Confederation Dbq

In 1787, a couple of years after America broke away from England, the constitution we use today was made. Before, starting in 1777, the states operated under a government they called the “Articles of Confederation.” This government said that each state should have its own independence, and should operate within their own government. After 6 years, this government didn’t work well, because of civil unrest, bad trade, and inflation. A group of men led by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and others, believed in this constitution. These people were called Federalists. These federalists believed that the states should be operated by one unified single government. The Federalists wanted to write a new constitution,
and make it a more efficient government, and they did. Anti-Federalists were a group of people that were against this idea, such as Samuel Adams or Patrick Henry believed the opposite. In 1777, the articles of confederation was written.
This constitution was the first ever in the United States. The Articles didn’t really work, because there was a few problems. They basically said that each state was their own government, and the 13 states weren’t really connected under the same government at all. They has their own system of money, laws, trade, and others, and this didn’t work well at all. Each state’s currency had different value, which made it impossible to sell and trade stuff between states. Inflation was a big problem. The government was producing to much money. The amount in circulation was too much, and as a result, the value of money went down. This helped people in debt, because if they borrow something in a form other than money like meat, and the value of money goes down, then it takes less meat to pay of the debt. The debtor gets a good deal that way, but the creditor gets a bad deal. A final reason is that the society didn’t like the way the Articles of Confederation worked. Massachusetts set higher taxes, which hurt farm owners really bad. A man named Daniel Shays started a rebellion, and him and his followers would tar & feather any tax collectors who came to his house for money. Shays was a former American soldier who fought in Bunker Hill, so he was capable of starting a pretty major rebellion with his aggressive skills and
tactics. The Articles of confederation actually worked for a few years, however, after about 6 or 7 years, these problems started emerging and the society split into Federalist groups and non-Federalist groups. The Federalists believed that the Articles were not the way to go, and they wanted to write a new constitution. Non-Federalists believed that it was a bad idea to change anything, and that we should keep things the way they are. Because of all these problems, some men including Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, James Madison, and others, decided that we needed to do something about this. They called for a meeting in September of 1786, and they hoped that all 13 states will have representatives to show, but not all of them would come. The ones that do all agree for another meeting to take place with everyone there. The next May in Philadelphia, they all show up. The first thing they do, is attempt to fix the Articles, but soon afterwards they realize that it’s pointless to do this. Even though that’s what they were sent there for, it wouldn’t be a good idea to try and fix the Articles of Confederation. It would just be easier to start all over and make a whole new constitution. They hold secret meetings and don’t tell anyone about it. They could not have been seen by anyone disobeying their job the way they were, because if they got kicked off their job, it would affect a whole huge country for centuries. At these meetings they started to write the constitution, and devise a new government. The people I’m talking about who wrote the constitution were called Framers.
The government that they started was formed in three branches. This was the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch, and the Legislative Branch. The Executive branch is the president. He passes or vetoes laws made by the congress (legislative branch). He is also the general of the U.S army, conducts foreign policies, negotiates treaties, and appoints important new officials.
This constitution would be one that unites America, and forms all 13 states into one government. This is what the Federalists thought would make a big difference to the states if we all were governed under one power. We would share the same currency, and not have to worry about anything like interstate trade. Federalists thought that if we had a more central united government, we would be more protected and prepared for events like Shays’ rebellion.
Contrary to these beliefs, anti-Federalists thought that making this new constitution would not work. The anti-Federalists were mostly made up of poor citizens, and farmers. These people did not have very much money to live on, and they didn’t want to lose any of it to a bad government. These anti-Federalists believed that if we did make the new constitution, then the rich people would overpower poorer people like them. They obviously didn’t want that to happen. Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry are both famous Americans who were strong anti-Federalists. The final solution was a brilliant compromise. What happened, was that the constitution was written and made. The Federalists were able to have the centralized government that they were hoping for, but the non-Federalists would add the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments. They are essential rules and laws that are still used today. For example, the first amendment allows people to freely speak as they like, publish what they like, assemble as they like, and practice any religion or belief that they want to. The anti-Federalists added the Bill of Rights to protect their own personal rights. They felt threatened by the new constitution that might have been made, and they decided to add in their own part on how they felt about the laws. As the Framers of the constitution were writing it, they wanted to make sure that the United States didn’t end up like England.
They didn’t want it to be that same type of centralized government, although they did want it to be a type of centralized government; specifically a federalized one. The difference between a centralized government and a federalized government is that a federalized one is more of a democracy. It is many different societies and smaller powers all operated and governed under one big power. America is the first ever example of that, with each state being operated under the central government. A centralized government is one with just a huge government that has all the power over one country. Our government is that as well, but this is a broad term. Dictatorships or monarchies are examples of other centralized but not federalized governments that have not worked very well. The U.S is both, and it works great under the
constitution.