Articles of Confederation essay sample

Articles of Confederation essay sample Positive and negative things in the Articles of Confederation The first constitution of USA was the document that included 13 articles; it started to work since 1777. During that time, American people were afraid of strong governments and they needed an organization to hold states together and create a strong economy. The document proclaimed that a confederation need to be called as the United States of America but it didnt define it as “government” or “state”. It also set the equality of separated states, and that each state should have their own administration such as authority, power, freedom, sovereignty, etc. The document also defined peoples rights and says that all proclaimed rules are everlasting and only Congress has a right for changing them. Even before the end of Revolution, it was clear that the Articles have weak sides. For example, the largest part of power was in the state governments, and assembly had not enough power to charge taxes. Congress tried to solve this problem and asked states for approving the adjustment that would help. All states except of Rhode Island accepted the application, so it was defeated. The Congress couldnt collect taxes, so it had to solve the problem in other way, making some cash from selling western land. The need for approve any adjustment by all 13 states was another weakness in the document, even if it proclaimed only at least 9 states should vote for other legislation. Sometimes delegates from several states were not present, so important proposals and adjustments could be defeated. Other non-conformance of this document is Congress had lack of power to enforce laws. Apart from this, interstate or foreign business couldnt be standardized. In addition, states didnt have a single and steady currency, so trade with other countries was limited. Each state has their own money that were not accepted by others. States didnt have their own constant and good army in a case of fighting It was clear that the Articles were not strong enough to make a good financial system, provide legislation, make trade or proclaim war to other countries, if needed. Despite on defects, there were positive and strong things in the Articles. This document held all states together till the Constitution appearance. It brought the sense of national harmony because all states were proclaimed equal. It also encouraged cooperation between all states. The Northwest decree was a significant moment because it ensured that the US will grow and become a great country of huge size and power. Needless to say that the Articles has much weaker things than strong, just because states have got a big power when Congress had lack of it. With a brittle administration, all states couldnt work great as a single government. Articles of Confederation Essay Sample Each person, living in the USA should know the historical events of this country. The period when Articles of Confederation became law is preeminent to each American. Still, these days many historians used to discern about the aspect of Article of Confederation vs. Constitution. These two significant periods in the history of the US nation are frequently compared. The overarching goal of this essay is to compare both laws of one of the most dynamic and affluent countries on our planet. Articles of Confederation Definition In sober fact, this legislation was just the forerunner of the new and more powerful law â€" Constitution. It is the first constitution of the USA, but it wasn’t ideal, and we can’t conclude that it was successful and gave only benefits to the country. Nevertheless, it was a definite experience for the helm of state thanks to which they understood all mistakes they made. The approved version of this document was sent to ratification in 1777. Still, people started living, adhering to the rules of this law only in 1781. The prime objective of this document was to keep the sovereignty of the states of the country. Following this law, all 13 states were almost independent; they had the upper hand to make their own decisions. The primary authority was insufficient. Even before the moment it was ratified, the society used this document with an eye to run their businesses, collaborate with different foreign nations, deal with various local issues and even direct the American Revolutionary War. Gradually, the central authority became ineffective because of the limitations of the primary document of the country. Constitution of the USA: Several Historical Facts The Philadelphia Convention is regarded to be a nativity of the Constitution of the USA. The year 1787 is well familiar to each American. After the authority had acknowledged that the Articles of Confederations were ineffective for the country, they rendered a decision to enhance it. In 1789 the Constitution fully replaced the previous document and came into action. Still, these two documents are different, and our primary aim is to have a try to compare both of them. Constitution vs. Articles of Confederation Let’s analyze both documents according to each article: Following the Articles of Confederation, all states in the country are sovereign. In the new law, the sovereignty is subdivided between all states of the country. Thanks to this article, the central government acquired more power. Analyzing the independent executive, the first document had no of them. The Constitution gave an opportunity for an electoral college to adopt the independent executive. Articles of Constitution had no federal courts at all. It wasn’t allowed, all laws were created by the only body â€" state courts. Following the articles of the first document, the Congress had no taxing power. In the enhanced document the government corrected this mistake by adding the authority to gather different types of taxes. Articles of Constitution didn’t allow the Congress to have an effect on the foreign business. Having created the new law, they also corrected this mistake by giving Congress the possibility to control commerce. In the first document, which acted for several years, Congress was made up of only one body. Nevertheless, they changed this juncture by adding one more body to Congress. Every state had two Senators. To approve the legislation, the approval from all states was required. Writing the Constitution, they changed this rule, and now the approval of ¾ of states is required. Living, following to the standards of the Articles of Confederation, Congress was constrained in power. In the second (more enhanced) law, the situation has drastically changed. Such authority was wider. The only state government had the required arm of governance in the first document. Enacting the Constitution, they managed to change this rule by adding more power to state and central governments. We see that both documents are absolutely different. Still, each of them had a sway over the course of the history of this country. The first one is just a solid example of those things which a prosperous country shouldn’t do.