To What Extent Was the Constitution a Radical Departure from the Articles of Confederation?
Question: To what extent was the Constitution a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation?
Thesis: Due to the fact that the Articles of Confederation were causing problems, the U.S. adopted the Constitution that solved the problems in the weak government including no executive control and no way to levy or collect taxes. I. On example of how the Constitution differed from the Articles of Confederation is the setup of their government a. Houses in Congress i. Articles of Confederation of 1777 had one-house congress 1. Weak government a. When the government was created, people were afraid of a strong government like England had. The government became very weak because of that. i. No executive branch; no president/leader 1. Colonists were afraid of the president turning into a king. 2. After Shay’s Rebellion and other rebellions, people realized that they needed someone to govern them. a. Shays rebellion was a rebellion caused by the government forcing people to go to jail if they were in debt b. 1,000 men marched to Worcester where they closed down the commonwealth’s Supreme Court and then marched to Springfield where they broke in and freed imprisoned debtors. c. Massachusetts asked Congress for help but legally, there was not much Congress to do to relieve them. Noting, a greater authority in the central government is necessary ii. No judiciary; no courts iii. ALL power went to legislative b. Government couldn’t tax the states or individuals iv. Individuals were still only subject to their states and hadn’t had an interest in a national government c. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense v. Widely read, Paine argued how it never did any good for Americans to be
Thesis: Due to the fact that the Articles of Confederation were causing problems, the U.S. adopted the Constitution that solved the problems in the weak government including no executive control and no way to levy or collect taxes. I. On example of how the Constitution differed from the Articles of Confederation is the setup of their government a. Houses in Congress i. Articles of Confederation of 1777 had one-house congress 1. Weak government a. When the government was created, people were afraid of a strong government like England had. The government became very weak because of that. i. No executive branch; no president/leader 1. Colonists were afraid of the president turning into a king. 2. After Shay’s Rebellion and other rebellions, people realized that they needed someone to govern them. a. Shays rebellion was a rebellion caused by the government forcing people to go to jail if they were in debt b. 1,000 men marched to Worcester where they closed down the commonwealth’s Supreme Court and then marched to Springfield where they broke in and freed imprisoned debtors. c. Massachusetts asked Congress for help but legally, there was not much Congress to do to relieve them. Noting, a greater authority in the central government is necessary ii. No judiciary; no courts iii. ALL power went to legislative b. Government couldn’t tax the states or individuals iv. Individuals were still only subject to their states and hadn’t had an interest in a national government c. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense v. Widely read, Paine argued how it never did any good for Americans to be