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Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Articles Of Confederation

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While seeing our neighbors to the west, suffering from incessant oppression and unmitigated tyranny, it is the obligation of this nation to ensure no tyranny can take root. However, at the same time, the government must obtain certain, limited, functions in order to ensure mutual safety, cooperation, and representation. It is evident that the Articles of Confederation lack the necessary tools to impose and regulate such tasks. At this time, it has become clear that it would be advantageous to propose a new set of laws, consistent with the nation’s philosophy, while ensuring the nation’s strength. The first weakness in the Articles of Confederation was the lack of economic leverage. While realizing that the federal government should have limits …show more content…

In order to pass a law, there needs to be consent from nine out of the thirteen states, a threshold that is too high (Confed. art. X). The Constitution recognizes this, yet also recognizes the notion that laws should not change too frequently. As a result, in order to pass a law in the Constitution, a simple majority is required from both houses of the congress, while also receiving a signature from the president (US Const. art. I, sec. 5). Moreover, in order to amend the Articles, it uses unanimous consent from the representatives of the states, a threshold that is unattainable while not allowing the people or the legislatures of the states to have a say in the amendment process (Confed. art. XIII). As a result, the Constitution formulates two methods to amend itself. Firstly, a two-thirds super majority by both the house and the senate, while also getting ratified by three-fourths of the states (US Const. art. V). Secondly, if the federal government were to become tyrannical, the Constitution adds a prevision that the Articles simply do not formulate (US Const. art. V). That is, if two-thirds of the states agree to hold a Constitutional convention, upon ratification from three-fouurths of the states, the Constitutional provisions can be adopted, thus bypassing the federal government completely. Other than the notable exception of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the congress of confederation was not able to pass any comprehensive laws (Northwest Ordinance). As a result, the adoption of the Constitution of the United States is of the upmost

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