Confederation and Constitution, Essay Example

Upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776,the American colonies did not have an established type of formal government. Since there was no formal government, the Articles of Confederation were comprised by the delegates of the second Continental Congress. Two of the major issues that were under resolution are the issues of how much power the central government would represent and how there would be resolution of western land claims between the colonies. In 1787,the delegates met at a Federal Convention to discuss and rewrite the Articles of Confederation based on these issues. During the convention, the revision of the Articles of Confederation was rejected and the issue of the need for a national government was indicated (Brady, 2007). During this time there were ongoing differences and debates amongst the delegates for the need of a centralized government, the revision and rewriting of a new Constitution, and decisions regarding the ongoing differences of the Bill of Rights between both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. This paper will analyze, discuss and compare the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution of 1787.The paper will review the drafting of the Constitution, and the debate over ratification between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

The Articles of Confederation have been commonly referred to as the “First Constitution” however, there were numerous weaknesses observed in the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation indicated that the states were the owners of their freedom and independence. There was only one vote for the National Congress and in order to ratify any type of law for implementation, only nine of the States votes were necessary, deeming this as weak and easy to ratify. There was also an inability for Congress to tax, which further resulted in major financial problems regarding the provision of a national defense system. The states remained sovereign and independent with Congress serving as a last resort on appeal of dispute. Congress had the authority to make treaties and alliances, maintain armed forces and coin money. The central government lacked the ability to levy taxes and regulate commerce; this was a sign of a non-unified government, which lead to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 (The World Book Encyclopedia, 2004).

The lack of unification posed as a weakness, Congress felt like a stronger union and a government powerful enough to defeat Great Britain was necessary to succeed as a new sovereign nation. Shay’s rebellion in Massachusetts 1786 resulted when farmers marched to the courts to rally against land foreclosures by the state government. The land foreclosures happened when taxes on the farmers land were implemented as a solution to pay debts from the Revolutionary War. This caused a rebellion in which the national Congress had no power or military strength to control, this rebellion, however, prompted the Constitutional Convention (The World Book Encyclopedia, 2004). The Articles of Confederation also exhibited a difference with regards to elections in comparison to the Constitution. The Constitution indicated that an electoral college elects one executive; in the Articles of Confederation there was no sole executive. In addition, the Constitution warranted Congress to have power in the regulation of commerce, as well as to allow two representatives to Congress based on the population of the state (Utah State University, 2008).

The Constitutional Convention occurred in May of 1787,during the convention the drafting of the Constitution took place; the delegates agreed that there was a need for a strong centralized government. One of the major concerns for the delegates was to strive for a fair representation between all states. Originally, James Madison developed the Virginia Plan; it provided membership to the House of Representatives based on the States’ population status, which seemed unfair to smaller states with less population and representation. The solution to the Virginia Plan was the Great Compromise. This consisted of Connecticut delegates, particularly Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth who comprised a plan for equal representation within the Senate, as well as representation based on the population in the House of Representatives. This plan provided two in house representatives for both large and small states within the Senate. In addition, the powers of government between the states and Congress would be delegated in order to maintain the change in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. This plan was accepted during the convention; however it was originally denied by the original founding fathers, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin (The World Book Encyclopedia, 2004). The Great Compromise provided a dual system of congressional representation in the House of Representatives so that each state would be assigned a number of seats in proportion to its population.

The Great Compromise established the Senate and the House of Representatives and allowed them to work efficiently as well as ensuring the continuance of the Constitutional Convention. The Great Compromise combined the best elements of the Virginia and New Jersey Plans, as well as establishing the separation of powers consisting of the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary branches. At the Constitutional Convention two other major compromises were reached: Three Fifths compromise and the commerce and slave trade compromise. The question was should slaves, who had no vote, be counted as a part of the population? Larger states that had many slaves answered “yes” but small states with few states disagreed and answered “no”. This eventually led to the drafting of the new Constitution.

The supporters of the new constitution were referred to as “Federalists “, who were in support of a centralized government. Federalism in the U.S has been observed in different stages, initially it was referred to as being nationally centered and accredited to Alexander Hamilton. It was, however during this time that the relationship between the federal and state government and laws were brought together (Evans, 1981). The year 1840, the anti-federalists view came forth and the notion of a state supported centered government. The supporters for a state centered government debated that the state should be able to control the power of the national government. This view is considered to have contributed to the Civil War. Dual Federalism is what is referred to as the support of the state and national government as two separate and different powers. The state and federal governments eventually were able to recognize each government as forms of government (Evans, 1981).

The new Constitution in the U.S was a threat to anti-federalists view and supporters for this view thought of the Constitution as a road to political problems. The anit-federalists supporters debated the Constitution with supporters such as Samuel Adams and John Hancock, they believed that a strong centralized government would increase the power of the federal government and this would eventually result in tyranny, such as what happened in the past with Britain, particularly with the implementation of the proposed three branches of government. Shay’s rebellion in the Western side of Massachusetts contained many anti-federalist supporters; the thought of a President’s ability to veto or overturn a decision that was made from a representative was a concern for the anti-federalists. There was also a major concern in regard to the court system, anti-federalist thought that the federal government could have a say in local court decisions. The anti-federalists did not agree with the idea that national government could rule over an entire nation of people scattered throughout the U.S due to the fact that knowledge at a local level would be unknown. The new Constitution provided the ability for national government to increase taxes without input from the state level, which anti-federalists were strongly opposed to.

The Bill of Rights is a part of the Constitution that consists of the first ten amendments, which provide basic civil rights for the people of the United States, as well as permitting the federal government to have authority to these rights. This in itself is quite contradictory to the anti-federalists beliefs because the belief was to not allow the federal government to have more power, although, the fact that the rights of the people were protected on the national and state level was quite appealing to them. Overall, there was much debate and struggle between the Northern and Southern states, as well as the Federalists and Anti-Federalists in the support of the new Constitution and the implementation of the power given at the national and state level. The struggle to change the views of anti-federalists was a major event, which required a series of federalists’ papers and the implementation of amendments known as the Bill of Rights. The current government system is based on the decisions and struggle for justice and political advancement in our society.

References

Brady, R. (2007). The Constitution of the United States of America as Amended Unratified Amendments Analytical Index. Government Printing Office. House. House Doc. Page 110-150.

Davidson, J.W., & Lytle, M.H. (1990). The United States: A History of the Republic. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Pretence pgs.160-161.

Keene ,J.D., Cornell,S.,& O’Donnell,E.T (2013). Visions of America: A History of the United States .Pearson. University of Groningen (2012). The Federalist Papers. Retrieved from: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1786-1800/the-federalist-papers/

Utah State University. (2008). Comparison of Constitution and Articles of Confederation. Retrieved from: http://ocw.usu.edu/university-studies/us-institutions /comparison-of-constitution-and-articles-of –confederation.html

The World Book Encyclopedia.(2004).About America. The Constitution of the United States of America with explanatory Notes. Retrieved from: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/30145/publications-English/constitution