Articles of Confederation vs Constitution
Christina Gonzalez
HIST 1301
Chad Wooley
February 7, 2013
AE 1
The national government under the Articles of Confederation had very little power and most power was held by the individual states. Eventually, the weakness of the national government under the Articles led to their replacement with the current US Constitution. This goes to show the difference between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. There were many problems under the Articles and much was left out that it caused problems. The government under the Articles of Confederation had a Unicameral Legislature, they needed a unanimous vote to amend Articles, they also needed a 2/3 majority vote to pass legislation, and one vote per state. The weaknesses under the Articles were very easy to define they had no national executive and no national court system. Also the national government was very limited on what they could do. They could not collect taxes, they could not raise an army, and they could not regulate trade. As such, this caused many problems. States began to place tariffs on each of the other state’s goods. This led to a sharp decline in intrastate commerce. Most states deiced to print their own money and the national currency became pretty much worthless. Since the government could not regulate trade other countries placed tariffs and trade restrictions on US goods and the US was not able to respond. Since they did not have a strong navy, this left US merchant ships in danger of getting attacked by pirates. The powerlessness of the national government to raise an army left the US weak and in danger towards threats.
There are similarities between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Both the Constitution and the Articles were established by the same people. They were both the official government of the US and they were both the laws of the US. However, there is more of a difference between the two and this is what makes the US
HIST 1301
Chad Wooley
February 7, 2013
AE 1
The national government under the Articles of Confederation had very little power and most power was held by the individual states. Eventually, the weakness of the national government under the Articles led to their replacement with the current US Constitution. This goes to show the difference between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. There were many problems under the Articles and much was left out that it caused problems. The government under the Articles of Confederation had a Unicameral Legislature, they needed a unanimous vote to amend Articles, they also needed a 2/3 majority vote to pass legislation, and one vote per state. The weaknesses under the Articles were very easy to define they had no national executive and no national court system. Also the national government was very limited on what they could do. They could not collect taxes, they could not raise an army, and they could not regulate trade. As such, this caused many problems. States began to place tariffs on each of the other state’s goods. This led to a sharp decline in intrastate commerce. Most states deiced to print their own money and the national currency became pretty much worthless. Since the government could not regulate trade other countries placed tariffs and trade restrictions on US goods and the US was not able to respond. Since they did not have a strong navy, this left US merchant ships in danger of getting attacked by pirates. The powerlessness of the national government to raise an army left the US weak and in danger towards threats.
There are similarities between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Both the Constitution and the Articles were established by the same people. They were both the official government of the US and they were both the laws of the US. However, there is more of a difference between the two and this is what makes the US