...POLS 212 Guy Reading Assignment: Articles of Confederation and Constitution Professor Guy February 11, 2015 The Constitution: An illustration of Thomas Jefferson’s flawed Worldview The Articles of Confederation’s underlining objective was to project the wellbeing of the states, “The…States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberates, and their mutual and general welfare.” From a theoretical standpoint, the Articles objective seems practical and acceptable, however, because the Articles granted the states full sovereignty, the Articles thus had authority to ensure general welfare. The lack of enforcement and power is one of the chief flaws in the Articles, and the need for a constitution that granted the federal government more power is quite possibly the most intriguing concept from this day’s reading assignment. When reading today’s assignment, the provisions in the Articles of Confederation appear to be Thomas Jefferson’s ideal constitution. Jefferson’s farmer is the analogy I thought of when reading the Articles. Independent farmers are people who provide for their own subsistence, according to Jefferson, and a community that instills this philosophical principal is positioned to become a virtuous society. The unlimited expansion of commerce and industry eventually leaves people vulnerable to political subjugation and economic manipulation. I used Jefferson’s farmer because...
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...a government were the Articles of Confederation. It established a weak government which only consisted of a one-house legislature called the Confederation Congress. This was the first government of the US. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could declare war, sign treaties and settle disputes between the states. They could also borrow and print money and ask states for funding although, states usually never provided enough money to help the government in a significant way. The big disadvantage that the US faced while trying to create this new nation under the Articles was Congress’ inability to tax. We were so afraid of a strong central government that we refused to give the power of taxation to Congress. But when the Northwest ordinance was passed, and we began to move toward the Ohio area, we faced many threats from the Natives there. With no money from taxes, we could not pay for a military so the citizens of America were left unprotected. Because there were many problems caused by the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention was held in 1787 to revise the Articles and they ended up being thrown out. The Constitution was then created to replace the Articles of Confederation. Powers were separated among three branches and taxes became active, allowing for a military. The Constitution also permitted the government to enter into treaties and trade agreements as a nation instead of thirteen individual colonies. The Articles could not make these things...
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...The new United States had finally gained their freedom from England. With being a new country they needed to form a new system of government. The Articles of Confederation was adopted between 1781 to 1789. The Articles of Confederation, I believe, were a "successive failure." Even though the Articles had some successes, there weren't too many. One of the successes was that the negotiation of the Treaty of Paris, which ended up ending the Revolutionary War. Another successful section was the passage of the Northwest Ordinance. In the Northwest Ordinance, formal procedure for transforming territories into states was established. The Ordinance included a Bill of Rights, which guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest. The Articles were key as to guide the new nation through a critical period of it's beginning. Also through the successes there were the failures produced by the Articles of Confederation. Measures that were passed by Congress needed to seek the approval of nine out of the thirteen states. Under the Articles, the government was severely limited in its powers. They could not raise money by collecting taxes; they could only ask the states, of which did not have give the money. They also had no power over foreign commerce and could not regulate trade between the states. Laws could be passed, but the states could not be forced to agree with them. Since the states did not have to comply, often times...
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...time? Why? The Articles of Confederation provided an inadequate government because of various financial, diplomatic, and social problems that the weak system could not handle. Merchants and planters who depended on the English market were hit hard when an American victory cut ties with England. Staple crops such as rice were no longer in high demand, nor were other products such as fish. England did nothing to ease the impact of these problems; the sale of American farm products were banned in the West Indies ad the rights of American vessels to carry goods to and from the Caribbean were restricted. To finance the war, the Continental Congress had printed more than $240 million in paper money that was backed by “good faith” rather than by hard currency such as gold or silver. The value of this paper currency diminished as doubts that they could ever pay the sum in return rose. The government was unsuccessful when trying to raise money as well; because of the necessary unanimous approval to pass tariffs, the government could not place tariffs on goods because states declined. The Confederation’s diplomatic record was as discouraging as its financial plight. Although the British agrees to evacuate their western forts in the Treaty of Paris, they refused to take any action until the Americans honored their end of the treaty and repaid war debts and returned loyalists’ confiscated properties. A new document was created to replace The Articles of Confederation in 1787. The Constitution...
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...After the Revolutionary War and America's Independence, the Articles of Confederation provided America with a trial and error set of rules. It was from this that America learned the things needed to run an independent yet stable country. It was the government's best attempt at making the government for the people, unlike the monarchy they broke away from. The Articles of Confederation helped bring national unity among states due to the nationwide cooperation and elimination of debt but it also failed and brought an economic downfall. The Articles of Confederation were created in order to create a better government that differed from the one they just broke off from. In the hopes of acknowledging the needs of the people, the Articles allowed...
