the Articles had holes in it considering the government did not have the power to tax, create laws without at least nine states’ approval, or change the Articles of Confederation without a unanimous vote. This means that the country soon fell into debt and petty arguments between state, the new government had no control. It was time for a change.

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