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Articles Of Confederation Dbq

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The Articles of Confederation were the first written Constitution of the United States and remained in effect from 1781 to 1788. It was first written in 1777, but took four years for all states to ratify it due to disputes over western lands. Attempts to amend it, to give the national government more power, were presented several times, but failed due to the requirement of nine votes in agreement instead of the majority. The only powers granted to the national government were rights regarding the maintenance of independence. By 1787, many Americans sought to revise the Articles of Confederation due to growing debts and lack of protection of liberties, which resulted in the Constitution of 1789. The economy and the national government were …show more content…
Madison was a man from Virginia who carefully contemplated political freedom. Hamilton came to North America in his twenties and had fought during the War of Independence. They were nation-builders who thought Americans were throwing away their independence and that the government needed more power to protect the future of America. This idea was agreed upon by many groups including those who believed their property rights were being violated, those who wanted access to British markets, those who wanted tax protection from foreign goods, and those who were owed payments by Congress. Propelled by Shays’s Rebellion, delegates from six states met in September 1786 at Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss regulation of commerce. This meeting led to another meeting in Philadelphia to amend the Articles of Confederation. However, James Madison wrote about the need for a new constitution instead of amendments. The Philadelphia Convention convened in May 1787 where delegates from all states, except Rhode Island, met and agreed to void the Articles of …show more content…
The men in attendance included George Washington, George Mason, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton. They shared the belief in the need to strengthen the national government and that they had been too loose with democracy. The new Constitution fixed the immediate issues by granting Congress the right to raise money on their own, without the states, and banning states from infringing on property owner’s rights. Also, the Constitution established three systems, a legislature, executive, and judiciary system. It was written as a representation of the people of the United States. Hamilton proposed the idea of life-terms for presidents but this resembled the powers of kings and was quickly shot down. Mason believed in finding a balance between liberty and power, which sparked much debate. The debate ended with agreement to compose a Congress made up of a Senate and House of Representatives, with Senators being elected by legislature every six years and Representatives being elected by the people every two years. In doing this, popular vote was given a voice in political matters providing more democracy. However, much of the Constitution remained less

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