“Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers.” ( Federalists No. 2). As a fairly new country we are quick to abolish beliefs and ideals we create; the Articles of confederation has spawned a weak and tenderfoot government. As a lawyer with a beautiful family living in Pennsylvania, the governmental system at this moment is not granted the strength needed to refine, direct, and protect our rights and liberties. The weakness of the Articles of Confederation are showcased through: the lack of power to tax or regulate trade, an army to enforce rules, …show more content…
The Articles stood as an extremely loose set of regulations, that although did not take rights away from the people, granted an individual the power to do anything he pleased. This type of ‘government’ is akin to a parental figure who has hired another person to preside over their children without telling them any rules or regulations the children have to abide by. To the children, the citizens, it is amusing to be able to do anything they please, unfortunately this creates chaos within the house, the country. James Madison refers to preserving the right and liberties of the people in “The Federalist No. 51” when he discusses the fact that the Constitution will make it law for the branches of government to be separate but will be granted the ability to check in on one other to preserve the public rights. It is not exactly known how the constitution will be worded, but with the constant asking of a “Bill of Rights” the framers are likely to succumb to the needs of the public and add the section in the …show more content…
The Constitution will not enable a government strong enough to seize the rights of the respective states and to completely diminish and over-shadow their authority. Under the Articles of Confederation, states became so separate and sovereign to a point where they nearly stood as their own independent countries with governments separate from each other. The Federalists, whom believe in ratifying the Constitution, believe that the Constitution will manifest itself as a unifying power of the states, but at the same time will allow the states to retain a portion of their independence, regarding laws. A key factor in the Constitution will be the idea of Federalism which in simplicity is the sharing of powers between the nation and the states because it would allows for states to make laws in the realms of: regulating state taxes, licenses, and education. As a lawyer, if states would be able to recognize licenses, such as a license regarding one's knowledge of the laws, that individual’s career would not have to be put on halt if they were to travel from state to state. Even though the document would be created to benefit every citizen, states such as the notably rash Rhode
The Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses as well as positives. From the pros side we have Josh DiGiorgio and Jacob Chrispim. From the cons side we have Grayson Jons and Lexi Rosmarin. We will start with the cons.
Under the Article of Confederation each state were able to obtain their own legislation that address to their states citizen’s rights. Contrast to the Constitution, it does not address individual’s rights. Instead, it mainly list legislative powers. The Federalist believed that under these restriction in the Constitution over the government was sufficient enough to protect individual’s rights.
The U.S. Constitution, if adopted, will create a central government with increased power to better manage the country. However, enough freedom will still be given to the states to solve individual problems (American Revolution 2023). Under this new constitution, there will be three branches of government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Representation of the people will be maintained through election. The legislative branch, or Congress, will be able to regulate taxes and trade.
The democratic principles, civil liberties, and separation of the federal and state governments present in the modern-day Constitution can all be traced back to the Articles. The purpose of the Articles in the course of American history, unknown to be at the time, was to serve as a rough draft of sorts to the Constitution, and though it did not succeed in its goal to found a capable government, it was a necessary step in reaching it. It is also worth noting that the Articles were completed during wartime, and the powers that were delegated to the federal government, being the ability to maintain an army and navy, take charge of foreign affairs, and manage Indian affairs, reflect this. The Articles of Confederation was made in haste and out of necessity, and the fact that in addition to this it was also the first attempt at a government made by the colonists and still managed to lay the groundwork for the future of the county stands as testament to the talent of those who wrote
For instance, to quote from James Madison’s letter to George Washington in Document 1, “the national government should be armed with compleat [complete] authority in all cares which require uniformity… right of taxings… terms and forms of naturalizations.” What this means is that we should only let the government do the professional work and so we need to give them more power. If there happened to be some pettifoggers or farmers that somehow made it into the state government, would you really want them designing the process for citizenship or would you want ace lawyers that really know what they’re doing to do it? The federal government should be controlling the tax amounts put on each export and import, because as shown during the time of the Articles of Confederation, when the states did it, everything went horribly wrong as the country couldn’t pay for battle funds or debts. Also, everyone from the states might not agree on fair taxing amounts so they might have different taxes or processes in each state, which is a raw deal for those that have to pay more or go through a lot more to become a citizen.
