Articles of Confederation and The Constitution
The United States Constitution was brought about in 1787 and for the next 230 years this document would be the bread and butter of this country. The Supreme court continually interprets the Constitution so as to reflect a rapidly changing world, its basic tenets have remained virtually unchanged since its inception, and unchallenged as well. (Constitutionfacts.com, n.a.). As great as the constitution is now, how it came to be is a big importance to United States of America’s history. The United States fought for their independence from Great Britain. In 1783, the war ended and United States gained their independence but did not really unite the states. Congress knew that they needed a much better central government, one that is around federalism. However, the states was under confederation, which meant that the states had their own government and central government was at a
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The federalists understood where they were lacking and needed to change things up. The Constitutional Convention established a new government which divided the powers executive and legislature. “In contrast to the Articles of Confederation, the new national legislature would be the supreme law of the land and would be binding on the states.” (Keene, Cornell & O’Donnell, 2013, p.144). Under the Constitution, the people would be a whole nation with power divided to the states and the central government. Supreme court system was to be created with power to resolve any issues between states. The government would have the power to collect taxes, regulate commerce with other nation and among the states. The number in House was to be determined by how much the population was in each state and each state gets two senators. To add an amendment only ¾ states was needed, and both central government and state government was to act directly on the
It tried to balance power between the small and large states by having a two house legislature. It tried to balance power between the central and state governments. And, it split power between three branches of government. All of this elaborate
They decided the constitution and the government it created would be the supreme law of the land, and that states would not have the broad powers they originally had with the articles of confederation. The federal government would have broad powers, including; the power to tax, to regulate commerce, and to control the currency. There would also be a system of checks and balances created between the levels of government, which eased fears of one branch becoming too powerful and creating the possibility of tyranny. Each level of government would “compete” with one another and in return often frustrate each other. The Congress and House of Representatives would have different term lengths and limits, the president would have the power to veto congress, and judges would be “separate” from the government as its members would serve for
People of the whole nation are sovereign--exercise of sovereignty is divided between states and the central government. 2. Independent executive chosen by electoral college. 3. Separate supreme court system, with power to resolve disputes between the states.
At the end of the Revolutionary war, the former colonies were united under Articles of Confederation that loosely bound the new states into a nation. Because of disputes between the states, a constitutional convention was called to improve the Articles of Confederation. Instead of amending the Articles of Confederation, the representatives at the convention decided to create an entirely new document, the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution established a form of government that balanced power between three branches of government and provided for self-governing states. The Federalists were a political group who supported the Constitution.
The national government was supreme, and there was a clause that that ensured there was a balanced system of power under federalism. This means that both the national government and the states shared power. The executive was an independent body with the Electoral College mandated to choose it. A separate federal court was established with the powers of resolving any disputes that emerged between the states. Congress would impose and collect taxes and also regulate the trade between nations as well as international trade.
Constitution vs. Articles of Confederation Comparing the Constitution to the Articles of Confederation is really easy. To start off with the articles didn’t have executive branch, meaning no president. The Constitution has a executive branch, and introduced the legislative and judicial branches. National debt was a big threat after the revolutionary war, during the article period it wasn’t payed well, until the constitution the federal government helped pay the national debt, by passing taxes. The voting process was also introduced in the Constitution, compared to the articles the states vote in secret forms.
When writing the Constitution the framers had some concerns about giving too much power to the Federal government and wanted to guard against abuse of liberty and property (American Government page 37) of this new government. Article III allowed for the creation of other courts throughout the country but the Supreme Court of the United States would be the highest court in the land. It would preside over disputes between the Federal Government (Page 37) and the States and would be the final word in these disputes. The Supreme Court members had lifetime appointments which would help make them immune from politics. The nine members would be nominated by the president with the approval of the Senate.
Before the constitution the states and the government based the way, they lived using the Articles of Confederation. Congress was in shambles and we owed a massive debt, which led to a rebellion later on. To keep the new nation in check they created a constitution. With the constitution they created federalism or shared power between the states and the government, they created this to make sure the government or states don't overpower on another. The Federal system was made up of three types of government powers, these are reserved, enumerated, and concurrent powers.
The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States were both used as a means for forming a functioning government. However, after a few years the new citizens realized that the Articles of Confederation was not government responsibility for the country and that any changes that needed to be made would have to have an agreement amongst all the states. I will describe four the of the changes between the Articles of Confederation and the current Constitution and why those changes were better institutional designs. First, one the major points in the Articles of Confederation was that the federal government could not collect taxes and it was up to the states to collect said taxes based on the relative value of the land in
Under this constitution nearly all control was given to the states. Nevertheless, while the Articles was weakening due to not having much power over the states, the new and improved Constitution was able to generate something greater. They built a strong central government that united the country as one. The Constitution
he Articles Of Confederation and The United States Constitution are very different but also quite similar. They have two very different ways to govern the new world. But these ways are also very similar as well. Whether through ways of governing or individual rights. These documents have many similarities and differences.
The U.S. Constitution supplied a better foundation for a national government than the Articles of Confederation, but it still created divisions among the delegates that were to ratify the document. The delegates were subdivided into the Federalists and the Antifederalists:
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.
Articles of Confederation vs. U.S. Constitution The Articles of the Confederation and the U.S. Constitution are two articles that where written and accepted by the United States as a foundation for their new government. They are both very important documents that have similarities and differences. Some of the main things the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution have in common is that they addressed the needs of its constituencies.
These authorities that the national government should have, were all up to the states to decide under the Articles. With the taking away some of the states rights in the Constitution, Anti-federalists feared that this would leave the states too weak, resulting in more problems. Under the new Constitution, many powers that were now in the government 's hands are: the power to levy and collect taxes, the power to regulate interstate commerce, the government set up a national court system consisting of district, circuit, and a supreme court, the government could enforce laws, there was now a house based on population, and a senate based on equal representation (two votes per state), to amend the Constitution, a ⅔ vote of Congress was needed, and a ¾ vote of the states were needed, and a majority rule was needed to pass bills. These new powers and abilities of the national government helped to create a strong, new