The United States of America have gone a fairly long way of establishment. Starting as a number of colonies, and ending up as one of the most powerful countries in the contemporary world, the U.S. has proved that nothing is impossible, and that mistakes can only lead to the better future. One of the greatest examples for this statement would be the existence of the Articles of Confederation, with all their vices, because it were the wrongs in this document that made it possible for the Constitution to be written. The present paper is meant to dwell upon the differences in both documents, and on the way in which fixing the mistakes of the past has helped to establish a firm and reliable present.
It is not a huge surprise that the Articles of Confederation are widely considered bad, to say the least. Adopted on November 15, 1777, they needed a unanimous approval from all states, which did not occur well until March 1, 1781, with Maryland finally giving in and ratifying the document (The Library of Congress, p. 1).
However, this could hardly be a good thing, as the Articles of Confederation did not help the state of the country all that much. They did not create a firm reliable government, but rather supported somewhat of a friendship between the states, leaving them most of the power, and doing nothing to centralize it.
Not only that, but Congress had little to no power as a central unity of the government. Congress was allowed to declare a war, to appoint military officers, to sign treaties, to make alliances, to appoint foreign ambassadors, and to manage the situation with the Native Americans. With that, Congress had no power to tax anyone; they were only able to ask the states for money whenever needed, or to borrow from the foreign countries (Digital History, p. 3-4).
The Articles could be amended, but it also required a unanimous vote, which did consequently mean that no amendments would be done. Such governmental weakness is easily explained: the states were collectively tired of centralized tyrannical governments, which led to them trying to prevent anything alike. Even though the U.S. won the American Revolution, it still left the situation rather complicated.
Congress had fallen into a large debt on their way to the victory, and because of their inability to collect taxes, and involve with the foreign trade, and each state only willing to pay for their part of the debt, this has become a real nightmare, with uprisings and a real danger of military mutiny. The Articles of Confederation have created a government unable and unequipped to deal with such crises, which subsequently meant that there was a need to make some serious changes.
Considering the reasons for which the Revolution began in the first place, it is clear that the Articles meant to emphasize the importance of such friendship against the tyranny of the British Empire, and without having to create another centralized force. This was meant to be an alliance that should have made it possible for all states to remain sovereign, yet call for their common work. They did not account for the importance of one central government, taxation, regulation and for the difficulties that would have definitely arose from the very ideas of several states cooperating, and moreover easily agreeing on anything unanimously.
With a list of difficulties being that long, it was clear that the U.S. needed a better form of government: something strong, reliable, and uniting. The Constitution was written with the previous flaws in mind. First things first, it made so that federal law prevailed over the state law.
Article I of the Constitution made sure that Congress was the only institution to responsible for coinage, held power over the interstate commerce, and was able to regulate tariffs. Article II ensured one person being in the command of execution the laws. However, this would have been too much power in one man’s hands, for which three branches of government were established: executive, legislative and judicial.
Executive branch could veto whatever decision made by Congress, but Congress could override this veto, and was even able to impeach the Commander in Chief whenever the need would be. The Supreme Court was created to see that these two branches are in line, and that Congress does not go against the Constitution. This allowed for the creation of a strong central government that was able to regulate the finance, trade, and make sure that the important decisions were actually made on time and without the past issues.
The main underlying principles of the Constitution are all aimed at making sure that the United States in a country ruled by the people and for the people, which would mean that anything done would be done only for the common good. Article IV of the Constitution makes sure of the Public Sovereignty: people are the source of any government, and they make a decision on who is to govern their country.
Article I ensured that the governmental powers are limited, and that each individual has powers that the government has no power over, and that all three branches are in equal possession of executive, legislative and judicial powers. It also holds the checks and balances system in line, with the overlapping system of powers that would ensure no one having too much power at the time.
Article III controls the co-called judicial review: the Supreme Court has a right and is obliged to determine the constitutionality of the decisions made by the government. Lastly, the idea of federalism is spread throughout the Constitution: its foundations can be found in several articles, such as Article I, Article IV, Article VI, where different principles are located in different sections.
However, the main idea of it is that even though there is a strong central government in action, states still keep some of their powers, and that the whole sum of power in the country is divided evenly between the states and the national government.
Although having its share of changes, the Constitution as it was created still exists now, and is the same document that has been regulating the United States for many years. It surely has its vices, but it nonetheless has managed to prove its effectiveness and reliability, especially in comparison to the Articles of Confederation.
Works Cited
Green, J. “The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism: Crash Course US History #8”. YouTube, uploaded by CrashCourse on March 31, 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.
"Primary Documents in American History." The Articles of Confederation: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). The Library of Congress, 31 Oct. 2016. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.
The Articles of Confederation; the Declaration of Rights; the Constitution of the Commonwealth, and the Articles of the Definitive Treaty between Great-Britain and the United States of America. Richmond: Printed by Dixon and Holt, 1784. Print.
"The Critical Period: Articles of Confederation, Digital History ID 3225." Www.digitalhistory.uh.edu. Digital History. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.
U.S. Constitution. Articles I, III, IV, VI.
