... Where did the Constitutional Convention meet? __________Philadelphia________________ The “Father of the Constitution” is _____________James Madison________________ when he created the ________Virginia__________ Plan. The Virginia Plan incorporated the concepts of ________seperation___________of powers (illustrated by the three branches of government) and ________Checks________ and balances (the concept designed to prevent one branch from getting out of control). What are the three branches of the federal government? a. ____________executive__________________ b. _____________legislative_________________ c. ______________judicial________________ The ____________New Jersey_________ Plan called for only reforming the Articles of Confederation. What compromise settled the issue of how the slave population would be counted? _________________3/5 comprimise___________________ The Preamble of the Constitution begins with the phrase _______We the people______________________. Congress is composed of a bicameral legislature made up of the _____senate__________________ (upper house with equal representation) and the __________________house of reps_____________________ (lower house with proportional representation). A Senator’s term lasts ______6______ years. A Representative’s term lasts _____4_______years. The powers of Congress are enumerated in Article 1, Section ___8____ of the U.S. Constitution. Article II concerns...
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...Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution The Birth of a Nation Joseph J. Zarzycki United States History – 405 Aimee James June 1, 2014 At the end of the revolutionary war the free states of the Union desired some sort of control that would create a unified country. The first such control came from what was called the Articles of Confederation, essentially our first constitution. This document addressed many issues. How should power be divided between local and national governments? How should laws be made, and by whom? Who should be authorized to govern those laws? How could the government be designed to protect the individual rights of the citizens? The Articles of Confederation, as it turned out, were lacking in several key areas and would be considered a failure. After the shortcomings of the articles began to become apparent, the state delegates tried to revise them; but instead, constructed the Constitution. When creating the Articles of Confederation, thirteen states formed a Confederation referred to as the “League of Friendship” in order to find a solution for common problems and concerns. The Articles of Confederation created a loose Confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to the central government. Each state, regardless of population, would have one vote in the house of Congress. Members of the one-house Congress agreed that the new government should be a unicameral legislature, without an executive branch or...
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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...
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...The Significance of the Federalist Papers The Federalist Papers, is a compilation of 85 articles, advocating the ratification of the proposed Constitution of the United States. These series of articles were published by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay between October 1787 and May 1788. The overall intention of the Federalist Papers was to explain the advantages of the proposed Constitution over the prevailing Articles of Confederation. The Federalist Papers impacted the ratification of the Constitution by making some of their most important objections, including the significance of having a Constitution, acknowledging to the disagreements made by the Antifederalists, and defending conflicting arguments made against the attributes of the executive and judicial branch as specified in the proposed Constitution. Before the ratification of the Constitution, the central government under the Articles of Confederations was very weak and in jeopardy of falling apart. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, who were Federalists believed as well that the Articles of Confederation was too weak to maintain a powerful central government and needed to be restored by the U.S Constitution. The fundamental goal of the U.S constitution was to secure the rights of the U.S citizens and for the federal government to strive for the common good of the individuals. The Federalist Papers illustrates how the federal government is divided into three distinct, separate branches...
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...the things that are specifically given to it in the Constitution. The remaining powers are reserved to the States/people. ➢ It was passed by Congress in September 1789 and Ratified in December 1791 How was it formed? ➢ After the war of independence ➢ The exploratory committee studied how the colonies might join together ➢ Congress formally adopted the plan in November 1777. ➢ Known as the Articles of Confederation. ➢ Each state had to individually choose whether or not it wanted to be a part of this new union. ➢ The Revolutionary War meant that Maryland did not ratify until March 1781. Issues? ➢ The American population had a fear of giving up their local rights to a new national government. ➢ Unclear which rights would be designated to the federal government and rights the states would retain themselves ➢ A majority of people wanted rights to stay in the hands of local people, not in the hands of central government. Resolution? ➢ To help prevent the federal government from taking too much power that it was not granted, the Founding Fathers included this statement in Article II of the Article of Confederation: "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled." ➢ HOWEVER, government proved to be weak therefore the constitution took its place ➢ Still limits powers but allows federal government...
