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American Constitution
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Institution:
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Introduction
Nothing holds the value of the American spirit than the constitution. It is document that confers the rights of all the Americans and goes to give the various functional directives of the states under the federal system. It is safe to point out that this is not a document that was achieved in a midnight roundtable meeting. Rather, this was a document that was developed over a long time and with heated debates over the various interests presented by the various representative of the states. Ratified on 1st march 1781, the Articles of Confederation form the backbone of the current constitution. It would however fail relative to the lack of powers of the federal government especially with tax collection and trade policies enforcement. With the debates towards the development of the Constitution of 1787 there came the two main factions, the federalists and the antifederalists. The Articles of Confederation form the basis upon which the current constitution is founded on, with the federal and the state governments.
1 Compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation with the new Constitution of 1787. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles vis-à-vis the Constitution? Give specific instances that demonstrate the weakness of the Articles (such as the Western problem).
The United States is considered the epitome of democracy. However, this is not a fit that was achieved easily. There were developments over the last more than 200 years of growth that have shaped what it is today. At the heart of the democratic practices are several primary documents that have been ratified over the years, some of which have not been as successful. It is through this continuous improvement of the nation from the state level to the federal level that has brought the nation to where it is a democracy (Smith, n.d.). There are still improvements being carried out every now and then and this is relative to the fact that, the laws are dynamic ad they have to reflect the dynamic nature of the society. The challenges that the nation faced in the 18th century are very different from what it is facing today and will face in the future. At the heart of the American democracy is the constitution. This is the supreme legislation that governs all the other statutes at the federal level. It is a primary document that represents the struggles of the American legislators, from the time of the Articles of Confederation to the drafting of the new constitution and finally to ratification of the document (Maggs, 2017).
The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution that the United States of America ever had. This was back in the year 1777 on the 15th of November, however, it would not be ratified until the year 1781 on the 1st of March. There had been six drafts before the last one would finally be considered adequate. Much of the delays in the ratification of the document, came from the facts that states were still grappling with extensive land claims and there were fears of a central authority. The Articles gave the state sovereignty along with independence and Congress acted as the last resort of appeal. The articles were also giving Congress the power to make alliances and treaties, as well maintenance of the armed forces and making the currency. The articles had been formed in the need to form a stronger front against the British and other countries (Maggs, 2017). Ideally, with a united front, the states would be stronger and fend off future attacks. However, this presented a challenge to the central government, especially relative to the fact that, it was not able to collect taxes from the more powerful governments. At the same time, there was a challenge associated with regulating trade in the various states, while the governments at the state level were more powerful.
Despite the fact that, the documents were quite unpopular in the American history, it had its strength. This includes the fact that, it was through the articles that the legislative body, the congress, was setup. At the same time, it gave the congress the highest power in the nation relative to the fears of a monarch. The congress was also given the power to form alliances, declare war, assign treaties and was also responsible for operating post offices. Whenever there were disputes between the states over territory, these would be brought to the congress. It was also through the Articles of Confederation, that Canada was allowed to enter into the union if it so wished.
The highlight of the primary document is the fact that it has weaknesses that were irreconcilable. One of them is the fact that, the lack of power of the continental congress led to strangling of the federal government. While the congress had the power to pass the laws, it did not have the power to enforce them. This turned the congress into a weak link between the state governments and the federal government. This is given the fact that, if a state felt that they did not support a given law, they could simply ignore it. In the case of trade, the congress did not have adequate power to levy taxes from the states and more importantly, did not have the power to regulate trade between the states and even within the states. The states would do as they pleased disregarding the federal government. At the time there were no executive leaders and there lacked federal court systems. Even amending the primary document which required unanimous decision was also not possible. Such was the case during the ratification of the Articles in the year 1779, when Maryland failed to approve. This relative to the fact that the western lands had claims from other states such as Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts and Connecticut, putting Maryland in an inflexible position. Thomas Jefferson had to persuade his state to yield to claims, however the speculators’ demands were rejected calling for division of the west into new states and admitted into the union equally with the old. Following the challenges faced with the Articles of Confederation, the New Constitution of 1787 was signed on the 17th of September (The Library of Congress, 2018). This was done ...