considerationMessage Board Assignment #3 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. 2. The government under the Articles of
They had no right to tax, declare war, or even regulate trade. The articles of confederation drained the developing country. When the constitution had been written, the congress was able to get more power. And with this power, they were able to build a new country. Another flaw of the articles of confederation was that there was no ability to carry out any laws or carry out any sort of consistent unfamiliar policy. The articles of confederation had no executive branch. Also the articles of confederation had not provided any nation judicial branch. This was need to settle arguments that happened among the states. It also wasn’t able to control any legal questions that may have been relevant to the federal policy. A serious conflicted problem had taken place when the states maintained their power, but the states were still able to bounce to a "perpetual...league of friendship." The United States constitution was able to fix all of these problems. First, a nation executive branch was established. Second, a nation judiciary was established. And lastly the states power was limited. Some more flaws of the Articles of Confederation was that in congress, each state had one separate vote. It did not matter what size the state was either. Also, the power to tax was not present in the congress. Unanimous votes were also required for amendments to the Articles of
The government established by the Articles of Confederation lacked the coherence, strength, and cooperation needed to spur the young nation to success, instead wreaking havoc politically, defensively, and economically. For example, because there was neither a national currency nor regulation of commerce, the mid-1780s were stricken with inflation and economic depression. Moreover, due to the absence of a national legislature, laws varied from state to state; thus, Congress had difficulty passing and enforcing laws and taxes. Lastly, the nation lacked strong, solid leadership to guide decisions and head foreign affairs. In essence, at the time of America’s new-found independence from Britain, the Articles failed to provide a unified government
The Articles of Confederation were the first attempt at a national government. Under the Articles, there was no executive or judiciary branch, state delegations could vary in size from two to seven and had only one vote, approval of a decision required of majority vote of seven states, however, if this decision meant to amend the Articles, there had to be approval from all 13 state delegations and legislatures, and most importantly, there was a weak central government which meant that it didn't have the power to tax nor to raise a militia. The real power was in the states' governments, who could raise taxes and raise state militia due to the constant fear of a tyrannical government. Like stated before, this form of government gave next to no
After the Revolutionary war, the now independent thirteen colonies were faced with the difficult task of finding a way to govern themselves. They needed to replace the British form of government, a monarchy, in which they had successfully overthrown, and still make every colony agree on a form of government. The Founding Fathers first attempt at this monumental task was the writing of the Articles of Confederation. During the Second Continental Congress, which was held in Philadelphia in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were first proposed. They were later ratified and put into effect in 1781.
Being the first attempt at structured government for the states and the federal government, they erred by ultimately giving more power to the states. In 1777, the first draft of the Articles of Confederation was presented to the Second Continental Congress for signature. The Articles had no provisions for an executive branch, no regulation of trade among the states, no unified courts and no provisions for an army. There was no way to collect revenue which made it nearly impossible to pay our servicemen fighting in the Revolutionary War. States could procure their own money but it was not shared with the colonies on a whole, and effected trade in and amongst the other states, with no way to settle disputes between the states should they arise. The Articles also stated that in order to pass laws in the new combined nation, nine out of 13 states would have to agree and in order to pass an amendment all 13 states had to be in agreement. It took five years to have all 13 states sign and amend the Articles of Confederation, a document that would stay in place until a stronger form of national government would begin with the signing of the Constitution of the United
Article 2 of the Articles of Confederation spoke on how “each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right.”1 This created a confederation of states that were as independent as possible within congress. It was made because American colonists grew weary of a strong national government like the British crown they had been under for so many years. They did not want to create another government that grew apart as time went on. Furthermore, American colonists were strongly loyal to their states and as a result, the Articles of Confederation kept the central government weak, and made states as independent as possible. On the other hand, the U.S. Constitution unified the 13 states by creating different branches of government and consequently, did not give sole power to the states and Congress.
When making important decisions, the Article of Confederation seemed to show more favor to the states themselves rather than the Congress. For example, when making amendments, the Confederation states that it can be executed only when the decision is agreed by all states, but only three-fourths of all states is needed in the Constitution. Also the decision for welcoming new states to be a part of the united States of America was determined by the agreement of nine states in the Confederation, with Canada as the only exemption, but in the Constitution the decision is made upon the agreement of the Congress. However, the biggest issue that led to the making of the Constitution was none other than the government’s inability to impose tax directly
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.”
The Articles of Confederation was one of the first steps in the birth of the United States as we have it today. Though it was flawed in many ways it did help establish a foundation in which the United States Constitution could build it self and help shape the country. The main flaw in the Articles of confederation that were fixed with the writing of the Constitution was a weak federal government that could not levy taxes, manage trade, and enforce its’
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.
America attained independence, but still had many obstacles that they had to surpass. The thirteen states had thirteen different leaders rather than being one nation. The states were worried about their own problems. When shaping the Confederation, representatives from the states didn’t agree to change their leadership-organized states into a central government. In 1776, the Constitutional Congress constructed a group of people that allowed the states to draft the Articles of Confederation. After much dispute from congress and the addition of amendments, the draft was finally approved to the states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation took many years to be in effect because all thirteen states had to approve it. The Articles went into effect in 1781, but the governmental structure was ineffective
One of the main disadvantages of the Articles of Confederation was that it encouraged a weak central government. Because nine out of thirteen states had to agree upon a law in order for it to be established, very few laws were passed. Amendments of the Articles of Confederation were never passed because the vote had to be unanimous. Not many decisions were made and the Congress generally only had the power to make treaties, deal with foreign affairs, and declare war. The Articles of Confederation read, “Each state shall contain its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right…” (Article II) The states had the most power and the Congress very rarely made decisions that affected the internal affairs of the states or country. There was only one house of Congress where each state only had one vote. This did not allow the bigger states with a greater population to have an advantage over the smaller states, which one could perceive as unfair in certain circumstances. Also, there was no judicial branch, which meant that if a case was not solved on a state level, it had nowhere to go. Fundamentally, the states held the most power. The lack of power within the Congress led to economic crisis.
There were a lot of problems with the Articles of Confederation. Some of which made it so bad to the point of people rebelling against the government. There were states taxing each other way too much. Some states struggled to get any kind of help because the majority of the states has to vote to help a state before it can get help. There were also strengths, like every state followed its own laws and jurisdiction. There were more weaknesses than strengths.