1. The states were required to make new instruments of government when the colonies began to separate from Britain. What were two questions that the states found that they had to answer? -“What did it mean to replace royal authority with institutions based on popular rule?” -“…who were ‘the people’?” 2. What features did the new states incorporate that reflected their colonial experience? -State constitutions formed governments that were similar to colonial governments, with the only exception being that the state constitutions had elected governors and senates. 3. Explains important details in the state constitutions written in Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Massachusetts. Why did state legislatures gain power? Why did …show more content…
The people wanted more control of the decisions in their government. Also the governors lost power because some saw him as a small king that ruled them. -The Pennsylvania constitution let men who paid taxes vote and run for political offices. Also the people were capable to govern themselves through a small united body of government. The South Carolina constitution said in order for white men to vote, they must own a supplement of land, and in order to run for political offices they must own more land. The Massachusetts constitution created a republican government and let elected officials make the decisions for the state. 4. What powers were given to the central government under the Articles of Confederation? What powers were denied the central government under this document? - The central government controlled diplomacy, creating money, resolving issues among the states and organizing an army. -The central government could not raise taxes in order to make more money, but it could ask for money from the states. The states did not have an obligation to give it to them. 5. Why was this document the most practical solution for the new …show more content…
The Articles put limitations on the continental congress, such as requesting not forcing states to supply the congress with resources. It also gave more power to the people by making votes unanimous, as in nine states would have to approve of a decision. The articles set a foundation for the new constitution to be set in place. 9. What Was the Newburgh Conspiracy? -The Newburgh Conspiracy involved a group of soldiers worried that they weren’t going to get their pay from the war, so a group supposedly met without authorization. Washington then confronted the group and told them that if they decided to rebel, it would cause great civil unrest and make the young states take a step back from achieving freedom. 10. Explain the land policy created by the new government. -The Land Ordinance of 1785 sold land that used to belong to the Indians, but was now the states. They divided the land into thirty-six sections and sold the 640 acres of land, one acre was no less than one dollar. This ordinance put money back into the hands of the congress, but some money went to schools in the new townships that were
In the early years, after winning independence from Great Britain, the American colonies set up their government in accordance with their first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. This means that the majority of the power laid in the hands of the states and Congress, “the only institution of national authority” (Brinkley 151) at that time, had very little power. This distribution of authority was the manifestation of the American’s fear of a strong, central government. However, as time passed, more and more people came to agree that the national government was too weak and needed to be strengthened.
In the United States, each of the fifty states has its own state constitution, which includes the basic provisions as the United States Constitution; however, state constitution is relatively more detailed than the national constitution. The purpose of this essay is to analyze and compare the similarities and differences of the state constitution of Missouri and the United States Constitution, emphasizing in three branches of government: legislative branches, executive branches, and judicial branches. First of all, both the state constitution of Missouri and the United States Constitution divide government into three branches in accordance with the concept of separation of powers. However, the compositions of the three branches are different
They could operate voting rights, taxes, money, defense, etc. Each state was governed by its own written constitutions that were relatively similar, but were still unique. They generally limited the power
The Articles of Confederation provided the United States with a predominantly ineffective government that could not deal with problems at home and abroad. The country was unable to regulate commerce and effectively deal with foreign nations from 1781 to 1789. Although there were some advantages to the first constitution, the issues caused by the document greatly outweighed the benefits. The Articles of Confederation limited America’s ability to deal problems within its own borders and with foreign nations.
Question 1: Based on what is know of the colonies and their self-government, why would written constitutions and representative government appeal to state citizens and the Founding Fathers? The written constitution appealed to the founding fathers because they understood for the new nation to be successful the nation would essentially need a set of rules. As for why representative government appealed to the people is because of past experiences. The colonies has no representation in parliament and this would also be one of the reasons the colonies would want to break away from England.