A convention based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 25, 1787 was called for the purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation. Confident to construct a new government from the ground up. Wouldn’t have been possible without the aid of the fifty-five delegates. The delegates pushed though despite their differences in opinions. Outlining our new government took well over a quarter of the year.
As it applies to the Articles of Confederation there were many weaknesses in the way it went about governing the United States. For one, the loose federation of the states was too weak to act as a foundation to be considered or act as a central government. In addition the state legislatures had too much power and in turn had the ability to influence economic issues of all kinds. This strong legislature is the same one that allowed for mob ruling and actions by debtors. The Articles of confederation were also weak because the required congress to have all 13 colonies in agreement when a new tax was to be passed.
The Constitution will fix America and is critical to our safety. The Articles of Confederation are faulty and a stronger new national government is needed in order to be strong enough to protect the people. At the moment, National Government has no money or authority. Giving government power to tax helps us prosper and gives us more protection. Britain is still keeping forts on our land and Spanish will not let us use the Mississippi River.
With the hopes of unifying the sovereign states under one government that would better protect the rights of its citizens and protect the nation, the Framers of the Constitution met up to revise, but inevitably alter the premises of the Articles of Confederation. After much debating and compromising, the Framers set up the Constitution that gave the national government enumerated powers and reserved powers for the states, with some powers being shared among both spheres of government. Federalism is the separation of powers among the different levels in government (i.e., the national and state governments) along with the restrictions placed on each level of government to avoid tyranny. Some citizens, called the Antifederalists, feared the national
The government didn’t want to create a tyranny, so they thought giving the country their own amount of power would help. Instead people broke laws left and right, and when someone went to court for a crime, each system was different. Meaning that each state had it’s own approach, so you could be charged as guilty in one state, and innocent in the next. This is shown in the drawing Rough Sailing Ahead by McDougal Littel. It depicts waves such as “No national court system,” and “No power to create taxes,” as one of the problems faced under the Articles.
DBQ Essay The United States Constitution is a document that or founding fathers made in order to replace the failing Articles of Confederation (A of C). Under the Constitution, the current government and states don’t have the problems they faced when the A of C was in action. The Constitution was created in 1788, and held an idea that the whole nation was nervous about. This idea was a strong national government, and the Federalist assured the people that this new government would work. The framers of the Constitution decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments because the A of C had many problems, there was a need for the layout of new government, rights, and laws, and there was a need for the Federal
Since the United States was relatively a new nation, it needed some form of organization to hold the states together and keep its government and society stable to build a stronger economy (Knoedl, 2003). The first and foremost inherited weakness of the Articles came from the fact that it replaced sovereign power in the hands of the states. This started after the American Revolution, when the American people feared that the colonists would form a new government that could function similarly to King George III’s monarchy after having dealt with the British Crown for years. Since then these states would start creating their own set of rules and laws and because of some states, creating their own constitutions and each state can rule itself, it gave more power to them than the actual Federal Government.
The Constitution—the foundation of the American government—has been quintessential for the lives of the American people for over 200 years. Without this document America today would not have basic human rights, such as those stated in the Bill of Rights, which includes freedom of speech and religion. To some, the Constitution was an embodiment of the American Revolution, yet others believe that it was a betrayal of the Revolution. I personally believe that the Constitution did betray the Revolution because it did not live up to the ideals of the Revolution, and the views of the Anti-Federalists most closely embodied the “Spirit of ‘76.” During the midst of the American Revolution, authors and politicians of important documents, pamphlets, and slogans spread the basis for Revolutionary ideals and defined what is known as the “Spirit of ‘76”.
The Articles of the Confederation was the first government constitution that the United States used, and, although there were strength like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, there were major weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation like the following: requiring 9 out of the 13 colonial votes from the representatives from different states to pass a law; having no executive and judicial branch; and the federal government being unable to impose tax revenue onto the states. Such flaws would eventually lead to the Constitution and the repeal of the articles, for the Constitution was a measure to fix the problems of the articles with a stronger government that allowed them to impose taxes and and implement new laws for a more effective government.
Somehow, everybody always wonders what power the Federal government and the States should have? This question is one of the biggest problems in our country during that time when Founding Fathers were creating a government for the United States. A lot of conversations today have been revolving around the relationships between the federal government and states. The article of Confederation, 1777 – 1781, was our first constitution that was completed after it declared independence from Great Britain. The articles created a weak national government and left most power in the hands of states.