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...Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=American+History http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_history.html There were many differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. At the end of the American Revolution the free states needed some sort of control that would generate to a unified country. Issues arose such as: How should power be divided between local and national governments? How should laws be made, and by whom? Who should be authorized to govern those laws? How could the government be designed to protect the unalienable individual rights? Their first attempt at solving this issue was the Articles of Confederation, which was a failure for the most part, but not completely. After the failure of the articles, the state delegates tried to revise the articles, but instead, constructed the Constitution. There were so many changes made and very little remained the same. The thirteen states formed a Confederation referred to as the “league of friendship” in order to find a solution for common problems such as foreign affairs.The Articles of Confederation was the nation’s first Constitution. The articles created a loose Confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to the central government. Each state would have one vote in the house of Congress, no matter the size of the population. Members of the one-house Congress, such as Pennsylvania, agreed that the new government...
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...The Confederation and the Constitution | | | | | Shortly after Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the delegates at the Second Continental Congress agreed that a new government was necessary to govern the now-independent colonies. After much debate, they drafted and adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777. Although the Articles were not officially ratified until 1781, they served as the actual constitution until that time. Under the authority of the Articles, the states created a national Congress comprised of annually elected delegates from all thirteen states. Each state had one vote in Congress, and, in most cases, decisions were made based on majority rule. The National Congress’ powers over the states were specific and definite: it had the sole power to negotiate treaties, declare war, and make peace. It also reserved the right to maintain an army and navy and regulated interaction with Native Americans in the West. The delegates also granted Congress the power to resolve interstate disputes, grant loans, print money, and operate a national postal system. Eventually, Congress was also authorized to govern western territories until they achieved statehood. All powers not granted to Congress were reserved for state governments. Congress had no power to levy taxes. For example, it could only request that the individual states raise revenue to cover their share of national expenses. Furthermore, any amendments made to the Articles...
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...HISTORICAL ESSAY #1 Confederation and Constitution The Articles of Confederation was agreed to by Congress on November 15, 1777 and was ratified and in force on March 1, 1781. By the year 1787, this new government had fallen short of the expectations of the people it was intended to govern. The weaknesses in The Articles of Confederation were numerous and had, in the thinking of many prominent men of that time, failed and would lead to a state of anarchy. There was such a sense of urgency to amend it that there seemed to be an atmosphere of panic among many of our Founding Fathers. John Dickenson and fellow members of the 2nd Continental Congress, weary of monarchy rule, had created the Articles of Confederation as a listing of twelve specific Powers given Congress by which to govern. Legislation required nine votes to pass. Each state had only one vote and this was problematic to the larger states, as their problems, more often than not, were based on a larger population and it was not unusual that the smaller states didn’t understand or want to pay for the solutions. Some lesser acts did not require nine votes to pass, but simply a majority of those present. Acts of Significant Consequence did require nine votes. The trouble with all of this was that even if nine votes could be achieved, there was no enforcement of law to be implemented by Congress. Congress could make law but not enforce it. It could charge states for their share of national...
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...thirteen states, even though Rhode Island did not have a representative at the convention. It was the public who pushed for the delegates to meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles...
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...Constitution Paper Tiffany Sky Mendoza March 2, 2015 HIS/110 Davon Bissonette Constitution Paper There are four weakness in The Articles of Confederation. One week after the Declaration of Independence. Continental Congress started working on the Article of Confederation for the independent America states. The ideal was to bring the thirteen states together and at the same time allow each state to remain independent. Unfortunately, the Article of Confederation was failing apart for several reasons. First, they had nothing in place to collect funds from the states or state citizens. Second, the national government did not have a way to regulate commerce. Third, the governments were unable to conduct foreign affairs. Another works had a difficult time speaking to other nations with one voice (unified). Forth trying to change the Article was to make difficult make changes. Why? Well, there had to be a unanimous vote meaning most of the thirteen states had to vote yes. One of those changes was to have the national government the power to collect taxes, this would improve the situation. Unfortunately, there was a very small change so it would be approved. Another problem within the national government was a lack of leadership and accountability. The issue came to a head in 1768 when the deep depression in Massachusetts. Constitution Paper Then how the Constitution addressed the complaints in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was the one that listed the twenty-five...
