Confederation and Constitution period ( 1783-1789) Introduction After American Revolution the states were in the situation where they couldn’t pay off the war debts, or negotiate and regulate commerce with foreign nations. In fact the relationship between the states were shaken as they had to compete for trade opportunities which was taken advantage of by Britain- still the world’s strongest trading nation. State governments tended to be dominated by their legislatures and thus provided little effective check on violent and dominant factions. The need for a strong national government became obvious. Once the British system of government was rejected, the states, operating under the “Articles of Confederation,” saw
THESIS : Because of its lack of stability , good decision making , and inflexibility of an amendment regarding the states during the years 1781-1789 , the Articles of Confederation , did a poor job in insuring the security of the United States' economy The Articles of Confederation did a poor job in insuring the security of the United States economy. In a letter from the Rhode Island assembly to the members of Congress , they expressed their disagreement regarding the recommendation for taxes on imported goods , which could ulitimatley damage their economy, With the Articles , Congress had no power to regulate commerce , which left states free to establish conflictiong laws regarding tariffs and navigation. Another crippling handicap to Congress was the fact that they also could not enforce its tax-collection program. Despite their attempts for asking the states to contribute theri share , Congress failed to ever meet its quota. During the time period of the Articles of Confederation , Congress lacked much power and was never capable of contributing the money to get the United States out of their war debt.
The articles of confederation was the first written form of this nations government though it had its usefulness in the area of the western migration it was weak in the areas of the economy and foreign relations it also left the country open to invasion because the articles did not have any form of national military and a very weak central government. In 1777 the Articles of Confederation were ratified and this new nation now had a form of government. Overall the articles of confederation were very weak the economy was in shambles and they had very little success in foreign relations. The economy had very little success because the United States government could not tax its people therefore the government itself had no income which made it possible for the British to maintain trade outposts in the Northwest territory. The British could stay there because the United States didn't have an army because the government didn't have any money.
The challenge was to create a strong central government without letting any one person, or group of people, get too much power. How did the Constitution Guard against Tyranny? “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, May. 1787). The Articles of Confederation wasn’t working for the fifty-five individuals at the Constitutional Convention on May of 1787 in Philadelphia.
* Lost terriorty in Poland & Western Russia – PG were blamed for losses just like the Tsar was when took charge. * War made finical problems – Inflation still a problem and food shortages were high. * Russia expected these things to be stored out – PG short-lived because they were full of empty promises. Promised land reform to the peasants ( made up a large amount of the population , Bolshevik priority was to keep them on their side) no action was taken * Couldn’t guarantee food supplies as because soviet controlled the railways. * Political reform also promised political reform in an attempt to stop the revolutionaries but no action was taken.
The Articles of Confederation was the first government established to run the United States. However, it failed to do so in a number of areas. Under The Articles of Confederation, each state had its own currency. This caused problems because each time someone crossed over into another state, they had to change their currency. This made it difficult to conduct business from state to state.
The Electoral College system is faulty and needs to be removed from the presidential voting system. “When they [the founding fathers] met in 1787 in Philadelphia, they were uncertain about how to pick a president. At the end of the summer, they arrived at a compromise – something of the best of the worst options; The Electoral College” (Watson n.p.). The founding fathers picked the Electoral College not because they liked the idea of it but because they could not think of a better option. The Electoral College system used for picking the President was not chosen as a primary topic in the constitution, as for instance the right to freedom of speech was, instead it was used for lack of a better solution.
But they knew that they couldn’t rely on that army so the emperors raised all of the taxes because hiring the army was expensive. The military have gotten treats from northern european tribes. The military also got low funds for defense. The military got problems recruting roman citzens and recruting of non-romans. The military was declined of patriotism and loyalty among soldiers.
Kelley Hogan History 201 US September 20, 2011 Importance of the new Constitution on Early America America, at the beginning, needed to establish a strong central government; therefore they wrote the first Constitution, called the Articles of Confederation. But as in many first tries it was unsuccessful in establishing a strong government, as division caused many faults in the political and social spectrum. Many faults and strengths of the Articles of Confederation played into the role of the new Constitution. The importance of this first Constitution in relating to the new Constitution is realizing the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the strengths of the New Constitution and the Federalists versus Anti-Federalists debate. The first factor to play into the new Constitution was the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
Why did the Frankfurt Parliament fail to achieve greater German unity? The Frankfurt Parliament was harshly criticized particularly by Marxists who mostly wanted to emphasize internal weaknesses. Engels even called it ‘an assembly of old women’ because all they did was discuss and waste time. However, modern historians place the blame more on external factors such as the role of Austria and Prussia. Firstly there was lack of mass support since the Frankfurt Parliament was mostly made out of middle class people, with only one peasant and no workers.