Article of Confederation Essay

The first constitution was written in the fall in States was called the Articles of compact. It established a unbend league of friendship between thirteen sovereign states and proposed that each(prenominal) state have its sovereignty, freedom, and independence. The Articles of bond approve in 1781, which led to a period of crisis between the years 1781 and 1789. This period refer as the detailed Period. The Articles of Confederation was the precursor of the United States institution because of the many reasons it had weaknesses and replaced by the United States Constitution.The Constitution of the United States comprises the nations fundamental law, providing the framework for its judicature and the principles to a lower place which it must operate. When the constitution was written, it was intended to endure for ages, be flexible, and filmable for future generations. The constitution was intended to be the supreme law of the rural area. To make the required approval fro m all 13 states, drafters changed the plan and granted the Confederation control of western lands.After four years, the Articles finally won substantiation in 1781. (Created Equal, pg. 77) The Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781, became the first constitution. The Articles of Confederation dealt with three problems taxation, representation, and the point of control over western territories. First, the Articles of Confederation weakness was that the central establishment did not have the originator to collect taxes. As the Articles of Confederation illustrate, correspond to the Articles, Congress could not collect taxes or regulate trade it could besides requisition funds from the states.Sh bes would vary depending on each states free population. (Created Equal, pg. 177) Under the Articles of Confederation, the state giving medication can only enchant its contribution annually to the national judicature but they cannot be compelled to profits taxes. Due to this huge weakness, many problems arose in the U. S, which were signs of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. The trade agreements Congress had do with other nations were not always carried out.Many people soon started importation goods from other countries that they refused to pay for. Consequently, people in other nations soon became unwilling to trade with the U.S even Great Britain closed its commerce to it, which resulted in the loss of a lot of money because of lack of trade. There was alike competition among the states, as they started levying taxes on goods passing through them to other states. Taxes are the lifeblood of the nation. Without it, no government machinery will function. Thus, the national government could not realize its functions because it did not have the funds. Second weakness was the depiction of laws. Under the Articles of Confederation, the passing of laws needed the approval of 9 out of 13 states.The voting agreement is quite high. As a result, five states could easily prevent the enactment of laws, which seriously jeopardized the enactment of laws that needed to be passed. The Articles of Confederation note, Moreover, the Confederation had no separate executive branch executive functions fell to various committees of the Confederation Congress. (Created Equal, pg. 177) There was no executive branch to institute the policies for the entire nation. As a result, the state governments did not have a cohesive insurance policy that e very(prenominal) state government should follow.Consequently, the state governments individually created their own policies. Since in that respect was no national judiciary, the state courts were tasked to interpret laws. As George Mason indicates, The terrace of the United States is so constructed & extended, as to absorb and destroy the Judiciarys of the several States on that pointby rendering Law as tedious intricate and expensive, & Justice as unattainable, by a great Part o f the Community, as in England, and modify the Rich to oppress & ruin the Poor. (Mason, Paragraph 2, pg. 10)It had become clear that it was required to abandon the Articles of Confederation in favor of a constitution that provided for a stronger national government, created a national judiciary and strong Congress. Finally, the United States had contrastive issues that they had to deal with. These were foreign affairs, economic conditions, and Western land. The Articles clarify, In addition, to the dismay of land speculators, the Congress would not control the western domains that several large states had claimed. (Created Equal, pg. 77)The government was weak due to poor economic conditions and the people still feared the provide of the central government. These weaknesses posed a threat to the effectiveness of the government. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was a unicameral legislature. There was one house and there were no executive or judiciary branches. Each st ate had the same identification number of representatives and their own currency. The states taxed each other and affecting the value of money to reduce and posed a threat to the economic stability of the United States, which was already weak and in need of reformation.The Articles of Confederation was the precursor of the United States Constitution because of the many reasons it had weaknesses and replaced by the United States Constitution. It brought the colonies together as a loose confederation with the states rights being more important than the power of the federal government. Even though the government under the Articles of Confederation was very weak, it was still more democratic because it gave more rights and power to the states. The Articles unified the states under a loose confederation, which lacked a strong, central government.Although the Articles of Confederation had several successes, it created further more weaknesses and failures. The failures of the Articles h ad to be addressed, so a new constitution was created and drafted at the Constitutional Convention, which determined the many failures of the Articles, and created a strong central government. A controversial issue has been debated over whether the government under the Articles of Confederation or the Constitution was more democratic. The Articles of Confederation created a more democratic government because it gave power to the individual states and to the people.