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...How did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny? By: Eryn Keenan The United States went to war with Brittan to break away from a tyrant, so the new government was designed to prevent this. Our Constitution prevents tyranny in many ways. James Madison defined a tyranny as “a harsh absolute power in the hands of one individual-like a king or dictator”. Since the Articles of Confederation were failing in May, 1787, 55 delegates met in Philadelphia. Instead of adjusting the existing articles they decided to create a new constitution that would completely guard against tyranny. The Constitution prevented tyranny in many ways such as federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the equality of states. The first way the delegates...
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...Without financial support, there was also no improvement in the public goods. Concerning the public goods, even modern nations still have a problem with this aspect, and that is the free-rider crisis. Similarly, the states did not want to spend their money on the national treasury but still wanted to have national government funds. As a result, it was even more impossible for any single individual state to share its own revenue with Congress’s. To solve the problem, in 1787, the Framers finally created the Constitution that gave Congress the permission to levy taxes directly on people. This taxation authority created a stable source of revenue for the legislative branch to allocate and support federal programs. The money gained could be used...
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...since the ratification of the Constitution in 1791. Describe how the provisions within the Constitution pertaining to the ‘power to tax and spend’ (Art.1, sec.8, pt.1) and the ‘commerce clause’ (Art.1, sec.8, pt.3) have been used over time to expand federal power and thus the power of the President. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence, n.d.). Taken adapted from the scholar John Locke’s “Life Liberty and Estate” in his text the ‘Second Treatise of Government’, (Locke, J. 2005) and incorporated into the United States declaration of independence. Much has been said on the influence of Locke, on Thomas Jefferson during the drafting of the United States declaration of independence, such as was argued by McKay, (2005 pp. 44) . However, where Locke emphasized the importance of procuring and maintaining a limited government, it appears his influences on the political foundation of the United States drew to a halt here. As we are now bearing witness, to one of the most rapidly expanding government institutions in western liberal democracy. In this essay, I intend to discuss how the expansion of federal government power has increased exponentially, all the while power at the state level has diminished. I also intend to view how the head of the judicial branch of government; the Supreme...
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...legislation that was adequate and fulfilled the needs of this newly formed country. As a prolonged and arduous war ended against one of the world’s greatest superpowers, the Continental Congress of the United States of America began drafting its first constitution in mid-1776, they became known as the “Articles of Confederation.” Less than a decade later an uprising led by Daniel Shays, a former revolutionary, arose when the people became discontent with the current conditions the country was in and blamed their dissatisfaction on the government. (Curtis) These farmers were in poor and in debt, and although the rebellion was swiftly crushed, it demonstrated how powerless the government really was and proved that imperative action was necessary to rectify the issues that were currently afflicting the young nation. The fact that the Articles of Confederation failed was actually a positive outcome, since it was held in place for 10 years it served as a good guideline for what was needed. It was a big risk since they had no idea if it was going to work out, but the founding fathers then went forward to draft a constitution that has served as the law for the last 200 years. This new constitution made the federal government much more powerful yet still promised to uphold the rights of the people to prevent exploitation by their government. In this constitution is included a “Bill of Rights,” ten amendments that...
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...Gurmanderdeep singh Professor Paul Villa Core Humanities 203 July 20,2013 Constitutional Consideration: The Tenth Amendment The United States Constitution gives significant power to the individual state governments. States are not mere provinces set up to take orders from a central authority in Washington DC and execute these orders regionally. States are afforded sovereign powers of their own. In Federalist #45, James Madison summarized the powers assigned to the individual states: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” “The Tenth Amendment was intended to confirm the understanding of the people at the time the Constitution was adopted, that powers not granted to the United States were reserved to the States or to the people. It added nothing to the instrument as originally ratified.” It’s quite clear that the Tenth Amendment was written to emphasize the limited nature of the powers delegated to the federal government. In delegating just specific powers to the federal government, the states and the people, with some small exceptions, were free to continue exercising their sovereign powers. When states and local communities take the lead on policy, the people are that much closer to the policymakers, and policymakers are that much more accountable to the people. Few Americans have spoken with...
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