Compare And Contrast The Articles Of Confederation And The Constitution Essay Example For Students

Compare And Contrast The Articles Of Confederation And The Constitution Essay The Constitution of the United States was written as a set of rules forthis country. Many of the rules have helped the country stay in order, but agreat many have been abused and taken out of context. Three provisions in theConstitution that are important to my individual rights and liberties arefreedom of speech, freedom to vote, and that all people should be treatedequally. These rights represent what is important to me and what I believe in. Freedom of speech is an important right to me. It is found under Amendment oneof the Constitution. I am a very outspoken person and I like to speak my mind onissues of all kind. The country I was born in did not guarantee freedom ofspeech. People could be arrested or even killed for expressing their opinion. As adopted, the articles provided only for a firm league offriendship in which each of the 13 states expressly held itssovereignty, freedom, and independence. The People ofeach state were given equal privileges and rights, freedom ofmovement was guaranteed, and procedures for the trials ofaccused criminals were outlined. The articles established anational legislature called the Congress, consisting of two toseven delegates from each state; each state had one vote,according to its size or population. No executive or judicialbranches were provided for. Congress was charged withresponsibility for conducting foreign relations, declaring waror peace, maintaining an army and navy, settling boundarydisputes, establishing and maintaining a postal service, andvarious lesser functions. Some of these responsibilities wereshared with the states, and in one way or another Congresswas dependent upon the cooperation of the states forcarrying out any of them. Four visible weaknesses of thearticles, apart from those of organization, made it impossiblefor Congress to execute its constitutional duties. These wereanalyzed in numbers 15-22 of The FEDERALIST, thepolitical essays in which Alexander Hamilton, JamesMadison, and John Jay argued the case for the U.S. CONSTITUTION of 1787. The first weakness was thatCongress could legislate only for states, not for individuals;because of this it could not enforce legislation. Second,Congress had no power to tax. Instead, it was to assess itsexpenses and divide those among the states on the basis ofthe value of land. States were then to tax their own citizensto raise the money for these expenses and turn the proceedsover to Congress. They could not be forced to do so, and inpractice they rarely met their obligations. Third, Congresslacked the power to control commercewithout its powerto conduct foreign relations was not necessary, since mosttreaties except those of peace were concerned mainly withtrade. The fourth weakness ensured the demise of theConfederation by making it too difficult to correct the firstthree. Amendments could have corrected any of theweaknesses, but amendments required approval by all 13state legislatures. None of the several amendments that wereproposed met that requirement. On the days fromSeptember 11, 1786 to September 14, 1786, New Jersey,Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia had a meeting of theredelegates at the Annapolis Convention. Too few states wererepresented to carry out the original purpose of themeetingto discuss the regulation of interstatecommercebut there was a larger topic at question,specifically, the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. Alexander Hamilton successfully proposed that the states beinvited to send delegates to Philadelphia to render theconstitution of the Federal Government adequate to theexigencies of the Union. As a result, the ConstitutionalConvention was held in May 1787. The ConstitutionalConvention, which wrote the Constitution of the UnitedStates, was held in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. It wascalled by the Continental Congress and several states inresponse to the expected bankruptcy of Congress and asense of panic arising from an armed revoltShayssRebellionin New England. The conventions assigned job,following proposals made at the Annapolis Convention theprevious September, was to create amendments to theArticles of Confederation. The delegates, however,immediately started writing a new constitution. Fifty-fivedelegates representing 12 states attended at least part of thesessions. Thirty-four of them were lawyers; most of theothers were planters or merchants. Although GeorgeWashington, who pre sided, was 55, and John Dickinsonwas 54, Benjamin Franklin 81, and Roger Shermen 66,most of the delegates were young men in their 20s and 30s. .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 , .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .postImageUrl , .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 , .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5:hover , .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5:visited , .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5:active { border:0!important; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5:active , .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5 .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ueb79b1f75568aeb3ec974d57cbe911b5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Gathering of Old Men EssayNoticeable absent were the revolutionary leaders of theeffort for independence in 1775-76, such as John Adams,Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson. The delegatesknowledge concerning government, both ideal and practical,made the convention perhaps the most intelligent suchgathering ever assembled. On September 17 theConstitution was signed by 39 of the 42 delegates present. A period of national argument followed, during which thecase for support of the constitution was strongly presented inthe FEDERALIST essays of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay,and James Madison. The last of the 13 states to ratify theConstitution was Rhode Island on May 29, 1790. BIBLIOGRAPHYCategory: History