Reasons For The Flaws Of The Articles Of 1787

Week 6 Review Questions 1. How did the limited central government created by the Articles of Confederation reflect the issues behind the Revolution and fears for individual liberties? The limited central government represented more of a peace treaty between that states than a blueprint for a powerful nation. It was created to maintain national coordination during the Revolution, but not much more; The States still held most of the power. The only powers the national government held were those essential to the Revolution such as declaring war, conducting foreign affairs, and making treaties with other governments (Foner 249).

After the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, thirteen American colonies desired a government to displace and overturn the rule of British. So, they attempted to establish a governance of the Article of Confederation. As the first written constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation was not faultless. The Articles formed a weak central government and a loose confederation of sovereign states, leaving most of the power and independence with the state governments. Although the document gave Congress authority to make treaties, coin money and maintain army force, the central government still lacked of ability to implement these rules (Foner, 1991).

The Articles of Confederation, written in 1776, were the foundation to a war-based government. At the time of the drafting this was deemed necessary, but years later, it became a burden on the States. A few select men were tasked with the editing of the Articles, to make them more sustainable to the 'modern' times of 1787. However, those men chose to drop the Articles of Confederation completely in favor of a new, improved Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and it is safe to say that everything went downhill from there. The government was unrestricting and ineffectual during that time and we are not allowed to blame them. Any government was needed, however, that government was not very operative. They had no provision for an Executive Branch or National Court System and were not able to force the states to do anything.

A convention based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 25, 1787 was called for the purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation. Confident to construct a new government from the ground up. Wouldn’t have been possible without the aid of the fifty-five delegates. The delegates pushed though despite their differences in opinions. Outlining our new government took well over a quarter of the year.

Not everything is done correct the first time around. Surprisingly, this is also true for America’s national government. The Articles of Confederation was the constitution of the United States for the first few years of its existence, however, it had many flaws that jeopardized said existence. These flaws included but are not limited to the fact that the national government didn't have the power to tax the states, it couldn't enforce its own laws, but rather only create them, no national currency, however each state had its own currency, a national army could be put in place, and the same goes for a national court. The voting process for each state was also an issue since each state only received one vote which was not fair to

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 period between the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 and the drafting of the new Constitution in 1787 was one of weakness, dissension and turmoil. Under the Articles of Confederation, no provisions were made for an executive branch to enforce the laws nor for a national court system to interpret them. A legislative Congress was the sole organ of the national government, but it had no power to force the states to do anything against their will. It could declare war and raise an army, but it could not force any state to meet its assigned quota for troops or for the arms and equipment needed to support them. It looked to the states for the income needed to finance its activities, but it could not punish a state for not contributing its share of the federal budget.

The Articles of Confederation that governed the new nation after the revolution were notable for their unifying ability and land ordinances; however, they ultimately created more problems through inadequate taxation, their inability to pass laws, and an incapacitated central government.

In 1776, the United States declared its’ independence from the tyrannical government of Britain and King George III. The newfound nation was now stuck trying to create its own system of government that would avoid all of the unitary government problems that they had just escaped. The Americans found themselves extremely loyal to their states and terrified of a centralized government. This school of thought produced the Articles of Confederation, or the first system of government in the United States. The Articles of Confederation would eventually be removed and changed to the Federal Republic that stands in our country today.

As Morgan writes, “When the Articles were adopted, the country was at war for its existence” (113). The “critical period” is aptly named because the national government could not handle the issues they had because they did not have enough power. It was in fact a crisis, where the country

Confederation and Constitution Introduction The first constitution of the United States was the articles of confederation which served the country for a while before being substituted. The articles of confederation were voted and adopted by the Continental Congress on 15th November 1777 and complete ratification by all thirteen states took place on 1st March 1781 (Beeman, 2010). Later, some states came to the realization that the Articles did not adequately resolve the problems experienced by the country and international issues. The result of the dissatisfaction led to the development of a constitution that was meant to replace the Articles.

Slavery in the U.S. Constitution 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.

On March 1st, 1781, the Articles of Confederation were ratified by all thirteen states and adopted as the first official set of laws of the United States of America. After a short time, the Articles’ inadequacies became apparent to the newly formed country. These flaws included, over-powerful state governments, a weak central government, a lack of an independent judiciary system, and an impractical amendment making process. While the problems of the Articles were numerous, the excessively-dominant state governments, the federal government lacking the means to enforce economical parchment powers, and the lack of defensive powers granted to the federal government, proved to be the most detrimental to American society. These are the most important

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.