Compare And Contrast The Articles Of Confederation And Anti-Federalists

Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist on Taxation Although the Articles of Confederation had its flaws, not everyone agreed with the Constitution. Under the Articles, the federal government had no taxing authority. This posed a major problem. After the War for Independence, the new country had various forms of debt. This ranged from public and private debt. The United States owed money to other countries, especially France and owed money to individuals who loaned money to the government. Debt led to the Shays’ Rebellion. War veterans came home to debt and most of them could not pay it off. Their property then was taken from them. Men went to the county court house and burned records. Government had to step in on these issues and raise money for the

In the Federalist paper no. 30, Hamilton defends the need for direct taxes. Federal government requires money to pay for military expenses such as raising troops. The government also need money to pay off debts and possible future debts. Therefore, having revenue is a vital aspect of a government to run effectively. Without having this revenue, “one of two evils must ensue; either the people must be subjected to continual plunder, as a substitute for a more eligible mode of supplying the public wants, or the government must sink into a fatal atrophy, and, in a short course of time, perish” (“Federalist Paper #30). Hamilton is emphasizing that providing revenue for the government benefits the entire country. Congress could only request funds from the states under the Articles of Confederation. The states often failed to fulfill these requests. Hamilton believed that this made the national government ineffective. He also said that if the United States does not have a reliable way of paying off debts, it will negatively effect the nation’s credit because lenders will no longer trust the government to pay back its loans. With bad credit, the United States will not be able to obtain loans in times of need, such as in times of war. In this case, the government will no longer be able to run effectively. In the Federalist paper no. 34, Hamilton states that no restrictions should be placed on the taxing power of the federal government. There is no way to know what crises will occur in the future, therefore the government must be prepared. In fact, Hamilton states that if restrictions are placed on the taxing powers of the national government, it will be placing the power of individual states over the interests of the union. Since the states have limited needs, Hamilton believes that concurrent powers will not become troublesome. In the Federalist paper no. 36, Hamilton addresses the