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Problems of Decentralization What were the problems of decentralized power that existed under the Articles of Confederation?

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After the American Revolution was won and the Treaty of Paris formally recognized the United States of America as a country, there was still much to do . Major parts of the country were in shambles, and there was a strong need for a central government. At the time, many states drafted their own state governments, but soon realized that a national government was needed, so delegates went to the Second Continental Congress to draft the Articles of Confederation. Though it provided a legislative branch of government with one house that had the power to declare war, had the power to make treaties, and could also borrow money to pay debts, it was nothing more than a declaration of friendship between the colonies . The weaknesses of the Articles …show more content…

The Constitution gave more power to the central government, but in the process of doing so, it took away some power from the states and the citizens . This established federal supremacy over many areas of the state governments. However, in exchange, the country got stability, and the chaos was brought down to a much more manageable level. This shows that the framers were successful in their attempts to create a functional republic. The setup of the new system of government allowed the House of Representatives to be elected directly by the people. State legislators were given the authority to choose senators and electors chose the president. The citizens were also happy because they were being represented and though states had less power than before, they were unified under a single system of government. The new Constitution provided solutions to problems that were prevalent under the old Articles of Confederation and citizens of states also had adequate protection of their rights and liberties regardless of what state they were from. Though the Constitution provides a better system of government than the Articles of Confederation did, there are still clashes between decentralized and centralized power. One of the issues that there have been disagreements in is gun control. Under the second Amendment, people have the right to bear arms so theoretically, the government has no right

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