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...Ratified in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were written out of desperation and fear. Desperation that our new country needed some form of government and fear that there could be further attacks from Great Britain or other aggressive governments. The challenge with the Articles of Confederation were, that there was no cohesion between states, or the new nation as a whole. There was no centralized government. There was no form of leadership for the states to fall back on if they had been attacked from a foreign enemy. The solution to the well-intentioned Articles of Confederation was of course, the Constitution of the United States of America. Ratified on 17, September 1787 by representatives from twelve colonies, now called “States”. The...
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...Articles of Confederation. Describe what they were and how they came about and what they were designed to address in the new American government. Why did they require replacement? Was the process of their replacement controversial? Was it necessary that the Articles were replace? The Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution of the US, it written on November 15, 1777 and formally ratified in 1781. The articles created a platform for a new government without an association between 13 states, this original constitution did not have a central government to oversee the workings of the states as a whole and instead operated on a “firm league of friendship”. The articles were known as a confederation since the system gave...
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...the Articles of Confederation. This form of government was chosen because the people were scared they would experience tyranny like they did with Great Britain if their federal government wasn’t weak. 2. What were the weaknesses of the Article of Confederation? What event exemplified these weaknesses? The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were Congress’s inability to collect taxes and police trade, establish a national currency, and raise a proper army. Other weaknesses would be the existence of a unicameral Congress which required 9/13 votes to pass a law and 13/13...
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...Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, the new nation arranged on the eastern seaboard of North America expected to design some type of administrative framework. The Articles of Confederation speak to the principal established assention made between the 13 American states. There was a requirement for solidarity among the new expresses that were made because of the American Revolution. The relative forces of the individual states and the Continental Congress additionally should have been characterized for the youthful nation. These substances drove Congress to depend John Dickinson with the drafting of a government constitution. This government constitution was known as the Articles of Confederation...
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...The entry I entered represents America's journey after gaining independence from Britain. The image is read from top left to top right, then bottom left to bottom right. The first image represents the effects of the Articles of Confederation. The capitol building is small, and the thirteen clouds surrounding it, representing the states, are giant. These proportions represent where America’s power stood. The overruling power of the states crumpled our government, leaving it in debris, which gave us a chance to rebuild it stronger and better. That is when we built a democracy, the best way to equalize power, and have everyone influence everything. the Articles created a layout for our nation, and pointed out our flaws, but the Constitution was the finalized idea. In only...
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...The failure of the Articles of Confederation resulting in international weakness and domestic economic turmoil made the “Second Founding” necessary. Thus the framers sought to create a powerful national government but also sets limitations such as the separation of powers, federalism and included a Bill of Rights to guard against the possible misuse of that power. Therefore, the Constitution was more of a voice for the federal government as it established and executive which was the “energy” of the national government. Furthermore, it gave the national government the power to tax and regulate interstate commerce. Finally, a supremacy clause was added to Article VI of the Constitution. Therefore, the Constitution vested certain specific powers...
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...legislative branch with no executive or judicial branch. States were afraid that congress could control them so they made sure it had limited power. Articles of Confederation gave most of it’s power to the 13 states. Every action...
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...The Article of Confederation was adopted by the continental congress on November 15, 1777. It was considered the first constitution for the United States and it did not come into effect until March 1, 1789. It was appointed by the second continental congress, which began on the 12 of July in 1776, and the approved version was later sent to the states for ratification in late 1777. For those that signed the document, their delegates agreed to the form of government that is called The Article of Confederation, which means that they agreed to be committed permanently to the union of the states, which is now called the United States. Some of the major issues debated at the convention are slavery and the representation of the congress. The...
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...The Founding Fathers of the United States decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state government when creating the United States Constitution. The Constitution came about because of the lack of power the Articles of Confederation gave to the central government. The Constitution gave the federal government more power to govern over the people, just like the federalist wanted, but the anti federalists wanted the state to keep their power and be separate. The Constitution outlined the specifics of the federal and state powers to make sure that the states are kept in line and that the federal government has the proper power. The Constitution was and still is the best way to govern the United States of America. The Articles of Confederation were the document that was created to help govern the newly formed states that broke away from the British rule. The Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses. It had no...
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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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