Amendment !V Section 2 Essay

The Constitution of the United States consists of seven original articles, twenty-seven

amendments, and a paragraph certifying its enactment by the constitutional convention. A weak

central government was formed by the thirteen states under the Articles of Confederation after

the Revolutionary War. The government lacked any power to impose taxes and had no method

of enforcing   payment. The government was also unable to control commerce between the

states, which lead to a series of conflicting tax laws and tariffs between the states. Article four

section two of the Constitution deals with the obligation of the states.

The Articles of Confederation also required unanimous consent from all the states before

any changes could take effect. States took it so lightly that their representatives were often

absent, and the national legislature was very frequently blocked from doing anything (Beard

91).
As a result of these problems, a convention was called due to a border dispute between

Virginia and Maryland, to look into the possibility of amending the articles and strengthening

the federal government. The original Constitution included only amendments to the articles, but

the committee ignored its limitations. The convention met in Philadelphia, during the summer

of 1787, and decided to draft a new fundamental government design, which eventually

predetermined that only nine of the thirteen states would have to sign for the new government

to go into effect (Beard 91). The paralysis of the Articles of Confederation government was

evident and it agreed to submit the proposal to the states despite the exceeded terms of

reference. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was completed in Philadelphia, and the

new government that was prescribed came into existence on March 4, 1789, after many

arguments over ratification in many of the states (92).

The United States Constitution consisted of seven...