Preview

Aoc vs the Constitution

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
825 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Aoc vs the Constitution
. Compare the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution. Which document did a better job of protecting liberties? Running a government? Explain your answer with specific examples.

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution are only six years apart in history. Knowing this you would think that they have very few differences but it is the complete opposite. As soon as the Articles of Confederation were ratified, it got everyone thinking about how to create a good system of government. That is where the Constitution came in. The Constitution changed almost everything from the Articles of Confederation making the national government a lot more powerful. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781. The goal of the Articles was to balance the need for national coordination of the War of Independence with the fear that centralized political power was a threat to liberty of the people. The Articles stated that the new national government was to be a "perpetual union." The Articles gave the thirteen states their individual "sovereignty, freedom and independence." Under the Articles the national government had a one house Congress, where each state cast one vote. There was no president and no judiciary. Major decisions needed the approval of nine states to be passed. There were only a few powers given to the national government which were to declare war, conduct foreign affairs, and make treaties with other governments. Congress did not have financial resources. It did not have the power to levy taxes or to regulate commerce. Revenue came from contributions from the states and in order to amend an Article you needed a unanimous decision from the states. This made it hard to amend or to change anything. The Articles basically made it impossible to have a national government on a large scale. The Constitution of the USA was adopted in 1787. The Constitution created a legislature, an executive, and a national judiciary. Congress was given the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    DBQ ratify

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 yet there was a struggle for its ratification that went on until 1790. Some members of congress believed that the Articles of confederation needed to be changed meanwhile others disagreed. After the revolutionary war the people needed a sense of power which they received when the new government was centered on the state. The new United States needed a strong central government but many feared of a central government with too much power. This called for a new constitution which caused great conflict between the Federalists and Anti-Federalist.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Articles of Confederation, written on November 15, 1777, served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. However, in September 1787, the U.S. Constitution was written, which helped endure the national government. Many believe that the U.S. Constitution is better than the Articles of Confederation because the Constitution helps strengthen the national government. For example, most power is held by the national government, there are three branches of government, legislative branch has many powers, executive branch is led by the president, there is a judicial system, and there is a firm system of checks and balances. On the other…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States Constitution is one of the most significant documents in modern world history. Its official date of adoption was on the seventeenth of September in 1897. The Constitution itself represents the advent of democracy, justice and freedom in a once-was colony which thereafter gained its independence. It established three branches of government; the legislative branch, the judicial branch and the executive branch. Additionally, the Constitution outlined the relationship between the country’s citizens and the Federal government.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Although there are many differences between the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution there are two principles that showcase the greatest differences; separation of powers (three branches that all have different obligations to the people of the U.S.) and checks and balances (the three branches that keep one from becoming tyrannical).…

    • 52 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Us Constitution Dbq Essay

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The United States Constitution, the first constitution of its kind, was ratified on September 17, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The Constitution gave Congress the power to tax and raise an army. The American federal government was established, and certain citizens’ rights were guaranteed, but implications within the document itself garnered hefty resistance. People claimed the Constitution would frame a successful government that the Articles of Confederation failed to do, but others said that the centralization of a federal government would provide an opportunity for it to use its powers immorally. Without a government, the nation might retreat to anarchy, but with a government, the rights of the people might be…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced because it was created to keep the states independent from a national government. In the Articles of Confederation it stated "Its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right . . . not . . . expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." It was created to pretty much let the states stay as independent as possible and keep a National government weak. The only thing was to make sure that security of liberties, common defense and general welfare were protected. The weakness of the Articles of Confederation were that each state only had one vote in congress, congress had no authority to tax, there was no national court system, there was no executive branch to enforce acts passed by congress as well as many other flaws. The Framers did not like how this was constructed so it took several years to correct and agree on the document. The framers decided that there was a need for a stronger federal government so they created the US Constitution to fix the problems that were in the Articles of Confederation. Some things that were changed or included were in the Articles of Confederation it has a Unicameral legislature, the Constitution has a Bicameral legislature divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Articles of Confederation has between two and seven members per state in congress, in the Constitution there two senators per state with representatives apportioned according to the population of the state. There are also several other differences but in all both documents closely resemble each other. A lot of people thought that the Constitution was giving too much power to the National government and that it was no different than having a monarchy. I think people eventually accepted the Constitution because people saw how everything worked with a weak government and incidents like Shays rebellion made people realize that a need for a stronger…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What and why did they create a weak, confederal arrangement? Contrast and explain three important differences between the Articles of Confederation and the current US Constitution. Why do you believe the change occurred? Who were the Anti-Federalists? Who were the Federalists? Pick one contribution for each group that contributed to the development of the modern American political system.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Topic 6

