Was the Constitution a counter revolution or a national salvation?
The Constitution was a national salvation due to it’s centralization of power. It allowed the United States of America to be truly united because it granted a president as well as different branches of government, therefore the American government was centralized. Without The Constitution, America would be unable to protect itself, repay debts and collect taxes.
Under The Articles of Confederation, the American government was decentralized which proved to be a problem for the country as a whole. The Articles of Confederation stated that each state “retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.” This document established the states as separate, and only united in a “friendship.”
In the year of 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia to write the Constitution. Tyranny, a type of government with an absolute ruler, was a fear. There was a compound of two governments during this time. The two parts of government were the central government, and the state government which divided the powers (Document A).
In this DBQ The following question to be answered is how did the constitution guard against tyranny. To answer that question, I have to read the following documents A, B, C & D. After that proceed to cite textual evidence while evaluating the questions. First, I had to answer the background questions. My thesis statement is that they guarded tyrannies from the constitution by using federalism & framers. In Philadelphia may 1787 the constitution was written. During that time two of the weaknesses of the articles of confederation were no chief executive & no court system. James
1. Before the Constitution, the Articles of the Confederation did not bind the states together; the Articles were called the “League of Friendship” which did not bring the states together as a United Nation. The states were totally independent and many were still in conflict with each other. There were no rules about taxes, and each state printed their own money. There was no protection from piracy on the seas and the states borders could not protected. The so called government had no money and did not have the ability or the authority to collect taxes and had no form of revenue. Nothing was in place that took the American citizens best interest in to account.
While the Articles of Confederation unified the American colonies for the first time, the individual states had a hard time allowing a central government to solely control their territory. Due to fear of an all powerful monarchy like the one they had experienced in England the colonies were wary of allowing a central government certain powers. These certain powers included control of commerce, ability to tax, and even the ability to act directly upon individual citizens of a state. While the Articles provided a loose confederation to unify the new country, they were only a temporary solution due to their obvious weaknesses in several areas. The Articles of Confederation were essentially
The Constitution was the reason why tyranny was avoided. Separation of powers makes sure the power is equally divided between the branches. Federalism makes sure not one government can accumulate. Checks and balances makes sure each branch has control over each other. The Constitution had been governing our country for 230 years. It is a model for other
Through the congress of confederation, the new National government was to be the everlasting unity between the states. The article of confederation ensured the need for national coordination on the war to independence since centralized political power had continuously raised danger to liberty. The article of confederation was rather a plan for a common government than a mutual defense treaty. States were represented by one house congress in the national government who were only allowed to cast a single vote and despite being part of the national government, States were still entitled to their sovereignty, freedom and independence.
The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. Although, it established a weak central government, it contributed to U.S principles because The Articles of Confederation were the basis of the first government of the United States of America. The Articles were essentially the “training wheels” of the government; it was a learning point to create something much greater which became the Constitution. The problems that this weak document created, combined with the Confederation government’s ineffectual response to Shays’ Rebellion, convinced national leaders that a more powerful central government was necessary.
The feebleness of Congress was a major weakness of the Articles of Confederation. When the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1777, they created a “loose confederation” of states (Pageant, 181). This meant that each state was independent and sovereign, linked by Congress only to deal with common problems and foreign affairs. Congress was meant to be part of a united central power of the government, but due to the abuse suffered from the king, the states so limited the powers of the central government to the point of powerlessness.
The Articles of Confederation was the United State’s first constitution, it was written in an effort to unite the states after the American Revolution and served as a blueprint for the modern constitution. In order for the Articles to become official, they had to be approved by all thirteen colonies. Although Congress sent the Articles of Confederation to the states around the end of 1777 to become ratified, they were not officially adopted until March 1, 1781. Under these Articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. The American people feared a strong national government and as a result of this, the Articles of Confederation were specifically designed to be weak in the sense that each state maintains its own sovereignty and all rights to govern themselves, with the except of the rights exclusively granted to Congress. Since the Articles lacked many necessary components to keep a nation properly structured, they were eventually revised into the constitution we recognize today. Although, the Articles of Confederation seemed as though it only contained weaknesses, within the document, many strengths and accomplishments were made. Overall, the Articles of Confederation were proven to be both efficient and non-efficient during the time period they were in effect.
Finally, in November of 1777, Congress accepted a very different version of the Articles of Confederation than Dickinson had originally intended upon. The Articles that were finally agreed upon overly protected the independence of states and did not supply Congress with the necessary power to run a unified country. In its existence under the Articles of Confederation, the United States were anything but “united.” Each state basically acted as an independent country with it’s own government and own set of rules. The Articles were faulty and unclearly thought out in many ways, which left the United States unorganized and on the verge of chaos for several years to come.
The national government of the United States had many challenges under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles caused money problems and the most essential detail, a weak government. This also caused America conflicts among each of the 13 states. These problems greatly impacted the United States and it’s government as well.
The Constitution of the United States of America was the solution to fix the weaknesses that Articles of Confederation had caused the United States. The Constitution not only helped the United States gain more power but it also unified the states and creates a sense of nationalism. The Constitution eradicated any justification that the United States was weak and inferior. However, there are some constituents of the constitution that suggests that the constitution is not as honorable as it may seem. To what extent is the Constitution of the United States a “repressive” document? Certain aspects of the constitution exhibit how the authors of the constitution
The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States. They were written during the revolutionary war to create a more unified government, and to establish what the national government could and could not do. The Articles let each state keep “sovereignty, freedom, and independence,” and created a very weak central government. For example, Congress could not regulate commerce or impose taxes. The impact that the Articles of Confederation had on federalism for the next few years was: the federal government had very few powers, and most of the authority remained in control of each individual state.
The government that our country operates under in modern times is quite different than the government in place at our country’s conception. However, they do share many of the same practices and ideologies. The Articles of Confederation were founded on the basis of a very limited national government, and the idea that states should interact with each other through a “loose league of friendship”. In this friendship, the states would work and trade together, but no form of central government was needed. This system was not nearly sufficient for the nations problems at the time. Recognizing the need for a reform, the nations leaders tried to reform the current system, and with little success, the decision was made that they should start
The Articles of Confederation were designed and formed from the thirteen states that created a Confederation known as the “league of friendship”; their goal was to find solutions for problems; and one of the first attempts to create a system. The Articles of Confederation was our nation’s first constitution; during the last years of the Revolutionary war, the government had been conducting our country’s affairs helping to negotiate the Treaty of Paris in 1783.