The Framers of the Constitution had doubts about government operations and how governments worked. They were inclined to think the governments (kings) take away power from the people. However, they understood that some type of system was necessary for a nation to function. The Framers needed to make sure the government did not have complete control of the people. Creating Federalism in the United States allowed the government to set rules and standards for citizens while keeping checks and balances on their own powers. The Framers wanted essentially, for the people to govern themselves by choosing the politicians that were in place to govern them. As well as having the option to decide if an elected official is not doing their job properly or governing the country properly.
The writers of the U.S. Constitution were determined not to let a person get complete control over the new American Government. When a person gets complete control over the government it is called tyranny. If the central government had all of the power, the states would have no individual rights. In the city of Philadelphia, in 1787, some changes needed to be made in the American government. In order for the U.S. Constitution to stay away from tyranny, there were numerous amounts of obligations that needed to be met. Some of the obligations that needed to be discussed were federalism, the division of powers, checks and balances, and the power of small and large states.
The Articles of Confederation set up a unicameral government that only consisted of a legislative branch, with each state having a single vote. There was not an executive branch, nor a judicial branch.The Articles of Confederation gave too much power to the states. For example, the states could coin money, but couldn't collect taxes. Congress was very limited in its power, they could declare war, conduct foreign affairs and make treaties The Constitution aided the issues brought forth by the Articles of Confederation by creating three branches of government (separation of power), which each have a limited amount of power thanks to the checks and balances
In 1777 congress adopted the Articles Of Confederation which failed to give the United States an effective government so most the power went to the Federal government. The Articles of Confederation had many problems that would loss of power in the government. The Federal government wanted power in the national government and felt the Constitution would help manage the debt. The Anti-Federalist wanted power in the states and wanted limited federal power. Congress had done things that benefited the United States while the second continental congress created a government that lacked power which cause problems.
The first government of the United States was outlined in the Articles of Confederation written in 1871. Under this system, the states operated as sovereign nations. The weak national government, which consisted of nothing more than a unicameral legislature, did not have the authority to tax the states, settle interstate disputes or effectively support a military. Following the Revolutionary War, the inadequacies of the national government became apparent. This led to the drafting of the Constitution in 1787. The constitution addressed the issues that the articles of confederation failed to do such as federalism, checks and balances, and the Elastic Clause.
The Articles of Confederation were put into effect to form some semblance of a central government, to keep peace between the states and to keep individual states from conducting foreign diplomacy on their own. Unfortunately the articles were flawed and gave the existing government little to no power. Federalism was the number one weakness of the Articles of Confederation. Without a separation of powers this type of government was bound to fail.
The Articles of Confederation directly influence the Constitution by its failure by changing some of the responsibilities of the federal and state governments. The Articles of Confederation gave too much power to the states, and the Constitution changed that. The Constitution united the states in a more structured and governed body, while allowing the states to have some individually, and protected all rights of people specified in the Bill of Rights. The main fear in the constitution was that the central governing power in federal government would create a tyrant, something the colonists feared from their experience as being part of the British empire. Because of this, the founding fathers divided all the powers in the federal government into branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is in check with the others, and makes it extremely hard for the country to fall into
The United States Constitution was created to define the powers and limitations of the government. It replaced the Articles of the Confederation, and was ratified by all 13 states in 1787 (American Government, n.d.). The ratification of the Constitution was not without opposition, and the government was split into two groups: federalists, and anti-federalists. The federalist group believed that a national governing body, ruled by the elite class was necessary. Antifederalists, on the other hand, believed that state governments should have more say, and that the government should be run by ordinary people (American Government, n.d.).
After the Unites States declared Independence from Great Britain in 1776, they greatly feared a strong national government that would be like a monarchy like the one Great Britain had. To prevent this tyrannical government from happening in the U.S., a convention of delegates from all thirteen states were brought together to create the U.S.’s first written constitution: the Articles of Confederation. This convention was called the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation focused on having a federal government, or a loose alliance of the states. The Articles of Confederation had a very weak central government so the rights of the people would be secure. The Articles of Confederation was ratified by
Federalism is the different types of principle that the government enforce law to ensure the safety for citizen and non citizens. Paragraph 2 of the Constitution is commonly referred to as the Supremacy Clause. It establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally the supremacy clause can also overtake the state laws and even state constitutions. The founding fathers decide to use federalism as a way to control the people and their actions, they believed that governmental power inevitably poses as a threat to individual citizens for life and liberty because some states may abuse their power so the government decide to make laws to prevent states from taking too much power. only the federal government can intervene with
Through the weaknesses of the government and the constitutional compromises, the Constitution was later established. The US Constitution was seen differently between two political parties. These two political parties were the Federalist and Anti-federalist. How much power the government had wasn't the same for these two groups. A Federalist was a group of people who supported the Constitution and the Anti-federalist was a group of people who opposed the ratification of the
The federal government does not have full, complete power of the government, due to the fact the federal government has to power to tax, regulate commerce, and put laws into place if and only if laws are so called “necessary and proper.” Another thing was for each branch of government to have their own separation of powers and check and balance other branches of government. Either though, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists did not agree on ideas, the Constitution is a document of the general compromise between the two political parties. The weakness of the Articles of the Confederation was resolved through the compromise of the Federalists and Anti-federalists political
The reason that the Articles of Confederation established such a weak government was because the colonists were afraid that a strong central government would become tyrannical and oppressive like the British were towards the colonists. However, instead of leading to the downfall of America, the deficiencies that were evident in the Articles of Confederation furthered the definition of the principles of America because the insufficient government of that time voiced a need for a stronger government. To answer this need, the colonists passed the Constitution of the United States. The founding fathers ratified the Constitution in 1787, and it established a much stronger government than the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution founded the laws that would govern America for centuries; it was a crucial factor in the development of the identity of America. The Constitution gave Americans the freedom and rights that have become the hallmark of the country. It organized the foundations of America that would eventually evolve to become one of the most powerful and influential nations in the
When the delegates met in 1787 they aimed to fix the national government. The previous governmental charter, the Articles of Confederation, failed because it was just too weak and wasn’t getting the job done. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was no court system, no chief executive, and there was no particular way for the central government to force states to pay their taxes. By creating the Constitution, it would build a stronger central government and would be able to hold the nation together. The Constitution protected the people from tyranny by federalism, checks and balances, and equal power between the Senate and House of Representatives.
The articles of Confederation were drafted with an aim to succeed, but there were some allocations that were not considered. The first concern that was not considered was how powerful the federal government was supposed to be. The founding fathers knew that confederation was going to make the United States a unit, which means that decisions such as international relations, was to be controlled centrally. The congress and the executive were not given sufficient powers to engage military action. The congress had to borrow military empowerment from the states. With the international relations, and with the size of Union that the founding fathers hoped for, they could have given military power to the national government, which could have eliminated