The articles of confederation which existed from 1781 until 1789 are the America’s first written constitution. It brought some accomplishments to the country. It lets congress remain “the central institution of national authority. ” Congress had the power to “conduct wars and foreign relations and to appropriate, borrow, and issue money.
” By passing the Ordinance of 1784, the Ordinance of 1785, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the new government found some solutions for the controversies regarding the western lands.These laws also developed “a model for surveying and dividing up territories and also a model for governing them. ” However, the Articles of Confederation also contained a lot of weaknesses. It did not allow congress to “regulate trade, draft troops, or levy taxes directly on the people.
” It could not get the compromise between the states and national government. The central government did not have enough power to deal with states’ issues. There were a lot of conflicts regarding western land which could not be solved perfectly.The small states and large states also disagreed on the state representation.
The small states want the equality of state representation, while the larger states want to be based on state’s population. Besides, because of the money needs during the Revolutionary war, the Confederation owed “an enormous outstanding debt” which needs to be repaid after war. Moreover, the national government at that time had no power to tax; the money is only requested from the states which also had war debts. The states increased the taxes which the poor farmers oppose.Dissatisfying with the ineffectiveness of Confederation in dealing with those conflicts, leads to the consideration of the new constitution.
Almost delegates, who represented all the states except Rhode Island, agreed that “the United States need a stronger central government. ” James Madison, who represented Virginia- the most populous state-, had a plan for a “new national government”. He proposed that “a national government ought to be established, consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary.This idea which is the “fundamental reform” is very different from the Articles of Confederation. But the delegates did not agree on the states presentation which was proposed by Madison’s plan.
Another, William Paterson who represented New Jersey, proposed “one-house legislature in which all states had equal representation”. But this proposal was rejected by the convention. Finally, they reached to the “Great Compromise”. The first time in the history the “checks and balances” idea was offered which is the “separation of powers” among the legislative, executive, and judicial.But the compromises which were accepted by the convention remained unresolved issues regarding the status of the Indian tribes and individual rights. The supporters of Constitution- Federalists-, who had “a number of advantages,” wrote a series of essays which are known as “The Federalist Papers.
” The purpose of those essays was criticized that the opponent of Federalist- called Antifederalist- “had nothing to offer except opposition. ” Actually, leading by Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, they had very strong arguments.They concerned about the national government “would increase taxes, weaken the states, wield dictatorial powers, favor the ‘well-born’ over the common people, and abolish individual liberty. ” The debate over constitutional ratification did not end.
During winter of 1787- mid 1788 Delaware, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Georgia ratified the constitution. In contrast, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island did not ratify. The concern of the “natural rights of the people” still remained. That led to establishment of the Bill of Rights which is the first ten amendments added to the constitution.
These amendments guaranteed the fundamental rights: “freedom of religion, speech, and the press; immunity from arbitrary arrest; trial by jury. ” Later on, the rest of states ratified the Constitution. In sum, someone said “perhaps the greatest service rendered by the Articles of Confederation was the impetus its shortcomings gave to those who favored a strong central government. ” Actually, the weakness of the Articles of Confederation leaded to the establishment of new Constitution which made a strong central government without abolishing the people’s fundamental rights.
