Failure Of The Articles Of Confederation Essay - 1589 Words

Chia Yu Lin Professor Louis Desipio Political Science 21 07/02/2015 Failure of the Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, a written agreement that ensured each state’s sovereignty, freedom and independence, led America to victory over the British centralized government. During the late eighteenth century, the empowered government terrified the Americans, hence the thirteen colonies decided to spread governance powers equally to all functional states. The states had absolute dominance over the Congress due to the Articles of Confederation. While the localized power of states seemed to be promising, the system posed great threat to the major components of a democratic government, which are coercion, revenue, and legitimacy (Lecture 1 - The Roots of Government). The system of localized power did not ensure legitimacy, which referred to people’s recognition of national government. Congress’s lack of power to control each state’s actions caused great chaos. Eventually, national government’s lack of power and inability to unify the states expos ed multiple flaws in the Articles of Confederation; consequently, a new supreme law, the Constitution was established by the founding fathers. The new supreme law successfully altered the imbalanced system into a novel democratic government. The Articles of Confederation established a country of powerful states with a weak central government. The agreement certainly helped the states gained independence due to theShow MoreRelatedFailures Of The Articles Of Confederation959 Words   |  4 PagesFailures of the Articles of Confederation In 1775, America began one of the most important moments of its life as well as history overall, the America Revolution. This war was fought to free the new colonies from the tyranny of the British monarchy and the unfair way it treated them. The fight was long and hard, but in the end the battle was won and the colonies became their own nation, left to rule under their own circumstances and set up their own government. Ironically when it came to settingRead MoreThe Articles Of Confederation Was America s First Failure At Government1895 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Articles of Confederation. In the Article of Confederation it called for a confederacy, which placed sovereign power in the hands of the states. The American government began to be based on powerful state government, and the article of confederation became ineffective at governing American states. The main cause of the ineffective was the lack of a strong central government. This led to economic disorganization, lack of central leadership, and legislative inefficiency. The Articles of ConfederationRead MoreArticles of Confederation and the Constitution Essay780 Words   |  4 Pages Although it would be incorrect to say that the government of the Articles of Confederation was a complete failure, it would be logical to advance the idea that the more powerful national government established under the constitution of 1787 was essential to the survival of the American Union. Between the two documents there were some drastic differences of opinion on governing tactics as mentioned in the Articles of Confederation compared to the Constitution of 1787 (Doc. C). Major differences wereRead MoreThe Articles Of Confederation And The Constitution Of The United States1096 Words   |  5 PagesThe Articles of Confederation was the first order of government established within the United States of America from March 1st, 1781 and lasted until March 4th, 1789. This written document established the functions of t he national government of the United States after gaining independence from Great Britain. In order to not follow in the footsteps of Great Britain and become a tyranny, the Articles of Confederation declared that each state was independent and sovereign; each state had an absoluteRead MoreThe Articles of Confederation Essay828 Words   |  4 PagesThe Articles of Confederation Independence from Britain made necessary the establishment of a new government. Eleven states drew up new constitutions; Connecticut and Rhode Island revised colonial charters. The Articles of Confederation created a loose union of near-sovereign states. The Confederation was inadequate and was failing in the structure of government. They also were in deep trouble, financially and economically. The Articles of Confederation probably achieved its most importantRead MoreThe Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution Essay1038 Words   |  5 Pagesensure the success of their nation. The Articles of Confederation was the first system of government that was proposed and put into effect. This attempt at creating a system that protected the people form a strong central government ultimately failed but was an important step in the development of the current government system. The weaknesses presented by the Articles of Confederation helped lead to reforms that made the Constitution successful. Both the Articles and the Constitution demonstrate theRead MoreThe Shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation1054 Words   |  5 Pagestotal lack of unity about the nation. The Articles of Confederation, ratified during the onset of this tumultuous period, added new dimension to early Americans’ idea of national government. The Articles formed a loosely united country under a highly restricted federal government. This apparent av ersion of strong central government was rooted in the former colonists’ fear of a sequel to their monarchial horror that was England. Some believe that the Articles proved an efficient government for post-RevolutionRead MoreThe New Foundation Of The National Government1527 Words   |  7 PagesAfter the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, it was voted that Constitution would become the new foundation of the national government, not the Articles of Confederation. At the time, there were thirteen individual states that had to vote to ratify or reject the Constitution. Within these thirteens states, there were two groups that consisted of the Federalists and the Antifederalists. The Federalists supported the Constitution; however, the Antifederalists opposed the Constitution. The FederalistsRead MoreThe Articles Of Confederation Was A Loose, League Of Friendship853 Words   |  4 PagesThe Articles of Confederation was a loose â€Å"league of friendship† between the thirteen colonies that would create a confederation in contrast to Great Britain s unitary system. While the Articles of Confederation helped establish a systemic role in trying to unify many of the states under a weak central government, it later created many more problems than solutions. One of them being that Congress had no ability to propose taxes to deal with war debts and running the government. Another weaknessRead MoreConfederation and Constitution1416 Words   |  6 PagesArticles of Confederation vs. Constitution   http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=American+History http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_history.html â€Æ'   There were many differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. At the end of the American Revolution the free states needed some sort of control that would generate to a unified country. Issues arose such as: How should power be divided between local and national governments? How should laws be made