Governing the nation
Declaration of American independence and formation of the articles of confederation and eventually the American constitution changed the lives of many people in many different ways. Declaration of independence stated that all people in America were equal and they possessed natural rights which were not to be disregarded by any chance. People are different and there was need for an order which was to be ensured by the government.
Government is an institution that is governed by rules and laws set by the people within the jurisdiction of a country. Rules are laws are contained in the constitution. America did not have a constitution at first; they were governed by the articles of confederation. Americans had the right to whatever they wanted as long as they were within the guidelines of the law. They could also own property as long as the property was paid for accordingly. The Pennsylvania farmer could own land and do with it as he wished. He could plant crops and keep animals. No one had the right to question the Pennsylvania farmer on his activities apart from the government because he had natural rights.
At the time when declaration was acknowledged, Americans were aware of what had happened several years before. Briton government had deprived them the right of liberty, natural law and happiness. Britain had vowed to change the custom laws in order to obtain revenue to finance their activities around the world. Britain was desperate at the time and could try out any approach as long as they got what they were looking for. It did not matter whether they were depriving the respective nationals their rights. Americans were to be charged higher duties on some of the products they produced. This move made them respond in the necessary way. They raised their grievances because the Pennsylvania farmer was suffering a lot.
Americans boycotted and instead of the King responding the right way, British troops were sent to suppress the Pennsylvania farmer. Pennsylvania farmer was not happy and had to fight for his right; the right of being independent and doing whatever they want to. Becoming independent was not an easy thing because fight was inevitable. As much as the Pennsylvania farmer did not want to use violence, freedom and the natural rights had to be fought for.
On gaining independence, the Pennsylvania farmer had to ensure that all people within the jurisdiction of the country enjoyed all the natural rights, right to liberty and happiness. Articles of confederation were prepared with the aim of governing the Pennsylvania farmer. Each state according to the Articles governed itself. The aim of the government was to decentralize power to the states. This made the states to have too much power such that the federal government was not able to govern the states effectively.
Although the articles of confederation availed the much needed freedom, the articles did not talk of the people who were held to work for others; slaves. Slaves are people taken by other people because they are deemed inferior and are suited for labour jobs and other related jobs. Since the articles were meant to deviate from depriving people their natural rights, they should have at least said something about the freedom of the slaves. After all, the declaration had stated clearly that all people are equal and had natural rights which they should not be deprived. The various rights and freedoms were enjoyed at the time but there was a problem.
However, regulation of some of the rights which is essential was ineffective at the time. For example, trade within America was not regulated because of decentralization of power and this presented challenges to the Pennsylvania farmer. Regulation is important in ensuring that all the goods and services produced are quality and can be used by the people without a problem. The government of the time could not even tax products produced, taxation and related activities were assigned to the individual states. This resulted in uneven taxation among the different states and presented a challenge to the Pennsylvania farmer whenever he wanted to trade with people from other states. This led to many conflicts which could have been prevented if the federal government had taken its responsibility of taxing the entire country. This was not done until the American constitution was ratified.
When the articles of confederation were modified to create the American constitution, some of the laws changed while others remained the same. The constitution emphasized on the rights of each and every individual just like the articles. In this case, the Pennsylvania farmer had to be granted all the natural rights and be protected by the government. The constitution did not talk about slavery as well. The only place where the subject is mentioned is where the congress was barred from banning slavery for two decades. At the same time, slave owners were granted rights to look for and return runaway slaves to their custody. This way, slavery continued and some of the people were deprived rights that ought to have been granted
Unlike the article, the constitution gave the federal government more power than the states. Although the states had individual governments, the major tasks that were previously assigned to the state governments were assigned to the federal government including taxing. The federal government took the responsibility of taxing all the states evenly. This allowed the states to come together as a country and work towards the interests of the American people because the conflicts that were caused by different taxation rates were over.
References
The charters of freedom. (n.d). Declaration of independence. Retrieved from
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html
Archiving Early America. (n.d). Articles of confederation. Retrieved from
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/articles/
The charters of freedom. (n.d). American constitution. Retrieved from
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
