Articles Of Confederation Rhetorical Analysis

Federalist paper number ten is an essay written by James Madison about the writing of the then new United States Constitution. According to Madison, the Constitution would set up a government that is able to minimize the damage caused by factions. That is significant, because many previous governments have fallen due to opposing factions. Although factions may be created to protect the interests of certain groups, they ultimately lead to an unstable and problematic government, as well as limits on the rights of others.

For over two-hundred years the United States has thrived under the Constitution. It has been the backbone of this country while growing from an infant into an adult. Although, the Constitution was instrumental in the maturation of America it was not the first form of government in this country. Ten years before the Constitutional Convention, Washington’s presidency, or the three branches of government; the Articles of Confederation were created. This fledgling government, proposed in 1777, was doomed to never take flight, being replaced in 1789, when the Constitution was effected under Washington. This raises the question: Why did the United States discard The Articles of Confederation for the Constitution? Ultimately, the Articles

Because all 13 states had to agree, the proposal was thrown out and was not

The biggest fault in the Articles of Confederation was that it called for a confederacy, “each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled” (Articles of Confederation, 1777, p.1). This state sovereignty went against republicanism, which is more closely associated with popular sovereignty. The American people want the government’s authority to come from the representatives that they elect. This is easily seen as a crucial idea of the Constitution in its preamble, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of

Madison states that the cause of instability in the government and the things that contribute to its “unsteadiness and injustice” are the public good being disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, measures too often being decided by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority, and the fact that some

From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an ineffective government, however there were some strong steps taken in the articles to try and make the United States a better country. The articles created a loose confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to a central government, known as Congress. Some actions taken by Congress, such as the Treaty of Paris, and certain powers that were given to them were sometimes beneficial to the United States. Nevertheless, in attempting to limit the power of the central government, the Second Continental Congress created one without sufficient power to govern effectively, which led to serious national and international problems. The greatest

The Articles of Confederation proved to be an effective form of government during 1781-1789. They were used as one of the major stepping-stones to the current Constitution of the United States. The Articles of Confederation also helped with current land issues facing the states and problems it was having with other countries. Although the Articles of Confederation were a very weak form of government, but in the long run, it proved to be a useful and important time in American History.

The major fear that encouraged the creation of the Articles of Confederation was that the Federal government would have too much power. With this newly written government of 1781, most of the power would be in hands of the states. However, the Articles of Confederation proved to be ineffective. The American Government lacked the power to keep British forces out of United States in spite of declaring complete independence after the war. Under the Articles, the government did not have the power to pay for taxes which caused issues across the country.

The Articles of Confederation were put in place in 1781, after the Revolutionary War. This period of time in our country’s history was marked by experimentation. After gaining independence from Britain, a system of government was necessary to meet the needs and desires of the country as a whole. The Articles of Confederation served as this system of government, but ultimately failed for a number of reasons.

The Articles of Confederation was the United State’s first constitution, it was written in an effort to unite the states after the American Revolution and served as a blueprint for the modern constitution. In order for the Articles to become official, they had to be approved by all thirteen colonies. Although Congress sent the Articles of Confederation to the states around the end of 1777 to become ratified, they were not officially adopted until March 1, 1781. Under these Articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. The American people feared a strong national government and as a result of this, the Articles of Confederation were specifically designed to be weak in the sense that each state maintains its own sovereignty and all rights to govern themselves, with the except of the rights exclusively granted to Congress. Since the Articles lacked many necessary components to keep a nation properly structured, they were eventually revised into the constitution we recognize today. Although, the Articles of Confederation seemed as though it only contained weaknesses, within the document, many strengths and accomplishments were made. Overall, the Articles of Confederation were proven to be both efficient and non-efficient during the time period they were in effect.

During the time of Articles of Confederation the United States government was having economic, diplomatic, and military problems, such as lack of money to cover for a strong military force, not a powerful diplomatic government to solve state affairs, and economic depression. After, the Shay’s rebellion, it was found necessary by a group of politicians which were all wealth men, to review the Articles of Confederation, and this led to gathering of 55 delegates from 12 states to revise the Articles of Confederation in Philadelphia in 1787. The state of Rode Island boycotted and did not sent any representatives. Instead of revising the Articles the delegates changed the whole constitution and the convention adapted the “Great Compromise”. The

Recently, in the City of Philadelphia, home of the Continental Congress and the Liberty Bell representatives of the many states met in the same locations and the men who, just so recently, met there to declare us free from English tyranny and produce one of the greatest political documents in the history of human governance. All of us together followed the words of those men who met in Philadelphia and fought for our liberty and the idea of self-governance. And together, we all won the Revolutionary War and established a new nation on the earth. For several years we were guided by the Articles of Confederation, but as we were all new to the practice of self-governance (which itself was a new idea, so we had no real models to copy) many problems emerged which the Articles were not fit to solve.

To have more power than what is normally allowed, would that not be similar to that of a dictator? The issue of power in America goes all the way back to the creation of the Articles of Confederation. As history shows, that system ended in a complete failure because of how scattered it was on top of the power each state possessed. This was a huge problem for the country, so by March 4th, 1789, the United States Constitution went into effect and changed America forever. It addressed most problems at the time that the founders knew about such as the balance of powers (Checks and Balances), the right to bear arms, free speech, slavery, etc…. The fight between states and the federal government from the creation of the Constitution till now have laid down the law and the public’s interests that are at stake. The Checks and Balances system gives each branch of the government power to limit the other branches so that one can’t exert its power over the others and be dominant. Throughout American history, the Legislative and Executive branches have undergone the most fluctuating change regarding how much power one possesses over the other. Fast forward to 2017 and the Separation of Powers, Executive privilege, and Executive authority are being challenged by President Trump.

“The Constitution devotes the national domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare and to liberty” (Maier 154). This quote, stated by William Henry Seward, displays the strength and stability that the Constitution had over the nation, and the liberty and justice it supplied for all of its citizens. Although the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation have similarities, they have many differences, which proved that the Articles of Confederation were a weaker document in comparison. It can be said that the Articles were the “rough draft” to the final living document, which significantly influenced and “ruled” our government, as it still does today.

The Revolution was a tumultuous time for the American colonies; in fact, for much of the war, the acting government made decisions without the unanimous approval of the people (Schultz, 2014). Although, this was necessary the realization that a government of the people with written boundaries was vital to its growth. Consequently, to remedy this need the Articles of Confederation were developed in 1777, and finally were unanimously passed in 1781. These articles were intended to enact an effective governing body, but the manner in which it was written restricted its abilities instead allowing the states to retain the majority of power. Additionally, the job of the national government was to; initiate or conclude wars, supervise the Indians in the west, the creation of a national legal tender, and establishing provisions for national mail transport (Schultz, 2009). Even though the Articles were well