The framers of the United States constitution decided to give more power to the federal government than the state government, the framers did this because they didn’t want to create a government with tyranny in it, they also did this to create new ideas for the states. The framers did this because they simply didn’t want the government to have complete control over the people, instead the framers wanted to have the people to have a government just not a complete power one. The framers wanted the people to be able to choose what kind of government they had, what kind of leader they had, they wanted to the people to have a choice. Some problems that the articles of confederation had is that that the articles limited the government significantly.
Article of confederation essay The Articles of confederation and permanent union among the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, virginia, North Carolina, south Carolina, and Georgia. In this essay I will be explaining three problems that arose because of the Article of Confederation. The first problem isthat the Articles of Confederation had no president or ruler to run their government. As a result of nothaving a president or ruler, the under the Articles of Confederation suffered from alackof leadership because there was no president or single ruler.
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
With the revolution won, the colonist’s drafted the first known constitution as the Articles of Confederation. Favoring power to the separate states instead of a national government, the influence of King George III permanently ridded the conscience of the colonists from one body, or group, having excessive power over the nation. In all, the power came from the People. Regardless of the colonist’s success, however, led to more dire situations in their growth.
Under the Articles of Confederation, there was no Executive Branch of government, no power of taxation, no right for the central government to regulate trade, no way of enforcing any of the laws that it passed and no right to declare war (Congress 1). All thirteen states had to ratify unanimously any legislation for it pass (Blum 118). These restrictions severely limited the national government and made it very weak. “The impotence of Congress made the United States a beggar in the eyes of the world” (Blum 119). It order to rectify the problems created by the Articles of Confederation, a convention was called to rewrite the Articles, but, when the founding fathers gathered in May of Stemple 2 1787, they decided instead to write a new outline for the government of the new nation.
There are many Constitutions in the U.S., all the state constitutions and the U.S. Constitution. I will be writing about both the Maryland and U.S. Constitution, which have many differences and similarities. This essay is about the three similarities and differences of the Maryland and U.S. Constitution that I found. The three differences and similarities are the state constitution is reserved for state government, whereas the U.S. Constitution is reserved for the national government, “They both embody the principles of representative democratic government”, and they are different in length and structure.
The Articles of Confederation were a document seen as the “first” constitution of the United States. This document granted the new national government power to control the military, declare war, and create treaties between the states. However, the Articles had holes in it considering the government did not have the power to tax, create laws without at least nine states’ approval, or change the Articles of Confederation without a unanimous vote. This means that the country soon fell into debt and petty arguments between state, the new government had no control. It was time for a change.
They hoped to create a better government. The Constitution replaced the Article of Confederation permanently in March 4, 1789. The Constitution created checks and balances between the three branches. It also, established the Bill of Rights, and the first ten amendments of the constitution. The Constitution had to be ratified by at least nine states out of thirteen.
By writing a new constitution, the farmers were able to address the problems which the nation faced under the Articles of Confederation. The most important issues were addressed by the establishment of a stronger national government that was selected by the citizens. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, were each state maintain its own sovereign rule, each state was represented equally in Congress through the representatives elected by its citizen. Therefore, power was no longer placed in a single institution such as the states or one overall governing body, but rather in the hands of the people. This government had the power to tax, regulate trade and commerce, and coin a national currency with a majority vote versus a unanimous vote.
In one hand, the Articles of Confederation had a weak central government, differing form the strong central government in the Constitution. The Constitution’s government had a structure of three different branches; the legislative, executive, and judicial branch; unlike the Articles of Confederation that had no structure whatsoever. The Articles of Confederation had many problems like, the poor international trade, poor foreign relations and a weak economy in contrast to the Constitution that only had one problem, the struggle over the ratification. the Articles of Confederation achieved the Northwest Ordinance and the Northwest Territory and according to a history website, the Constitution achieved that we had a system of checks and balances, that we had a bill of rights, and, eventually, the survival of a bloody civil war intact. Lastly, the Constitution had three compromises: the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Slave Trade compromise.