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution differ in several ways. The U.S. Constitution created a court system which did not exist in the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution also gave the federal government more power, that way it could successfully function. These changes were important because if they weren’t done, our founding country probably would have failed, and we would not have the country we know today.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Atricles of Confederation

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Answer: The purpose of the Articles of Confederation was to create a confederation of states whereby each state retained "its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right . . . not . . . expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." In other words, every state was as independent as possible with the United States only responsible for the common defense, security of liberties, and the general welfare. To this effect, the Articles were purposely written to keep the national government as weak as possible. However, there were many problems that soon became apparent as the Articles took effect.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first constitution of the U.S was The Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781 and was eventually replaced with The U.S Constitution. The U.S Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation because the articles were very weak. The articles weren’t strong enough to allow the government to enforce their laws and they were lacking power and strength. The U.S Constitution made the national government more powerful, also it established a lot of basic rights for citizens and states. Some of the big names that were at the Constitutional Convention were George Washington, James Madison, John Hancock, and many other notable people.…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Constitution is way better than the Articles of Confederation in three ways: The Articles had too many weaknesses, The Constitution made a new and improved government, and it ‘fixed up’ America. One of the main reasons why The Constitution is better than the Articles is because the Articles had too many flaws/weaknesses. It gave the states too much more power than the actual government. Another example is that the citizens had no way of paying taxes to support the war efforts. Not because it was too much, it was that there was no legitimate way of doing so.…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Constitution fixed all the flaws of the Articles of Confederation and added more powers to the national government and the individual states. They set terms for how long people could serve in office, a number for how many people could represent, and gave the national government the power to make laws, print money, set taxes and other new things. The…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Articles of Confederation on the other hand are a bit more difficult for society to comply with. For example, under the articles it was a weakness and proved to be difficult to pass laws,…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It has been amended twenty-seven times since then. The Constitution was created on September 17th, 1787. The authors of the Constitution were the people of the Philadelphia Convention. The whole purpose of the Constitution was to replace the Articles of Confederation (1777). While the Constitution was being written there were fifty-five delegates. Of the fifty-five delegates thirty-nine of then signed the Constitution. It was ratified on June 21, 1788. Because of the Constitution all of the people in the nation were sovereign. The power was divided between the states and the central government. Both the states and the central government acts directly on the people. The Constitution was amended with approval by three fourths of the states. The electoral college chooses the independent executive. The Constitution separates the federal court system and the power to figure out disputes or problems between the states. The Constitution gave the Congress more and better powers. The Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes. They also have the power to lay and collect duties, imposts and even excises. The Congress is also allowed to regulate the conversation between other countries and or nations and the United Sates. The Congress consists of two bodies. One is the House of Representatives and the other is the Senates. The House of Representatives is based on the population of each state. Each state has two Senators. Congress has…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Articles of Confederation

    • 2029 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Articles of Confederation was, in a sense, the first United States constitution. It was adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777 and later ratified by all 13 original states on March 1, 1781. The Constitution later replaced the Articles when it was ratified by New Hampshire on June 21, 1788. The two documents have a lot in common, such as being established by the same people, both served to maintain a free government, both referred to the nation as the United States of America, both were the laws of the United States government, and both gave the states the power to regulate commerce, tax citizens, make laws, and provide for a common defense. However, when one looks at the details, they differ much more than they resemble each other. Comparing them can give us true insight as to what the Framers found important in 1781, and what they reconsidered and changed by 1788. The fundamental difference between the Articles and the Constitution is the fact that the Articles made no provision for the new federal government to exercise any power over the individual states, especially when it came to collecting taxes from the states, imposing laws that would apply to the states, and organizing a federal army for which the states would provide soldiers. It can be fairly concluded that the Articles of Confederation gave power to the states and the Constitution gave power to the federal government to regulate those states. This is what ultimately made the Constitution a necessity and why it is still in place today.…

    • 2029 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays