Pros And Cons Of The Articles Of Confederation

Under the British unitary system, U.S was a string of colonies. When the revolution implemented, U.S became a confederation under the articles of confederation and when that system verified as abortive, it was transformed into a federal system by the Constitution. This system is preferred for several reasons. The explanations may involve the size of the nation or the miscellany of the partisan divisions. As unitary system in the U.S and the diverse interests of different states made confederation impossible to run over.

Furthermore, we must understand here that the Confederation was created with 13 colonies coming together and forming central government. But it was believed that all of the 13 colonies would get equal representation in the Congress and all these states were also seeking self-government so they could at least take decisions regarding their internal matters. Regardless, both of these things became impossible. While the states were granted some rights, it was declared in the Constitution that the central government would be allowed to interfere in all important matters and its authority would not be questioned. Such articles in the constitution naturally gave immense powers to the central government, which created a rift between the states and the government.

(O’Neil, Fields, & Share 223) This hinders power of majority in passing laws without consulting other differing parties in regards to the same policies. “The Bundesrat has traditionally served as an important check on the federal government because it has very often been controlled by opposition.” (O’Neil, Fields, & Share

However this idea was eventually scrapped and they wrote a whole new constitution. This constitution would protect America from tyranny, so they could keep a civilized and united country. The Constitution that was made helped defend America from almost all types of tyranny and is still helping us hundreds of years later. One way the Constitution prevented tyranny is by supporting Federalism.

Hamilton vs. Jefferson Visions to Reality     Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton both had very defined visions of the scope and power of the new federal government, how they saw the future of the economic development, and what the United States society should become. In my opinion Alexander Hamilton had more of an impact on the United States during the 1820’s and on contemporary government when compared to Thomas Jefferson. His policies did not strictly work during that time and many of his ideas are still seen in today’s society. Jefferson’s views and ideas on/of the national bank, higher tariffs, debt assumption, The Federalist Party, and his support of the ratification of the Constitution are all reasons in why his policies and visions came closer to becoming a reality.     Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, molded the gatherings that provoked to the twofold party system under which the U.S. works today.

They issued a report that argued that Congress needed financial autonomy and also that Congress needed to be able to put laws in place that would override those of individual states. Virginia 's rescission of its ratification ended the Rhode Island negotiations. Hamilton was frustrated at the failure of the establishment of a national funding system and at the weakness of the central government and so he drafted a call to revise the Articles of Confederation, which contained many features of the future US Constitution. These features included a strong federal government that

Tyranny is cruel and dehumanizing to those who are being oppressed. Tyranny can be defined as an unrestrained exercise of power, which leads to an abuse of authority. The United States has always been characterized for having freedom as their main theme in order for their citizens to be able to achieve any dream they might want to pursuit. In 1987, delegates met up to make changed to the Articles of Confederation because they needed a stronger government that could prevent getting one person or group from attaining too much power. They achieved this by forming a new structure consisting of federalism, separation of power, checks and balances, and equality between big and small states.

Alexis de Tocqueville penned Democracy in America after he spent month America in the 1831, where he witnessed a new democratic system. He found it’s concepts to have unique strengths and weaknesses that he believed could be the inspiration for the new government of post-revolution France. The concepts of limiting individualism, encouraging positive associations, and moderating the tyranny of the majority that Tocqueville observed during his trip in America helped build as well as maintain the new democratic republic built after the revolution. As soon as America became from British rule, their groundwork for their new government that was accessible to it’s citizens helped cement them as a true democracy since it contended with individualism.

Edwards and Wattenberg define Federalism as, “a way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government share formal authority over the same area and people. (Edwards and Wattenburg,70)” When the United States first started to form a central government their objective was to never allow for a dominating power to take over the country again. To do so they created a division of power and made it possible for states and more so the “people” the right to have more of an impact on government. Or so were their intended thoughts when creating the constitution and the branches. In doing so their focus constrained national government but left a loose string as to what the states and their constitutions could do.

The first constitution of the unites states that was ever written was called the Articles of Confederation drafted by congress on 1777. The Articles of Confederation were created to balance the need for national coordination of the war of independence. The articles made sure that each state no matter how big or populated it was only casted one vote to make it fair for everyone. The only power the articles gave the government was regarding its independence, this included declaring war, conducting foreign affairs, as well as making treaties with other governments. The main advantage of the Articles of Confederation was that it aided to maintain the independence and sovereignty of each state.

The constitution was able to address the problems with the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution created a Federalist government with a strong central government at the national level and weaker governments at state and local levels. It gave the national government the power to tax, draft troops, control interstate commerce, etc. Also because of the failure of the Articles of Confederation the Bill of Rights was established. With the Bill of rights in place and all the news laws into order the constitution was able to repair the failure that the Articles of Confederation

After the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the thirteen Colonies finally gained its freedom from Great Britain, Even though the thirteen States were independent they did not know what would be the specific prohibition on the government power. The Continental Congress adopted the Article of Confederation in which listed specific function to the National government. The Articles of confederation was a total disaster, because the Federal government was too weak to enforce any of the its laws. The thirteen States now decided that they needed a stronger central government and created the U.S Constitution, It was signed on September 17, 1787. The Constitution created a national government, laws, and guaranteed certain rights for its citizens.

The delegates wrote this Constitution with tyranny in mind; how could the Constitution guard against one person or group from gaining too much power? The Constitution protects against tyranny because the 55 delegates established: federalism, separation of powers, checks & balances, and equal representation. Federalism helps guard against tyranny by making sure not one government has too much power. In Document A, it is clearly stated that James Madison, a main contributor to the Constitution, wanted “[a] compound republic of America” to provide a “double security” for our rights. As both central and state governments in the compound republic have different functions, this helps keep our states in a union while letting the states stay independent.

The Articles of Confederation is made up of a preamble and then it has 13 articles to follow. This was created by the 13 colonies and they created it to set up a central and strong government (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 1p. 1). The United States Constitution was needed because during this time period none had a set of rules that said what they could and couldn’t do. They didn't have a simple set of laws. Since they didn't have any rules the country was complete chaos.

In 1776, the United States was in the midst of a revolution. They fought to free themselves from Britain’s tight control. The war was disorganized because the United States had no national government to manage it. Thus, in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted.