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In the year of 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia to write the Constitution. Tyranny, a type of government with an absolute ruler was a fear. They were currently under the ARticles of COnfederation. There was a problem with this though. In the background essay, it states that “there was no chief executive, there was no court system, there was not even a way for a central government to force a state to pay taxes.”. They were in much need of a new Constitution if they were going to be an independent nation. The hard part was making the new government tyranny free. Eventually in 1787 the new Constitution is created.…
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In 1781, the newly independent states in America developed the first written constitution in the United States, known as the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation served as the written law in the United States. The Articles of Confederation grouped the individual states with a weak central government to be sure the government of the United States would not be similar to that of Britain. This document took Americans through the American Revolution successfully, but…
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The writing of the U.S Constitution generated many concerns over the amount of power to be allowed in the Federal Government. Political parties of Federalists and Antifederalists formed, sparking debate over the issue. As Federalists supported the proposed U.S Constitution, Antifederalists supported the government formed under the Articles of Confederation. Federalists felt that a strong central government would give protection to public and private credit. Many large landowners, judges, lawyers, leading clergymen, political figures, and merchants were in favor of ratifying the U.S Constitution. James Madison writes in Federalist Papers #10, “Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith and public of personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable” (Doc. A). Congressmen such as Madison strongly supported a stronger Federal Government. The existing government under the Articles of Confederation needed to be altered to ensure more control over the states. Federalists believed that if change wasn’t made the nation would fail. “Either the…
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When the United States of America won its Independence from Great Britain in 1776 many Americans began to have fidelity to their states instead of their country. Diverse citizens opposed to have an influential government. As a result, to the independent views of Americans the document Articles of Confederation was proposed. It was established with the primary purpose to balance the differences between states. Over time, this document became inadequate to govern itself and protect…
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Throughout the history of the United States it is amazing to think that it has only operated under two different constitutions. The first was the Articles of Confederation beginning March 1, 1781 and then the Constitution on June 21, 1788. After only seven years, the Articles were analyzed and re-written by a lot of the same people who constructed them. The Articles of Confederation created the national Congress. The Congress consisted of one single chamber.…
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In 1786 Alexander Hamilton called for a Constitutional Convention to discuss the lack of a central government and to fix the Articles of Confederation. The colonies were told to send delegates to the convention. The 55 delegates met, they were composed of merchants, farmers, lawyers and crafters. They were supposed to fix the Articles of Confederation but they decided to create a whole new document and call it the Constitution. This new government would have three branches the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive. They also designed a system of Checks and Balances that would make sure that no branch would become too strong. They also made the Constitution able to be changed if necessary. Not all the delegates were professional people they were…
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The Articles of Confederation were developed in 1781 and were established as a first constitution of United States of America. Under these articles, the states remained self-governed and independent. Congress only stepped in as the last resort on appeal…
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Throwing off the British monarchy on July 4, 1776, left the United States with no central government. It had to design and install a new government and quickly. As early as May 1776, Congress advised each of the colonies to draw up plans for state government; by 1780, all thirteen states had adopted written constitutions. In June 1776, the Continental Congress began to work on a plan for a central government. It took five years for it to be approved, first by members of Congress and then by the states. This first attempt at a constitution for the United States was called the Articles of Confederation.…
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The constitution is an outline of the rights, policies, and the separation of powers of the government. Following the separation of the 13 colonies from Britain with the writing of the Declaration Of Independence in 1776, the Articles of Confederation were composed to serve as the first United States Constitution to “secure the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United States.” After 11 years in 1787, the Articles of Confederation were voted to be revised as the document was weak for the national government. On the date of May 25th, 1787, Philadelphia opened the Constitutional Convention. Following the 1787 convention The U.S. Constitution was borne and with it came a three branch system; executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch enforces the laws, the legislative branch makes the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the…
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After many long and hard years of constant fighting, turmoil, and endless bloodshed, the thirteen colonies finally separated itself from England. The country of America now had a new problem at hand, setting up an effective government that would be much better than the oppressive rule of the British. The first step, of course, is setting up a constitution. The Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, was the first constitution of America. The Articles of Confederation was strong in that it gave the central government the powers to conduct foreign affairs, regulate western lands, and set up departments. This constitution was weak in that the central government was unable to impose taxes, control international trade, or enforce laws, and it was difficult to pass any law. Even though the Articles of Confederation had its strengths and weaknesses, its weaknesses outweighed its strengths rendering the document useless in governing the new country.…
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After formalizing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the thirteen American colonies had to figure out who they were as a nation. Although they had claimed independence, now the Framers had to figure out the foundation of the government. However, the ruling body at this point was the Continental Congress and in 1777 this Congress took an important leap to unite the former colonies by blueprinting, The Articles of Confederation. The Founding Fathers decided there needed to be a centralized governing body in the center of the colonies, but it couldn’t be too influential because they were relinquishing away from a state that felt too powerful. Also, the Framers created a Confederation of States in which individuals would be representatives of the states.…
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People didnt want a Constitution and believed that things were just fine the way they were and everything should be left alone. In Document 2 we see that Mercy Otis Warren was an opponent. He had fear that the Constitution would threaten the rights of conscience and liberty of press. Patrick Henry was also against ratifying the Constitution. In Document 4, he says that a Constitution would endanger the rights and privileges that the people had and they would lose sovereignty, the freedom from an external control. In Document 5, Amos Singletree also opposed the ratification of the Constitution. But he doesn’t only fear the possible threat of people’s rights, he, being poor, was afraid that only rich learned men would be able to have power, and will have total rule over the poor…
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After the United States declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, the thirteen states knew that they needed to create a document that stated their unity as one nation. In 1777, the Continental Congress wrote the Articles of Confederation, which became known as the first official government of the United States. While this new form of government had multiple achievements, it also had many failures, which eventually led to its replacement with the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation was a very influential document and greatly impacted the history of the United States.…
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It is true that the national government would have greater power than it did under the Articles of Confederation. But its powers are limited to tasks that face the entire nation, like trade, currency, and defending our new country from outside threats. Experience has shown that a stronger national government is needed to deal with these problems. The Constitution provides adequate protections for the state governments to prevent their being destroyed by the national government.…
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The people who supported the new Constitution, the Federalists, began to publish articles supporting ratification. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay eventually compiled 85 essays as The Federalist Papers. These supporters of the Constitution believed that the checks and balances system would allow a strong central government to preserve states' rights. They felt that the Articles of Confederation was too weak and that they were in need for a change (http://www.congressforkids.net/Constitution_ratifyingconstitution.htm). President George Washington wrote a letter to John Jay on August 1, 1786. In this letter Washington agrees with Jay’s criticism of the Articles of Confederation and says “we have errors to correct. We have probably had to good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation…” The Articles of Confederation had “errors” that needed to be corrected. He complained that the thirteen “disunited states” could never agree. He also suggest that human nature being what it was, America needed a stronger, less democratic national government (doc.3).…
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