Confederation and Constitution - Paper Sample

Introduction

The Articles of Confederation and the United States (U.S.) Constitution compares since the same individuals made them had different ideologies. The two documentations were considered official by the U.S. government' thus, they needed to be followed regarding the periods that they served. In both articles, the U.S. had been recognized as a sovereign state. In both, the Congress (House of Parliament) made regulatory and legal policies. The Congress was differentiated into the House of Representatives and the Senate in both. However, the Articles of Confederation stipulated that Congress was supposed to be composed of 2-7 members (Library of Congress, 2019). Conversely, the Constitution required Congress to consist of two senators from each state. However, the composition of Congress depended on the population of a particular state. In the Articles of Confederation, voting in the Congress was based on one vote per state. In the Constitution, voting was based on one vote per representative. Even though the Articles of Confederation had its weakness, it complimented the Constitution as the force it is now.

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In the Articles of Confederation, state legislators elected the members based on a popular vole while the Constitution necessitated that the representatives needed to hold legislative offices for two years. Besides, Senators were required to hold office for six years. The legislative office in the Articles of Confederation had a term limit of not more than three years. Besides, the Articles of Confederation did not recognize the executive while the Constitution recognizes the President as the head of the executive (Library of Congress, 2019). Also, any amendments in the Articles of Confederation were done through all-state agreements, while the Constitution requires only three-quarters of the state votes.

Effectiveness

In addition, the Articles of Confederation provided the gateway for ushering a new constitution; however, it had strengths and weaknesses in equal measures. It played an integral part in solving the new nation's challenges since it allowed people to participate in government activities. The article was crucial in developing a national plan regarding the land ordinance to create new states and settle a significant portion of the U.S.'s debt. The Articles of Confederation offered the basis for the development of rules and regulations that governed and still governs the U.S. The Articles of Confederation played an integral part in the setting up of the legislative body. Thus, it ensured that Congress became the highest authority in the U.S. to avoid monarchial tendencies associated with its colonizer, Britain. Thereby, the Congress had exclusive powers to declare wars, entertain foreign relationships, assign treaties, and operate post offices (Meggs, 2017). For instance, the article had stipulations of allowing Canada to enter the confederation. Territories and state issues were solved in Congress. In this regard, it was the document that led to the first U.S. government setup. The government was underdeveloped, and there was a need to establish a centralized government that handled national issues.

Failures

However, the Articles of Confederation failed since it had inherent inadequacies that were evidenced by the federal government's inability to regulate commercial activities and taxes. Therefore, it failed since it had a weak national government since it offered the states a high independence level. The document also only offered the central government the power to establish a common defense, general defense, and secure liberties (Khan Academy, 2018). Therefore, the document created a phenomenon where persons were only loyal to their states and not the national government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states were depicted as having their own sovereignty, which was less paramount to the national government's wellbeing. The phenomenon often led to the eruption of wrangles among the states. The national government was rendered powerless since it could not enforce the bills that Congress passed. Besides, some states started to develop separate agreements that did not align with national interests.

Remedies

From a positive standpoint, the Constitute solved the challenge of reduced federal government authority by giving the government the powers to regulate taxation, create a unified army, acquire common currency, and have a common leader. The Constitution fixed the decentralized authority's problem by establishing a central government with certain powers and privileges. The Constitution established a supreme legal framework that gave Congress the right to levy taxes to collect national revenue (Library of Congress, 2019). It also gave Congress the power to regulate trade between the U.S. and other nations and among states. Besides, the Constitution created a federal court system tasked with applying legal statutes and laws to solve criminal issues. The Constitution also created an Executive branch tasked with administering checks and balances for the Judiciary and the Legislature.

Conclusion

Notably, the Constitution ensured that the amendment process easier since it only required three-quarters of the House and two-thirds of the Congress to ratify them. Lastly, the Constitution ensured that the House's representation should be based on a state-based population criterion. The Senate population was changed to ensure that it remained the same for all states.

References

Khan Academy. (2018). Challenges of the Articles of Confederation. Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-3/articles-of-confederation-ush-lesson/a/challenges-of-the-articles-of-confederation-article

Library of Congress. (2019). Road to the Constitution - Creating the United States | Exhibitions - Library of Congress. Loc.Gov.
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/road-to-the-constitution.html

Maggs, G. (2017). A Concise Guide to the Articles of Confederation as a Source for Determining the Original Meaning of the Constitution Recommended Citation Maggs, Gregory E., A Concise Guide to the Articles of Confederation as a Source for Determining the Original Meaning of the. In Geo. Wash. L. Rev (p. 397). https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2514&context=faculty_publications.