Articles Of Confederation Vs Constitution

Articles of Confederation vs Constitution

The United States of America, a fascinating nation has definitely climbed a long path. For over 2 centuries, this nation flourished into the modern society that exists today. Although it wasn’t always like this, the people of this country had to overcome several obstacles and strenuous challenges. When the revolutionaries first gained Independence from Britain, they had no idea that their first form of government would trample and result in failure. It was called the Articles of Confederation. But, as history reveals, failure is the key to success. The Articles lacked several vital conditions which included separation of powers, taxation, unicameral government,
unbalanced division of power between states and federal government, improper amending and much more. Thus resulting in what we have today, the Constitution. Significant changes in the Constitution that its predecessor didn’t acquire were 3 branches of government.
The 3 consisted of a Legislative, Executive and Judicial branch while previously there was only a unicameral legislature. The Legislative branch now become bicameral and consisted of a house of representatives based on population and an equal number of senate which satisfied both large and small states. The Constitution then appointed the President and his cabinet to the Executive Branch where they vetoed or executed and enforced laws passed by the Legislature, whereas in the Articles enforcing the laws was a challenge and resulted in citizens not abiding by the law. Finally, the judicial branch otherwise known as the Supreme Court. This branch reviewed and interpreted laws passed by the legislative branch and decided if either branch’s action were unconstitutional. This had actually been established by Chief Justice John Marshall after the famous case of Marbury vs. Madison. Creating 3 branches allowed separating the powers and each branch checked each other and maintained a balance so that neither branches become too
powerful. In the Articles of Confederation, Congress had been given only those powers that were stated in that very short document resulting in a weak central government, while the States had much more power and was much stronger.
Some key powers Congress didn’t have was ability to tax the states, raising a military, and regulating commerce and trade with foreign nations and among states. Soon States developed rivalries and congress could not unify the country under one government. But it all changed as the Constitution came along. Allowing the federal government to lay down and collect taxes which aided in paying debts and providing for general welfare and defense for its citizens. Congress could now also raise a military to protect its borders and its citizens from potential threats. Regulating commerce and trade with foreign nations was now also allowed by the Constitution and helped boost the national economy. Also, a division of power between the the federal and state level known as federalism developed. This allowed a compromise so that neither government could meddle in each others affairs and the constitution specifically stated exactly what the state, otherwise known as reserved powers and what the federal level could do called enumerated powers. Another colossal setback in the Articles of confederation was the amendment process. In order to amend an articles, it required a unanimous vote by all 13 states. The disadvantage in this method is that
it can take a really long time and makes it extremely difficult to amend. The Constitution changes that by only having ⅔ of both houses of congress proposes it and ¾ of the states to ratify it. This method is much quicker and a much more efficient way to amend the Constitution. Some of these weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation were just the critical things it lacked. There are still a few reasons why the entire system of government needed to be altered. Not deciding to change the United States’ system of government would never have lasted this long. For the framers of the Constitution, this had to have been one of the greatest ideas they could have envisioned.

CITATIONS
US Constitution. Articles. 1,2,3 and 5.
Articles of Confederation. Articles 2,5,6 and 9

Mount, Steve. "U.S. Constitution." Comparing the Articles and the Constitution. Craig Walenta, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. .
Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources" http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998).