Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Articles Of Confederation

With a revolution starting, the thirteen colonies needed to implement a new government to replace, and improve upon the British one that the colonies were fighting against. The Founding Fathers’ first attempt at such a government was drafted and defined in the Articles of Confederation. This draft was put in front of the Second Continental Congress in 1777. It was completely ratified and adopted by March 1, 1781. While battles large and small enveloped the fledling country, it was written quickly, and in the grand scheme of things was also adopted and implemented rather quickly.

The problem was that the existing government, under the Articles of Confederation wasn't doing the job. It was too weak. There overall goal was to create a strong-central government without letting anyone gaining much power. Federalism Federalism is a compound republic, meaning it is made up of two governments. It is between two distinct governments which are subdivided into separate departments.

Adopted by Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, The Articles of Confederation served as the United States Constitution and was in effect from March 1, 1781 to 1789 when the current Constitution took effect. The Articles of Confederation was a written document that entailed the position and function of the national government after the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that mostly prevented individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy. Until its ratification in 1789, it served as the first constitution of the United States. The Articles had more weaknesses than strengths.

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

First, there were a lot of problems with the Articles of Confederation. The Articles were not at all powerful and were not good for America. The US didn’t have a lot of money and they barely had any power. Under the Articles, the state possessed more power than the federal government.

When the founders developed and drafted the U.S. Constitution, much contemplation and reflection was put into it. In Benjamin Franklin’s Address of Prayer he explains how different forms of government had been examined to create the best government possible. “We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those Republics” (Palmer, 68). The Articles of Confederation were drafted during the Revolution in a time of crisis to unite the States, but it had many faults and was not strong enough to maintain the nation’s unity. Drafters of the Constitution saw many problems with the Articles of Confederation.

The anti-federalists idea of giving guaranteed rights to the people would benefit our country. The federalists disagreed on this and believed the constitution had the best interest for the American people. The reason the anti-federalists didn't want just the constitution was because, “The constitution established limited government of enumerated and delegated powers. Many of those delegation of powers, they insisted, were extremely broad and vague” (II.1). The constitution had vaguely elaborated the power and rights for the American people.

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 Anti-Federalist argued against the idea of a powerful national government, which would limit the powers of the state. One other key argument made by the Anti-Federalist emphasized the need for a bill of rights. Anti-Federalist feared that with the lack of a bill of rights, the Constitution would not

When the Articles of Confederation failed to organize the citizens and the economy of America its citizens decided to advocate for a different form of government, that arose in the creation of the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. As a new form of government was presented the fear that the American Revolution had brought upon the colonies lead to the creation of two different political groups the Federalist and Anti- federalist that stood for those who feared the government and those who believed that the government should be stronger. Based on the Federalist papers I believe that the Anti- federalist had a better argument as they pushed for the protection of individual rights and the limitation of the power of the government. Federalist

The Anti-Federalist’s view of government about having a federal government where the states have more power rather than to have a central government was justified. The Anti-federalists wanted to ensure the protection of individual rights along with allowing the states to have the role of checking and balancing each other. Although their inspiration was the Articles of Confederation, their main goal was to make a few adjustments along with adding a Bill of Rights to secure the citizens’ rights for many generations to come. Federalists, people who supported the Constitution, sided with having a central government. They had the determination to have the Constitution ratified.

The Anti Federalists failed due to a lack of organization. They could never get all thirteen states to fully cooperate and create a piece of legislation that could battle the Constitution. Yet in the end, the Articles of Confederation were kept as guidelines to help individual freedoms, of both people and of the

Following the Revolutionary War, America had just gained independance from Great Britain and needed to form a new government. The Articles of Confederation were established as an attempt to create a government that was unlike Britain’s. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had several weaknesses. When in the process of repairing those weaknesses, the Federalists and the Anti-federalists formed. The Articles of Confederation were very weak as well as useless to America and because of this, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists could not agree on a new type of government.

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.

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.