The validity of the Articles of Confederation Tom Masters 11/5/11 DBQ From 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation was set up as a weak federal government, that gave power to the states, but had its weaknesses. Among its many weaknesses was the single branch government, and the inability of Congress to tax the states. The Articles did solve the land boundaries in north west by creating the ordinances. During the 1780's, the United States witnessed several individual states trying to expand their borders. According to a map of western lands ceded by the states, each state claimed new lands on their own.
Compare the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation to those of the Constitution. Which document did a better job at protecting liberties? Which document did a better job at running a government? Explain your answer with specific examples The Articles of Confederation was drafted in 1777, but was not ratified by all the states until March 1st, 1781. At the time, the states feared a strong central government, for this reason, the Continental Congress tried to give the states as much independence as possible.
I believe the Constitution did a better job of protecting liberties, specifically in the areas of the federal court system, representation of the people, and the levy of taxes. Alexander Hamilton, statesman and economist, proclaimed "Laws are a dead letter without courts to expound and define their true meaning and operation”. The Articles of Confederation which gave rise to the Confederation government that took effect in March 1781, did not give the national government any means to enforce the federal laws. The states could, and often did, choose to interpret or enforce federal laws in any manner they saw fit. This led to disputes amongst the states that could not be readily settled, as it relied on each state’s court system which invariably chose to discount the ruling of the other states.
From 1789 to the Civil War period the Supreme Court sought to legitimize a number of Constitutional, legal, and political principals that they asserted were essential in the development of the Republic. The framers of the Constitution left many doubts in the meaning and the nature of the Supreme Courts authority. The Court needed to establish and practice the doctrine of Judicial Independence; establish the power of the judiciary and defend the Union. The Court needed to establish that judicial review was solely the Supreme courts power. The Supreme Court recognized that Judicial Review must also be cultivated into Judicial Sovereignty; the idea that a law may be held unconstitutional and binding on the other branches.
The nation was quite poor from the Revolution and had loans from the French that it was unable to pay back. This was because the Confederation did not have the power to tax, the states were supposed to donate money to the government and as a result, when other states realized that some were not donating money, they refused to as well. Despite the lack of taxing for the nation, the states placed taxes on goods being traded in or through their territory from other states. However, trade was complicated by the fact that there was no national currency. A Virginia dollar could be worth more than a South Carolina dollar, or worth less than a New England gold coin.
Anti-Federalist felt that the Constitution gave more power to central government and less to the states. They also argued that the constitution would become too weak because the central government wouldn’t be able to run all states as a result of being too distant and removed from interest of common citizens and farmers. They feared that the Federalists' new government would be too similar to the harsh regimes of Europe which held great power and thus repressed the people. Anti-Feds were extremely scared of a strong central government and the fact that under the new Constitution, the federal government was more powerful than individual states. Another argument was that the states could not print money
The national government was weak and disconnected, and the federal powers were greatly lacking. After the drafting of the Articles of Confederation, the system controlling domestic affairs was heavily flawed. The federal government was given little power while the states were almost autonomous, creating the root of all problems for the struggling central authority. As a result of the decentralized government, Congress had no authority to impose taxes or regulate domestic and foreign affairs. There was no national court system to settle interstate disputes, forcing settlements to occur in the courts of one of the states involved.
Disagreement to the ratification of the Constitution was partly based on the Constitution's need of satisfactory guarantees for civil liberties. To give such guarantees, the First Amendment was submitted to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789 and adopted on December 15, 1791. Without the First Amendment, religious minorities could be persecuted, the government might well establish a national religion, protesters could be silenced, the press could not criticize
How about the U.S constitution, what factors were held to point out? What went on with the Articles of Confederation? Both classes had disagreements with the Articles of Confederation. Federalists say that the articles were weak and ineffective because the state governments was too weak to apply laws and ordered for a national government instead. We Anti-federalists however believed that the Articles of Confederation was a good plan and that there should not be a government more powerful than the state governments.
The solution was the United States Constitution. In fear of power, dictatorship, and political chaos the framers of the United States created the U.S Constitution on September 17th 1787. The Constitution is divided into three parts, the preamble, the articles, and the Amendments. The Preamble is the first part of the Constitution, which is considered the introduction of the Constitution that gives you the why of this important document. The preamble gives the patriotic foundation of the union stating the famous quote “We the people of the Unites States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”.